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  1. #1
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    02xx or 26xx

    I signed a DEP contract for either an 0200 or a 2600 MOS. Now my recruiter is having me take the DLAB. He said if I pass it’s likely I will be given a 2600 MOS, so if I don’t want that, don’t bother trying to pass and I’ll get 02xx. Is this correct? Also, which job field do you guys recommend? I’ve done research on both and I’d be fine with either, I just want to be a Marine. Are there benefits to one over the other that I don’t know? Thank you

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  2. #2
    Read the similar threads below your post.

    Being on embassy duty twice, I have some personal experiences with language training (all provided by the State Department). I was required to study Spanish (Guatemala and Nicaragua), French (Haiti), and Brazilian Portugese (Sao Paulo Brazil). One drawback I can see to a 2600 MOS is being pigeon-hold to the region of the world where that language is spoken. For example, if Russian is your assigned language, then obviously your time/assignments would be focused on Russia. Same with Farsi and the Middle East, Chinese and China, etc. This would hold true after the Marine Corps and civilian employment where that language is required/used. You would be limiting yourself to finding a job with an employer seeking someone with that particular language ability. Even working for the CIA/NSA/DIA, they would have to have a need for you. Once hired, your professional world would revolve around that region/nation. Seems like a pretty big gamble to me. What if your language/region does not particularly interest you? What if you start out interested, because it's all new and challenging, but lose interest years later but it's too late to start over?

    Of course, you'd be pigeon holed to some extent in the 0200 field as well. As an analyst, analyzing intelligence would be your daily focus. If you worked in counter intelligence, you would focus on that. This would also carry over to civilian employment after the USMC. Difference is, you would not be pigeon hold to a specific geographic region of the world/nation. As an intel Marine with the 1st Marine Division, you would work mostly with the Pacific region of the world. If you got transferred to the 2nd Marine Division, your focus would change to the Atlantic region. If you worked for the US Central Command (joint command), your work would solely be aimed at the Middle East. You could be assigned to the Special Operations Command, and we have special operators all over the world.

    Bottom line. I believe you would have more opportunities in the 0200 field, including after the USMC. Full disclosure, I never worked in either field. Can't say I ever met someone in the 2600 field because that community is that small. Worked with plenty of intel Marines from the company/squadron level all the way up to the joint command level. Also knew former intel Marines who went to work with the NSA and DIA after they got out.

    One thing you need to be OK with is your working environment. From my experience, the average 02 Marine spends their day sitting at a computer inside the unit's Secured Classified Information Facility (SCIF). SCIF's are normally windowless buildings (so nobody can see what's going on inside), with large domes and antennas on the roof, and strict access control. If the SCIF operates 24 hours a day, that means shift work. If you don't want to sit at a computer all day every day and never be able to look outside, you may want to do something else. I'm not saying it's guaranteed you'll work in a SCIF, there are exceptions. Just saying it's likely.

    Good luck.


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