View Full Version : Intel Officer
I am currently a Senior in college graduating this December. I have been working with the local OSO to get set for next year's OCC selection process, and have a question regarding my desired MOS. I have no doubt that I want to be a Marine Officer, however, I am concerned with the MOS I am pursuing.
I understand that all Marines are infantry first, however, I am a bit confused as to the specific responsibilities of an intel officer. I am concerned that the position will be more administrative in nature, and will not provide me with the ability to have human to human contact and do actual HUMINT collection. Any knowledge you could impart to ease my concerns would be much appreciated. Thank you.
Sgt Leprechaun
07-28-09, 11:28 PM
Officer jobs are assigned based on class standing and needs of the Marine Corps. Realistically you don't get a choice no matter what you might want to do. If when selection time comes, the Marine Corps is short on Motor T and Communications officers, then the bottom 1/2 or however many, will be assigned to those jobs. Case in point, a mustang friend of mine in Intelligence, WITH an Intelligence Degree from Defense Intelligence Agency, graduated OCS and was assigned as an Tactical Air Controller. That's what they needed at the time so her prior experience was ignored.
Lisa 23
07-29-09, 08:58 AM
Rkim21, how about filling out all of your profile so we know who we are talking to. :thumbup:
Sorry about that LASWMarine, all pertinent info should be filled in now. Sgt. Leprechaun: I was under the impression that since you had to request commission following graduation from the Officer Candidacy Class you had a strong chance of receiving the MOS that you request (info from my recruiter). Is this misinformation?
Lisa 23
07-29-09, 11:30 AM
Sorry about that LASWMarine, all pertinent info should be filled in now. :thumbup:
Sgt Leprechaun
07-30-09, 12:10 AM
Unless things have changed, yes. You can 'request' all you want, but officers do NOT get a choice as to jobs unless they are in the top of the class. Usually the top 10 percent get to actually pick. The rest get assigned.
I heard it's more complicated than that Lep... I'm not even going to get into it 'cause IT confused me... something to do with rounds of assignments and being at the top of your "round" ... so they can better disperse the intelligent ones... so trying your damnedest only works if you're #1...
Thank you all for your advice, though I am still committed to joining, at least now I can go into it without expecting my requested MOS only to be disappointed.
I think you can pick an area... like logistics or infantry... but to get a specific MOS... well that's assigned.
usmcspitfire
08-01-09, 04:09 PM
I am currently a Senior in college graduating this December. I have been working with the local OSO to get set for next year's OCC selection process, and have a question regarding my desired MOS. I have no doubt that I want to be a Marine Officer, however, I am concerned with the MOS I am pursuing.
I understand that all Marines are infantry first, however, I am a bit confused as to the specific responsibilities of an intel officer. I am concerned that the position will be more administrative in nature, and will not provide me with the ability to have human to human contact and do actual HUMINT collection. Any knowledge you could impart to ease my concerns would be much appreciated. Thank you.
Hey Rkim21,
Intelligence Officers are broken down into Ground Intel officers, Human Intel officers, Air intel officers, and Signal intel officers. I would be focused on leading Marines, rather than a specific MOS. If you focus on a specific MOS, you will be sorely disappointed if you do not get it at TBS.
As far as administrative duties, as an officer, in any MOS, you will have some.
From a Human Intelligence officer standpoint here is what one of my friends sent me about it:
"There are lots of billets available to 2nd Lts. Besides the OIC for a HET you could work in a G2X position, you could be a reports officer, you could be put in an OIC position for a Fusion center (analysis). As a second Lt, there really is an infinite amount of billets you could hold. This is probably because as a second lt you are expendable and if there is no where to put you, they will just create a billet for you...
Your work will depend on what billet you will hold. I could speak towards HET OIC positions and reports officer positions. As the HET OIC you will likely be advising a battalion commander on what is going on in his area and getting supplies for your guys so that they can continue their collection efforts. You'll be working closely with the S-2 for the battalion you support getting PIRs and collection requirements and ensuring that the S-2 knows what you are capable of doing so that your requirements fit.
As a reports officer, you will work in the G2X reading DIIRs. Your job will be quality control (QC). The collector will write a report, his OIC and Chief will QC it, then he will send it up to you and you will QC it and then send it up to be published. Not a real exciting job, reading reports all day and night, but most people have to do it for a little while.
You should not be working in an S-2 shop unless you get really unlucky.
You also should not be doing complete threat vulnerability assessments (TVAs). TVAs are very large documents with a lot of parts. OFten times it will get passed down to the teams, but it shouldn't. You are only qualified to do the CI portion of one which is a small portion."
As far as TBS MOS selection goes, it depends on several things, including your lineal ranking in your company, the number of different MOS slots for your company (which you will be told at the beginning of TBS) and your SPCs overall evaluation of you. Your company rankings at TBS are broken into thirds. The first part of the TOP third will almost always get their first choice. However, the last half of the TOP third could get their 5th choice. The SECOND third is broken down similarly, same with the THIRD.
This breakdown of the Thirds is to insure that there is a quality spread over all the MOS's, so that all the top officers at TBS don't end up in one MOS.
If you have any other questions feel free to PM me. :cool:
usmcspitfire- Thank you very much for the information, it definitely helped to provide me with a little bit more clarity during this rather complex/ confusing process.
RecruiterDan
07-07-10, 07:43 AM
One great reason to move into Intel or another line of work that gets you a Secret or Top Secret clearance is that after getting at least 4 years of experience under your belt, civilian companies will hire you for great pay in a heartbeat. My company is actually looking to hire almost 200 each of HUMINT, SIGINT, All-Source, and Collections Managers to deploy to Afghanistan for 12 months, and the pay will likely start from $80,000- $120,000 without a college degree. Practically no other jobs outside of the military can pay like that. The hiring will start in Sept and continue for the next 2 years. Drop a line if interested.
Lisa 23
07-07-10, 07:55 AM
RecruiterDan, in case you haven't noticed, this thread hasn't been posted in in almost a year.