What is your opinion on reclassifying from 35S to 35L or 37F, primarily because the promotion rates?

35L is a great MOS, HOWEVER, not everyone will qualify for it - nor is it everyone's cup of tea. I just checked 35L MOS strength by rank: E5 is 55%, E6 is 112% and E7 is 102%. So don't look for fast promotions in CI right now. Back to qualifying for 35L: There are many hurdles to jump before being accepted and you must pass all of them before going to the 18 week school. Once you graduate, you will be on probation (1 yr active, 2yrs reserve, both extendable) - another hurdle. You need to have strong reading and writing abilities - if you can't write a report you are useless in this MOS and you will write A LOT of reports. You need to be good at being able to talk to people who don't want to talk to you. I could go on. That being said, I've been a CI agent/tech for almost 30 years now. I love the MOS and it is what you make of it - just be sure you look into the realities of it vs BS you've heard. If you have visions of carrying a badge, a concealed pistol and fighting international spies, this is not for you. Make sure you go talk to a senior CI agent first.

I would never reclass to a new MOS based upon promotion rates. I have had three and I will tell you each decision was based on my personal need to be challenged and do a difficult mission. I love the CI community, but it does have its limitations, making E8 is very difficult so something to look at depending how far down the road you're seeking to travel. CA is a great MOS as well, having worked with many. Every MOS has its duds and rockstars, it boils down to your desire to challenge yourself and be the best. Go talk to CI and CA and see what best fits you. This is just my opinion though.

Based on one of the responses, I wanted to make a few points to start off with, just as an update to modern CI, as things have likely changed a good amount over the years.

1. 35L does not require a language in the majority of the field, so do not worry about the language part, as long you you have a grasp of English (spoken and written). There are much fewer positions that may require a language, and you'd have to apply to certain programs to get in it anyway, they aren't just regular branch assignments.

2. PSYOPS is not MI. All MI MOS' have been consolidated into the 35 series; even 35T, which do not perform an MI function, but are the heart behind some of the systems MI uses.

I agree that promotions should not be your primary driver for reclass to 35L. I am not saying you shouldn't want promotions and increased pay, just that if the promotions go stale, how will that affect your ability too want to continue performing. 35L is very short at the Entry Level (E5), but also has a greater tendency to push enlisted folks toward Warrant Officer, so you could also consider that into promotion possibilities.

As someone else said, 35Ls in a FORSCOM assignment are subject to the same stuff as everyone else, as most FORSCOM MI don't have legal a stateside function. This of course opens them up to regular army details and taskings.

My recommendation is, look at both MOS' for their job duties, then talk to someone who has held multiple assignments in that MOS, to determine if you will like that job. If you think you would be a good fit for the job, THEN look at the promotion rates. For instance, 35L as a base, has a lot of writing reports and talking to people for hours (when in the right assignment). If those aren't things you enjoy from the start, it might not be the right field for you. There are other sub-categories of 35L that drastically reduce the part of having to talk to people, but you may not be able to get into those other programs for one reason or another.

Go to the local 902nd MI Group field office on your installation, and they can provide you more in-person insight to 35L. Like I said, we need more E-5 Agents, but, we don't want them to be upset about promotions, and want to leave immediately either.