What advice do you have for an 11B thinking of reclassifying to 35M?

2022-09-13T08:56:23-04:00

I'm currently an 11B, Team Leader looking to reclass to 35M. I have been researching this MOS on my own for a while now but can find little up to date info and would appreciate any input I can get before moving forward with this plan. My areas of concern are:

-Day to day life both in garisson and when deployed ?
-Training pipeline?
- Post military opportunities?
-General thoughts or advice about the job?

Response by SFC Casey O'Mally made Sep 13 at 2022 10:26 AM

2022-09-13T10:26:21-04:00

Garrison life is garrison life.

I will grant you that it was a WHILE ago, but I started as an 11B. I crossed over into MI as a 96H (JSTARS). When that MOS was phased out, I went 35M.

Garrison is Garrison. You will have white cycles full of stupid BS trainings, red cycles full of so much training you don't get any sleep, training calendars, get off my lawn CSMs, and all the like. As MI, you will usually have a little less white cycle tastings, but you will ALSO still be doing training during white cycles, just at the individual level, instead of collective (language training, one week cert or re-cert courses for the latest thing, report writing training, etc.)

At the individual level, the Infantry is concerned about maintaining their primary weapon system and improving skill with it. For the Infantry that is an M4, SAW, 240B, etc. MI is no different. But the primary weapon systems are now the collection device; be that a RADAR dish, a computer, or the engagement skills of a HUMINTer.

Deployment life is a mixed bag. It really REALLY depends on the mission, and the BDE S2. That BDE S2 is going to have a HUGE impact in shaping how the CDR deploys and utilizes his Intel assets, to included 35Ms. I have seen 35Ms stuck on the FOB collecting passively, waiting for folks to come to us. I have seen them integrated into maneuver PLTs as an additional asset, and expected to be an infantryman right up until the bullets STOP flying, then use their special skills to do battlefield interrogations. And everything in between.

I can't speak to the training pipeline as it has changed since I went through.

As far as post military opportunities, there will be very few jobs outside the government that directly line up. To do everything you do in the Army for a private entity would almost definitely break laws. So you are looking at alphabet agencies, maybe state agencies if you want to continue doing the same or a very similar job. But the SKILLS are highly marketable - if you can effectively market them. At the most basic level, 35Ms are taught how to understand people and manipulate them to get what they want. In the Army, what we want is Intel. But those skills, properly applied, can be GREAT for sales jobs. Corporate headhunters, teachers (especially secondary or post-secondary teachers), lawyers, police detectives, interviewers, investigative reporters, and many MANY other jobs can use those skills very effectively if the individual is willing to apply their training in a different manner than originally trained. I currently work in social services, and I use some of my HUMINT skills on an almost daily basis. And they certainly helped me land the job (which I am not "properly degreed" for, having no social work training or degree prior to hire) in the first place. Ultimately, if you LET it, 35M gives you people skills. But on steroids. It is up to you to APPLY those skills.

General thoughts or advice is that if you do it long enough, you will get some AWESOME training somewhere along the line, that changes how you view the world. It may be a formal course like SOC or it may be a two day local thing by one of your NCOs. If you do it long enough, you will get to do really cool things and/or be in a really cool unit doing doing really cool things. BUT.... you will also sit through worthless training where you wish the trainer would shut up because he/she is an idiot and is leading young Soldiers astray. And you will do stupid, pointless things that are a waste of your time and talent and/or be in a unit who squanders their 35Ms. Pretty much like any MOS in the Army. You just have to take the good with the bad, focus on the good, and endure the bad. Much like most jobs in the Army - and most outside the Army, too - you will get out of it what you put into it.

If you do cross over, the single biggest difference, IMHO, is the camaraderie. MI gets along OK. There is a certain reputation / stigma regarding MI folks being vicious back-stabbers. I did not experience this to be the case... but they never had each other's back quite like the 11Bs did. Generally speaking,, MI folks won't throw you under the bus, but they may not warn you the bus is coming. And they certainly aren't going to jump in front of the bus to save you. And when you do it for them, they will suspect an ulterior motive - remember, 35Ms are trained in deception and in manipulation. Everyone else knows that, too.

I will caveat all of this with the statement that these are only my experiences. I do not speak for the 35M community, the MI community, or the Army. Your experiences may differ, and past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. And all of that other legal mumbo jumbo.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 13 at 2022 11:25 AM

2022-09-13T11:25:18-04:00

I'd take a look at what you want to do outside the Army. Switching from 11B to anything else is a good idea when it comes to marketable skills. 35Ms are a lot more specialized and is a good route if you want to, say, be a cop. Those interrogation skills will come in handy. However, if you want a good solid government job, look into 35N or 35F. Geoint and all source are both multi-faceted paths and give you a lot of opportunities on the outside. Definitely look at your next steps outside the Army world.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 13 at 2022 11:28 AM

2022-09-13T11:28:38-04:00

I'm biased toward 35F. They would have legit mission work wherever hey are. M's probably the least of the 35's when they are not down range. Each 35 series has their own set of technical skills, but Imagery, Signals and All Source seem to have the best civilian options open to them.

Regardless, all 35's are better off in an INTEL unit than they are stuck in a non Intel unit S2.

Response by SFC Someone Retired made Sep 14 at 2022 7:48 PM

2022-09-14T19:48:04-04:00

If you like working with 2faced back stabbing Hippocrates, reclass and go 35M. 11B/13B is where it’s at for schools, promotion and progression. Being in the intelligence field you have to be willing to embrace political nonsense as well as those who feel they need to defend the MOS as if they are some elite MOS god. 35M is one of the worst MOS I had and if I could I go back combat arms without a doubt. If your not willing to work in DC/Virginia or Maryland area after you serve as a an intelligence MOS, or plan on working as a civilian for the same MOS as an instructor, the intel field is garbage.

Response by SFC Someone Retired made Sep 14 at 2022 8:04 PM

2022-09-14T20:04:37-04:00

If they still have the electronic warfare MOS -it used to be 27E, probably now 17E, or any Cyber MOS, IT, HR or contracting/logistics is where it’s at if plan to use similar skills post service as these skills will always be in demand in within the civilian sector.

At the end of the day, pursue your college education while you are serving, attend different schools, and training to get yourself diversified with different mindsets and skills. 35M make their $$$ in combat when it’s time to interrogate or conduct detainee operations or special missions that would embrace DSDC/SOC courses if you like writing mundane reports and have the gift of gab, then the 35M may be the MOS for you. 35N/P/G -Sigint or Geoint appeared to be interesting career fields, but if you don’t like doing land nav, or understand maps/topography, GEOINT is not for you. SIGINT/MASINT/ELINT are the intelligence fields that were something cool of your into electronics and that type of stuff. Signal Corp is another MOS that will always be in demand as well as the IT fields pay great in the civilian sector at GS12-15 pay grades.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 14 at 2022 11:41 PM

2022-09-14T23:41:12-04:00

You'll need a DLAB of 107 or a 2/2 DLPT in a qualifying (needed) language to request it