MOS for NSA

[kayLah]

Hi. My question is similar to one that someone had asked last week about gaining skills for a career in the the FBI. I lack permission to reply to threads, but I'm apparently able to create them though.

I'd be most appreciative if one of you could advise me as to the best possible route towards a career at the NSA. I'm currently a freshman Computer Science major. I'm considering adding a minor, but am undecided between Political Science, International Studies, or Criminal Justice.

Do you think enlisting in the military after college or joining the reserves is the wisest path to take? I'm open to all four branches, but would definitely prefer the Marines if there's little difference in training and experience. My initial thoughts are that I should join with a field 26 MOS (Sig Int) after college. Fields 02 and 40 are also somewhat related. I don't think reserve units in Minneapolis or Madison offer 26x. I also don't think that becoming an officer would be wise becuase of the limited number that are assigned to areas like this. And forgive me for saying, but would any of you guys reccomend taking a guaranteed MOS in the Army such as 98XL?

I'm really just thowing stuff out there. I'll stop talking now and just listen to what you guys have to say.

Thank you for your service.
:bunny:

[rvillac2]

You do not need military training to start a career with NSA. You're on the right track with being in college and your chosen major. However, if you really want to serve, Air Force and Army are better options for you. They dedicate more resources and have bigger units for Signals, Intelligence, and Crypto.

My advice to you is to power through college and pursue your career at NSA right away. There is info on their website about job fairs, internships, and other ways to get started.
http://www.nsa.gov/careers/students.cfm

[Echo_Four_Bravo]

If I really wanted to work at the NSA I would pursue a dual major of computer science/international relations OR arabic studies. Plan on getting a graduate degree- possibly Ph. D. in one of the two disciplines.

Being in the military wouldn't hurt, but it isn't the most important thing to do. Being a reservist is a valid option if there is an intel unit or sig. intel unit in the area- from any branch.

Upon graduation you can pursue a job with the NSA (and of course internships while still in school). If you find yourself unable to get a job with NSA immediately upon graduation I would look to the Rand Corporation which often serves to open doors for many people.

[Isrowei]

Unless you want to be deployed and are willing to fight (literally pick up a weapon and shoot bad guys), then don't bother joining the Marines and probably any military service.

If the NSA is your goal, you're doing fine as is. Stay in school, at home, where you won't (likely) get shot trying to find an office job for the future.

If you simply *must* join a service... go Air Force. It's kinda like being a civilian anyway.

[MGySgtSki]

As a SIGINT Marine (reservist or active duty) you'd possibly/probably get an opportunity to work at NSA or one of its facilities during the course of your enlistment (I can't speak for the other services reservist opportunities, but on the active side all services are represented at the agency). I've done a tour at NSA while on active duty. However, there is no Marine Corps reserve SIGINT unit out there. It's called the cryptologic reserve and is pretty flexible in how you structure your reserve time. It's more of a live where you live kind of deal and go do your drills at the SIGINT unit you coordinate to work at. You can bunch up all of your yearly reserve time in one big block, do the standard one weekend a month and two weeks a year, or a mixture thereof.

PM me offline if you're interested in more information and I can give you the contact information for the cryptologic reserve officer for the Marine Corps. I'm not sure, however, if the SIGINT field is one you can go straight into in the reserves or if you have to do some active duty time first. The linguist field, especially, is one of those fields that you need plenty of maintenance work to maintain your proficiency and I don't know if the Marine Corps sinks tons of money to train linguists that are going to go straight back home and possibly allow their language proficiency to atrophy.

S/F