Marine Corps to FBI

[seamus]

Hello, i’m am going to be enlisting in a couple of moths as an MP. I’ve alwayd wanted to join the FBI one day. My plan is to LAT switch after two years as MP to intelligence and once my four years is up get a job with the local sheriffs department and possibly become a detective. After some time in law enforcement I want to become a special agent in the FBI. I’m going to get my BA in criminal justice while in the corps. idk if it helps but I know very little Arabic, coming from an Arab background, and some Spanish. Is this a good career plan and if so what changes should i make or what should i be focusing on? What are my chances of getting picked up by the FBI? All advice is wonderful!

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[Tennessee Top]

#1, you cannot enlist as a MP.

#2, you cannot plan on lateral moving into another MOS after 2 years; it doesn't work that way.

#3, you cannot plan on getting a BA while in the Corps. It's possible, I did it, but took me 10 years to accomplish. Civilian education is not guaranteed, it's something one works on after duty hours/on weekends (which are nonexistent if you deploy anywhere or work shift work). Tuition assistance is not guaranteed either. It's something one applies for, sometimes the funds are available, and sometimes not.

Never seen FBI recruiters on a USMC base looking for Marines being discharged. I do see them regularly here at career fairs on the University of Tennessee's campus (as well as CIA and DOS recruiters). Your best chance of getting picked up by the FBI is to go to college and graduate with a degree in a field they need.

Good luck.

[Kegler300]

Focus on successfully enlisting and graduating from boot camp first.

[USMC 2571]

I agree with both posts, both are experienced and very knowledgeable people. Focus on college. Take a look at what the FBI is looking for. Accountants/lawyers/those with a language skill. Also take a look at a book called "Eyes Pried Open", about an FBI agent's experiences, with a heavy emphasis on the Academy at Quantico, Virginia.

I don't know anything about the Corps today, I mean next to NOTHING, but I have a feeling that a Marine cannot just Lat Move like it was no big deal. To go down the path you've outlined seems overly complicated, in that to get from point A to point B you are detouring to about five or six other letters, when the most direct route is being overlooked. Anyway, good luck to you and feel free to ask other questions. Keep us posted please.

[Zulu 36]

The FBI isn't interested in criminal justice majors. They're a dime a dozen. The FBI prefers lawyers, CPAs, computer wonks, language (a little bit of Arabic and Spanish is nice, but no deal maker). Street policing experience is good, but don't count on getting a cop job and don't count on making detective on some sort of schedule. Life in LE doesn't work that way. Street policing experience isn't something the FBI really looks for either. The US Marshal's, yes, they like ex-street cops.

Being an MP in the Corps is also no big deal to the FBI. Being in intelligence is much more impressive on the job application.

Like has been said, you can't just enlist as an MP. You enlist for the 58xx field and hope you don't get picked for corrections. Being an MP also doesn't mean street policing like a civilian cop, especially these days. Even when I was an MP, you could be assigned to a division MP company and spend a lot of time in the field and on deployments. I spent my last 2-1/2 years in the 1st MarDiv MP Company. I did get FAPPED (Fleet Assistance Program) to the Pendleton PMO and did street policing, but mostly I was at the company in the field, chasing illegal aliens, or just training and maintaining our gear. I did some other stuff too, but I was a sergeant and junior MPs wouldn't have been given those jobs.

[Mongoose]

I don't know anything about the CIA or the FBI....other than they are in love with Democrats.

[crazymjb]

Something worth looking at for Federal LE is the Army's CID program. From what I understand special agents in CID are a big feeder for federal LE.

Also, computer science, finance, etc, is probably a better focus in college for LE. If you can follow cyber-crime, money, etc, it is much more impressive than having a basal understanding of the criminal justice system. I frankly don't know what the hell CJ majors learn.

Mike

[MunkyVsRobot]

MP does not equal FBI even in the remotest of sense. Maybe if you said you were going to try to Lat move into CI that would help you but you still need to be a decent CI Marine before they will even consider taking you.