Infantry vs. Intel

[lias4us]

Hey Marines,
I have been in the DEP for A week under a years do to me having a testicular tumor (I know right) but i have gotten cleared to join with out getting surgery (with surgery i most likely would not be able to join so i really might give a left nut for the honor of being a Marine). I was set on going in for 0231 Intel Analyst but recently have been debating going in as 0311 but the things that are stopping me are my soon to be fiance, and that there isn't to much to do after the corp other then security or be a cop. While 0231 I get a security clearance and can work for CIA FBI ect. I figured you guys have the wisdom and experience to help me better wiegh the options.

Also 0231 has its downs to sitting in an office which isnt bad but it is if i end up not enjoying what i do. I want to be a Marine so bad I dont really have many other options my family is to poor for me to go to school and i want the respect, honor, discipline, and mind-set that Marines carry with them and will do anything to become part of such a comendable institution known as the United States Marine Corps.

Lastly can 0231 be attached or anything to an infantry unit?

Thanks for any imput

-Abe

[dizark]

I wanted to go Intel myself because of the job factors afterwards, but unfortunately it wasn't available when I enlisted. So I went Communications.

Good luck to you.

[hussaf]

Yes, I've seen 0231's attached/embedded with combat units, and other stuff. I can't tell you from personal experience, but it's probably done on a rotational basis, factoring needs of the Marine Corps, and your rank/maturity level...or simply the fact that you've done a pump or two with battalion and they want to attach you to someone else to get different experience. So, no promise of getting attached but it happens.

The majority of civilian jobs in the intelligence field are analyst base...so knowing the analytical software suites taught at MOS school will be good. You'll have to get a TS clearance, so hopefully you've been coloring within the lines for the last 18+ years and pass your background check.

The CIA and FBI, other major agencies, will conduct their own clearance investigation regardless of previous screenings. They'll probably have their own guys box you too.

Hope your comfortable with talking in front of people...you'll have to do a bunch of briefs in the schoolhouse.

Well good luck on your decision! Hopefully some 0231's and 0300's can buzz in or IM you to help you make your decision.

[0231Marine]

Every infantry battalion has their own intel analysts and their own S-2.

[0331 2 0369]

You seem to have a big misconception about grunts. Oh I forgot.... we are all just the bottom of the intelligence food chain so we can't do anything else but security or law enforcement. Guess thats why I work for the DOJ now. BULLSH1T. Some of the smartest people in the Corps are in the grunts. Grunts learn more about time and people management than probably any other MOS. Timelines are made for missions and have to be strickly enforced in order for all coordinations to happen when they are needed. Not saying we are the best at it but we do a damn good job. I have seen a lot of good Marines leave the Corps and land jobs in management simply because of their skills they learned while in the grunts. And other MOS's also. Just because you are a grunt doesn't mean the only job you are quailified for after your service is law enforcement. Most grunts go that route simply because they get to carry a gun (again) and it is the closest thing to combat a civilian will ever experience. Their Marine Corps training helps them stand out in the crowd.

Sure being in the Intel community will open a lot of doors for you when leaving the Corps but just being a good Marine will open a lot of doors also. People know that you will show up for work and not take the wimpy way out when you don't feel good. Employers can depend more on Marines than they can a plain ole civilian. Marines make good examples of what a citizen should be like and employeers like that.

[JSam]

Do what I'm planning on doing. I'm getting ready to head out to SOI, then BSG. I'm a 5-year Security Forces contract. 3 years SF, 2 years infantry, then I plan on re-enlisting and lat moving over to intel for 4-6 years.

[FistFu68]

:usmc: After paying Your Dues too America by serving as a U.S.Marine the Sky is the Limit as too what You can do or Become.Worse comes too worse You can always become a Movie Star or a Fucing Politician :beer: :iwo:

[scifguard]

Why is it that everyone who wants to go Intel wants to be a 0231? Why doesn't anybody want to be a 2600?

[lias4us]

Scifguard I didn't know that was an option i was told by my recruiter i had to go in as 0231 and work my way up from there.

0331 2 0369 sorry for that i was always told those were the only options other then military contracting which i was told was hard to get into

Thanks everyone for the input
my highest honor is disposed among you men known as marines

[scifguard]

If you do choose to go Intel, then when your in third phase they'll take you out of the normal work day for a couple of hours and you will go talk to a guy who will give you a basic screening to see if you're basically qualified to be an Intel Marine. After that they'll tell you what MOS you've been assigned. I went in thinking I was going to be a 0231 but I left bootcamp to go train as a 2651. I graduated as a 2621.
If you wanted to work with grunt units then you'll have plenty of opportunities to do so. We send a detachment to the Philippines every couple of months and they get to work with SEALs and Green Berets and the like. It might not be kicking in doors but to me, the sh!t that we do is the coolest thing in the world.

By the way, always capitalize Marines.

[lias4us]

Thanks I'll look into it

yeah and sorry about the capitalization I usually do

[MSSlaughter]

I've gotta agree with 0331 2 0369. I'm no grunt, but I've worked with quite a few in my day. To generalize, they're A LOT smarter than given credit for. Mor importantly, however, infantry Marines seem to always be on the high end of the Marine Corps' version of "street smart." Give a grunt a mission (combat or not) and he's got the resources and tools to make it happen and make it happen darn well. This is true of most Marines, but grunts especially.

[Sgt Leprechaun]

I started out as an 0311, my first choice. To reiterate what others have said, Infantry Marines CAN NOT be stupid. The popular misconception of the knuckle draggin grunt is completely WRONG. Some of the smartest Marines I ever knew, and had the pleasure to serve with, were Infantry Marines.

If you think 'grunts' are stupid, I'd bet these three Marines would have something to say about that:

James Webb

Wesley Fox

James Livingston

[lias4us]

Two of my cousins were grunts the one served in Iraq. My point is there are both some of the most well rounded intelligent people I have met no doubt.

[lias4us]

I never ment for it to seem like I was saying they arent smart that wasnt my intent at all far from it i commend any man who goes through what they go through.

[Branndon77]

Lets face it not everyone stays for 20, so I say look into Counter Intel before signing a 03 contract. Unless you want to contract for security or be cop when you get out. And yes I am a 0369.....

[0231Marine]

You can't enlist as counter-intel. That is a lat move MOS only so you might as well go infantry to start with anyways.

[0331 2 0369]

If you are looking at options, you need to leave the infantry out of those options. To be a successful grunt, you have to really want it. Since you are looking at options for when you get out, its obvious that you really don't want it bad enough. Being a grunt is hard in every way. Hard on the mind. Hard on the body. Hard on the family. To want to be a grunt, you need to have the mentallity that, being a grunt is all you want to do and stick to your guns. You need to get yourself motivated now and keep that moto as high as you can. It will drop off drasticlly once you hit the fleet but it is up to you how low it goes. So basiclly you need to find another option to go along with the intel field cause you aren't demonstating the desire to be a grunt. Either jump in with both feet and go knee deep or find other options.

[Branndon77]

Well yeh, what I was saying was look at the intel options before going intel at all. Anyways do what you want, but be smart about it. I work with plenty of grunts in MARSOC that are Level 2 & 3 ASO. There are plenty of options but you have to do the time and feel the pain before the grass gets greener. Sometimes it isnt greener if you catch my drift.

[0331 2 0369]

I understand what you are saying Branndon77. He is doing the right thing to look at options. I just look at the infantry as something someone has a strong desire to do even before they start talking to anyone about the Marine Corps. You know as well as I do that the grunt life can be very trying at times and takes a special breed to make it work for a long run.

[boomer56328]

All these nice things being said about us grunts in this thread. That's a new one. I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy. As far as other options besides law enforcement, I'm not the one to ask because after I got out that was the first place I went. It's in my family though and I was kinda headed in that direction anyway. A lot of my fellow grunts that got out about the same time as me are all doing different things now and are mostly successful. Just because your Infantry doesn't mean you have to limit yourself to what you can do if you decide to get out.

[Branndon77]

Not at all, we are all leaders when we leave this gig...in some form or fashion. Regardless Marines succeed where ever we go. I got plenty of friends that were grunts and do quite well for themselves. Nothing wrong with being a cop, take a look around most authority positions within our society are held by former Marines...Semper Fi!

[New York]

lol, if you wanted to be a grunt you would've been clear on it. Youre gonna be that dude at ITB going, "my fu*king recruiter lied to me" - "Fu*k the field" - "NO LIBO??" - "NO LEAVE??" - "MRE'S FOR BREAKFAST/LUNCH/ AND DINNER WTFF???"..

How do I know? We had 10!!! Marines switch to POG because they couldnt hack being a Grunt and realizing in the end 03-whatever is the best job in the Corps.

[MD8724]

Data baby. I can throw the same "leadership position" on my resume, as well as a TS clearance, and 5 years experience in the Data field, plus I've had over 3 months worth of class for Certifications since I've been in. :) It's all relative to what you like and what you want to do, imo.

[Phantom Blooper]

Grunts ain't as stupid as u tink we is!

Dat's da trooth.....:evilgrin:

[Phantom Blooper]

Truth be told if you were/are a dumb azz/stupid before you joined the Marines regardless of your MOS you will still be a dumb azz/stupid when your hitch is up.:evilgrin:

[New York]

Truth be told if you were/are a dumb azz/stupid before you joined the Marines regardless of your MOS you will still be a dumb azz/stupid when your hitch is up.:evilgrin:


Ooorah to that SSGT...

[AllShallPerishx]

If you get attatched to an infantry batallion, or company or what have you, you can (given your personality, who you know) can go out on patrols with them. I know a few guys as 0231's who have gone on missions with SEALS, Force Recon, so forth. It's all on the cards you have/deal. 0231 isnt strictly an office job, its all on what you do to make a name for yourself. I.E, memorizing AQ leaders faces, enemies disposition, composition, districts in which they thrive, so forth, could get you a nice spot on a full on ground pounding adventure. As for grunts being stupid, **** no. But, almost every lat mover into 0231 was prior 03. Just an observation.

semper fi, any questions, message me.

[haebyungdae]

It's all about what you want to do in the Corps, and what your interest is for after leaving the Corps. I'm intel so I'm obviously going to be bias towards intel, but whether it be 0231 or the 2600 field, it's a smarter move. The single reason for that is obtaining a security clearance, especially the one that would be obtained by becoming an intel Marine. Also, the things that you would do in the intel field, especially the 2600 field, are a lot cooler then anything you would do in any regular infantry MOS (bias, i know). People might say "no way" and what not, but that is only because they don't, can't, and will never know what's being done by people in the intel community. Again, it's all what you want, the "what's in it for me?" deal. If you have a clearence, plus analyst skills, plus a language (267X MOSs mainly) then you can get out of the Marines after one term, even without a college degree, and streamline right into a civilian or possibly a gov't job that would be higher paying and more secure than anything you would get leaving the Corps as a infantryman. Non-military jobs in the intel community are a lot more stable/secure than your Blackwater-esque security job. Once again, I am bias towards intel, so you should think about and choose what you want to become in the Corps very wisely.

And shoot me or anyone else in this thread a line if you have more questions.

[TinDragon]

Why is it that everyone who wants to go Intel wants to be a 0231? Why doesn't anybody want to be a 2600?

Nobody knows what the 21s or 31s do, if they wanna mess with comms they think the 06 field before 51s, and linguists are just "linguists", almost never considered part of the 26 field.

My two cents though, if you're torn between being a grunt and an 02, try to go 26xx instead. You have a lot higher chance of being with grunts, or at least doing something other than sitting behind a desk.

[FistFu68]

:evilgrin: So You wanna go out in the Bush with the BigBoys do Ya?You better start off every free moment You have PT'ing 24/7 @ Shoot Expert 'cause One thing a Grunt Squad don't need is a Self Proclaimed Baby Einstein that is slowing Us down cause they are not in shape Both Mentally @ Physically.I knew plenty of 0300 Marines that after their tour with their Ass in the grass then went too MSG.Top Secret clearance could speak 3 Foreign Languages.But MSG,does not really want You unless You were a former 0300 something in the Mindset.If I told You anymore I'd have too Kill You :confused: :iwo:

[Tootma]

Lias4us, allow me to jump in here with the old-timers perspective. In the interest of full disclosure I have to admit I am biased as I came out of the 2600 field, albeit more than a few years ago. While I don't want to take anything away from the 0300 community, if you are thinking about getting out after a tour or two and going to work for government or for a private contractor that does government work, you should strongly consider the intel field, either 02 or 2600. Why? The security clearance alone is a real door opener for you in the civilian job market. Marines with an active TS clearance (which all 02 and 26 Marines have) are worth an average $10,000 extra salary at hiring time. Marines with SCI are even more in demand and if you were lucky enough to be in an assignment that required a polygraph, the world is your oyster. Civilian employers like Marines with a clearance because it means generally they don't have to pay a lot of money to do the same investigation that someone else already did (some, like CIA, NSA and FBI do them again, but takes far less time than having to do an initial investigation). Myself and a lot of my friends parlayed our Marine Corps experience and clearances into government jobs, and were all in the six figure, GS-14/15/SES salary range now, so there are some real benefits to be had.

If you are good at languages or score well on the DLAB, think about being a cryptologic linguist. Some others in these forums may not see it as glamorous, but if you are a Pashtu, Urdu or Arabic linguist, you can just about guess where you are going to be practicing your trade, and it's not going to be stateside. If you do decide to go the intel route, be prepared for some tough training, not physically, but mentally. I can't speak for the 02 field, but the 2600 schools are some of the hardest in the Corps. I spent 8 months going to school initially and another 4 months two years later.

One thing that might be a problem is that recruiters only get a certain number of 02 or 2600 quotas per two month period, so depending on when you are scheduled to ship, you might have to wait until a billet opens up. 03 slots are a lot easier to fill because there are so many more 03s than 02/2600s and they don't require the initial background screening. Do a Google search for MCO 1130.53P to get an idea of requirements for the 02/2600 field. Look for PEF DC for linguists and DD for 02 and other 2600 MOS'.

Whatever you decide to do, be it 03 or 02/2600, the training you get as a Marine will serve you well in whatever you do. I have sat on hiring panels for my agency, so I know a little bit about what employers are looking for. Whatever MOS you get into, the Corps is going to teach you character, honor, commitment and confidence and it will stay with you for the rest of your life, no matter what job you are in. Good luck.