Should I go 35F or 35M?

2018-04-01T11:45:09-04:00

I am currently processing to join the army reserves. I intend to go active duty after I finish college. However, I am caught between 35f and 35m. While my skillset points to 35f, I don't want to be confined to an FOB on deployment. Any 35fs out there that can speak to field opportunities in that MOS? I was originally looking at combat arms, but those are unavailable in the reserves and MI serves my long term goals better. Plus from what I have been able to find out, both are important and interesting jobs and I'd be proud to be in MI.

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 1 at 2018 7:53 PM

2018-04-01T19:53:13-04:00

As stated in the other comment, its going to depend on what you are wanting to do. If you were wanting combat arms, 35M will give you a better chance of being boots on ground. Though not specifically trained for it, 35M must function as their own analysts to one degree or another. Also, it will be much harder to transfer INTO the 35M MOS than into 35F if you decide you do not like one or the other. If you are joining with the reserves, there will be a good chance that you will NOT go to DLI directly after AIT if you choose the 35M option, however, you WILL attend at some point, as the 35M MOS is now technically language dependent. [Unless you already know a language that is available to DLPT] If you havn't taken the ASVAB and DLAB yet, that should be your first step.

Edit: Additionally, talk to your reserve recruiter and ask them if they can put you in contact with somebody in the MI section of the unit you would be joining, to see if they could give you some information on the typical "routine" they have. They won't be able to give you specifics, but they should be able to tell you about past drills, deployment opportunities, what schools are available to your unit, what they use as qualifiers for those schools, and other important things as long as it is of a unclassified nature.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 2 at 2018 2:22 AM

2018-04-02T02:22:31-04:00

Neither. If you get into the MI world, 35N. Is the way to go. Too many reasons to list them all. But, I’ll knock out a few of the big ones. First, SIGINT and cyber is the future, and it’s already here. It’s why CYBERCOM is being elevated to its own unified combatant command. (ie:CENTCOM, SOCOM, etc). Second, of all your intel shops, the Novembers are at top of the food chain. If you wash out of 35N school (at Goodfellow AFB) you’ll get reclassed to another 35 series and sent to Huachuca. But if you wash out of any of those, you’ll probably get reclassed to needs of the Army. Make sense? As for DLI. I’m not sure how it works in the reserves. But for active big Army, if you don’t get it in your enlistment contract, DLI is like any other school. It’s a DLAB and 4187 away. Your original question didn’t ask about a language, so I won’t go in depth about Monterey.

Also, just some good NCO advice...you’re not even in..the..Army..yet. You have no idea if you want to be deployed, let alone stuck on the FOB. Get through basic training/AIT/unit time first before deciding just how much time outside the wire you’re ready for. That said, as a fox, for the most part, tactical options are limited. As a 35F, get ready for a lot of data compilation and power points. Mikes have a few more options, but to be honest, the most tactical work that a lot of 35m’s have done is gate guard or tower duty. There are definitely some Zero dark thirty types out there, but they are very few and far between.
35N has excellent tactical opportunities for all ranks in both conventional and special operations worlds. Don’t get me wrong, there are November’s that never see the light of day because they’re plugged in to a computer 28 hours a day. But on the other hand, as a November, if you prove you have the ability, you’ll have more opportunities to more insane things than you can currently imagine. And back to DLI for a moment, if you’re a November with a language, well the sky is the limit.

In my many years in the Army, I had a lot of 35 series soldiers ask, “hey SGT, I messed up, and should have picked N instead of (usually M, F, G). Can I reclass?” And after I’d tell them to go talk to their first line supervisor to get the ball rolling, I’d always ask my soldiers how many wished they had picked a different MOS when they joined. Honestly, I never had a soldier say they did. Not because I was the greatest NCO. It’s because it’s genuinely a ridiculously challenging and interesting job. Soldiers across the Army, even in MI, beg to reclass to 35N. 35N’s don’t ask to reclass out.

I got long winded. To nutshell, 35N is a superior choice to F and M, especially if one of your main considerations is tactical job opportunities.

Response by SSG Lance Davidson made Apr 2 at 2018 7:20 PM

2018-04-02T19:20:38-04:00

First off, kudos to you for deciding to serve your country. Now I see that you have gotten bombarded with several answers more so, it seems answers that focus more on changing your mind due to personal experience. That is fine, however, to address your question it is all a matter of who you are as a person. While all of the intelligence disciplines are important and some do carry a heavy weight towards the future there will always be humans around to talk with and gain information from. In order to make that choice I would advise that you take some serious time to weigh and consider your own personality. First, how do you feel about interacting with new people. If you have trouble making friends or talking with strangers then 35M could be a bad choice. Although, I have met a few introverted 35M's they are the exception, not the rule. Second, the 35M field attracts those with dominant personalities, if you struggle in dealing with those kinds of individuals then 35M might not be a great fit. Third, 35M is a field that requires a lot of emotional stability, if you struggle controlling your own emotions when people push your buttons then you might struggle with the school which will challenge your ability to keep your wits about you while maintaining focus on the task at hand. While this list could go on about the negatives and personality quirks that help with career fit, think about it this way, could you do the job your recruiter is doing and perform well?

While much of what I have covered is negative in nature from what you are saying about your skill set points to 35F, that is not a bad skill set to have in the 35M field. It is a blessing especially if your mind works quickly in analyzing facts and data. That will help leaps and bounds in the planning and preparation that goes hand in hand with the job. Additionally the skill set taught in that course is foundationally exceptional for many civilian jobs which can be easily translated into career opportunities if you decide to stay reserves and look for a steady job. However, if you think you might transition to active duty then advancement might be a challenge, when I left the service active duty was crowded and promotions were slower moving.

I hope this helps to answer your question to a reasonable degree. Good luck with making your prospective career choice.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 3 at 2018 1:50 PM

2018-04-03T13:50:04-04:00

You realize 35Fs don't just stay on the FOB during deployment right? Also we're transitioning back to training conventional warfare also.

I'm a 35F - I did stay on the FOB a lot but I did go on patrols when I could (we did route clearance). But I have a friend from AIT who is National Guard who has deployed and most definitely didn't stay on the FOB from what he's told me.

A 35F can go anywhere. Any unit. Probably even Reserves. If my Guard friend was off the FOB doing stuff as a 35F so could you.

Response by SFC Casey O'Mally made Apr 7 at 2018 1:33 AM

2018-04-07T01:33:41-04:00

You've already got a few answers, with a lot of info. So I'll try not to cover what has been covered. I was a 35M for about 10 years (now retired). During that 10 years, I spent about 5 in a 35F job, because they were short Foxes. There are always exceptions, based in the individual, the unit, and the missing, but GENERALLY speaking 35Ms will get out and about more than 35Fs. However, 35Ms for the most part only exist in MI units, whereas 35Fs exist in pretty much all units in the Army. (35Ms are often attached out to combat arms units for certain missions or even full deployments, which enables them to get out and about, but they are assigned to MI units.). 35Ms generally are 65/35 brains/brawn ratio - gotta be smart, able to think on your feet, able to see the big picture, and able to see where the wholes in the big picture are so you can go fill them. Also have to be able to keep up with the combat arms folks if you do get to go out on patrol. 35Fs are more like 80/20 or 85/15 brains/brawn - gotta be able to not only see the big picture and identify the holes, but also figure out what PROBABLY goes in the holes, as well as how to conclusively fill the gaps beyond conjecture. Also need to maintain basic Soldier fitness. 35M is more social and psychological, 35F is more cerebral.
Of course, you could sign up for 35 M and end up doing the 35F job anyway, like I did - or sign up for 35F and be doing HUMINT analysis (which is technically a 35M job, even though neither the Foxes or the Mike's usually want to admit it).
I hope that helps compare and contrast the two a little bit better for you, so you can make a (little bit more) informed decision.

*Standard caveats apply - this is only my opinion, not valid in all states, certain restrictions apply, past performance is no guarantee of future growth, void where prohibited, if you experience any of these side effects consult your doctor, etc.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 7 at 2018 9:44 AM

2018-04-07T09:44:40-04:00

I came from Combat Arms and now I’m a 35M. I have also spent time in the reserves. I’ll be real with you. Getting any schooling in the reserves is going to be very difficult. I would encourage you to go Active and pursue one of these options. Both are great. But as a 35M, you’re job is to talk to people. So weather that is then coming to you or you going to them, you are going to have to have some already developed interpersonal skills.
The more schooling you get as a 35M, the more opportunity you have to leave the FOB and do cool stuff. Most 35Ms who do not have advanced schooling are not permitted to do their job out side due to its sensitive nature, and they end up being miss used doing guard duty, but it also depends on the unit. Most conventuel units would not let their 35Ms do anything off the FOB, nor any of their other intel disciplines. But special operations is different. However, that will require you to be Airborne. So if you decide to go active, get an Airborne contract or an Option 40 contract.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 27 at 2018 12:14 AM

2018-04-27T00:14:33-04:00

35F will give you a great foundation when it comes to becoming a member of the intelligence community. You can always go 35M later if it benefits you but F is a better place to start.

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 23 at 2018 9:42 AM

2018-11-23T09:42:00-05:00

So you are deciding between either being an analyst (35F) or a collector (35M). Depending how that fits with your personality, skill-set, and how you see yourself contributing to the intelligence community. HUMINTers do a lot of engagements and interacting, as it’s in the name human intelligence. 35F is a lot of the behind the scenes, IE: pattern analysis, reporting writing, slide building, working with maps,

I’ll put it this way: 35M’s typically have better opportunities to go to schools, albeit this will be limited for you as a reservist. 35M’s right now go to DLI after AIT, so you’ll be fluent in a language. Very useful and valuable. Also, you might be able to go to SOC, DSDC, etc. Schools for 35F are very limited.