I currently have a TS clearence and have the option to re-class to any of these MOS's... Any one out there currently in on of these MOS's can give me an inside view and daily task of your job. Also, is it worth going into any of these MOS's? Any regrets? Any and all information will be greatly appreciated... thanks..

what is ur current MOS? Why do u want to reclass? I want to reclass as well. I have to wait till my window opens march of next year.

im currently a mechanic. im just ready to move on to something else either than maintenance. I got a TS clearence because i was going to try to reclass to MI, but the job that i wanted was level out so i couldnt get it. i try doing some research on these MOSs but i really would like to hear from those that hold these job titles on how these jobs are in a daily basis. =)

For counter-intel, go talk to the agents assigned to your installation. Every installation should have at least one. If you are having a hard time finding them, get a hold of G-2 and they should be able to help you out. G-2 might also be able to point you in the direction for the other two. I believe both CA and PSY-OPS will require airborne, but I'm not 100% sure.

Buick I am in the same boat; 63B and want to get out. I'm not good at it...I hate desk jobs, but I'm horrible w/mechanics. Thought about MP, but I think Intelligence would be interesting. I think if you do 6 months on the job training w/the intelligence agents on your post, you automatically get the MOS, but don't quote me on that...talk to your reenlistment NCO. If you get an info, pass it along cuz I'd like to do the same thing...

Thanks all for your responses, i have a friend that is currently in a MI MOS. He said he was going to try and find out more infor for me. I just dont want to jump into any of those MOSs and hate it later. lol.. but if i find anything out, ill be sure to post some info out. Thanks again to all.

325 I believe that you are mixing a litlle bit of different MOS info. What I believe you are referring to is CID (criminal investigations special agent) which is 31D. Where Counterintelligence Agent is 35L. 35L is almost ALWAYS critically short, which leads me to think there is something inherently shitay about it. For 37F you would still have to schedule and pass the DLAB, which I have to let you know is the hardest test I have ever taken. UNLESS you are allready proficient in a foreign language. While someone will argue that PSI OPS and Civil Affairs do very similiar things, I KNOW that the death toll is way higher in Civil Affairs. So you know just as well as I do that that what that means is it IS inherently riskier. PSI OPS sounds way more secrret squirrel, so someone will try to BS you and greatly exaggerate how allmighty important they are. You'll see. They will all show you the money and have excellent promotion rates. Maybe someone will keep this post going, it is really hard to gater accurate info on these MOSes.

Ive try to search for information on these MOSs online, but the information is very blurry, i can understand why though, this are very secretive jobs, so i know i wont be able to find to much info. Thats why i was hoping some one in one of these MOSs could help me out.. =)

Buick, here's the deal. 35L is always at a critical short because yes, they promote quickly, and most of their NCO's tend to make contacts with civilian agencies that they work with frequently and get out to start their civilian goverment jobs. 35L is like a central hub of the 35 (MI) series. I am currently a 13M and attending 35M training this december. It's a stepping stone for me to get into 35L because of my packet being recently denied. Go speak to your local MI detachment. Should be the 902nd MI Det if you are CONUS. I believe 502nd MI Det is OCONUS. They can schedule a meeting with you and answer almost all of your questions. Even with a TS, unless you have been read on for your SCI they are still limited in what they can say. As for hte other MOS's you have mentioned, you can call the school houses and talk to them directly. PSY-OPs is located on Fort Bragg. Every job will have it's ups and downs, I don't know your rank or TIS, but, as is everything in live, it is what you make of it.

See I would buy the whole "sets a soldier up for civilian employers and that is why they get out" allthough that would be damn near EVERY MOS in MI. So I kinda approach it with a great deal of skepticism.

Every MI MOS is like that. At the beggining of the fiscal year they were all on the BEAR messages up until about March when they filled up the shortages on a good majority of them.

See but the difference is that 35L still is on the list and damn near always has been there. I think that when 35L's go to a conventional Army infantry unit that they really embrace the suck. I could be wrong on this. Of course Ranger or SF are not conventional, so its not the case w/ those units. Buick 87, if you do go down the 35L path, just do your best to get into a Ranger, SF, or SOAR unit. I percieve that no one will bother you there, as long as you are self driven.

Buick87, I am a former active duty (just got honorably discharged in June 09), current reserve 35L CI Agent who may be able to provide a little more information for you. I can't help you with the other MOS's though. But as far as CI goes, it is such a wide field. There are many paths you can go. It's mainly broken down into Strategic, Tactical and what I term as the "dark side." For reasons of which you are probably aware, I will be as detailed as I can, but remain vague on many topics.

On the strategic side of the house, some of the duties include working out of a resident office (3 or 4 personnel offices) or detachment (6 to 10 personnel offices) on any various military installation in support of that military community. You act as a investigative agent, i.e. badge and credentials with authority to arrest if the situation deems, who liaisons with all tenant (MWR, Housing, finance) and military units (Infantry, Armor); and local (police) and federal agencies (FBI, CIA), whether foreign (country your stationed in, i.e. Germany, Korea, Iraq, etc.) or domestic (US); to keep abreast of the current area intelligence situation. In this capacity you will investigate intelligence comprimises (mishandled classified info.), and provide security education (SAEDA classes) and training (awareness and OPSEC). Strategic locations are worldwide, from Germany, to NATO in BENELUX, to Korea, even the Middle East (Iraq, Kuwait).

On the tactical side of the house, you will be constantly training to be deployed or will be working in a deployed environment. You will more than likely work on Human Intelligence Collections Teams (HCTs) although I think they're called something different now. HCTs are usually comprised of 3-5 personnel, usually an Agent, an "Interrogator" (human intel. collector), a translator if one of the previous two are not language trained, and supplemental individuals for security. Sometimes you'll be attached to larger inf. or stryker units and your goal is to support the unit by collecting intel. to support thier mission. You will go in your team to villages and towns, liaison with the locals, trying to collect intel. on whatever the mission requirements are. Possible assignments are CONUS: Texas, Hawaii, Georgia; with a focus on deploying to the middle east or wherever a mission requires.

And lastly the dark side of the house is the ultimatum of CI training. A program called Great Skills. This is very similar to what the CIA might do, I can't say for sure. But entrance into this program has a lot of prerequisites and requires a great deal of sacrifice in your own personal life, not recommended for anyone with a family, so to say.

The CI job itself it very paperwork driven. We document everything so as to "cover" ourselves, for liability reasons if you will. But it goes much deeper than that. You don't have to be a computer whiz, or even love being on the computer to be in CI, but a proficiency in MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Explorer helps. There is ultimately over a dozen reports you may need to write in regards to one operation. They all vary in length, but none are to challenging.

The core of CI is personal skills in communication, i.e. talking and listening. Expect to do lots of interviews (not even close to the idea of a Job interview), for investigations. And questioning techniques are key in this field. You will receive extensive training to be prepared for this so no worries.

This job is similarly a jack of all trades MI MOS. You may end up doing a variety of MI MOS work, of which you might not even have been trained on.

But like other people have posted, it is a Star MOS, and has mainly stayed in the spotlight. It's not odd to see someone make E6 after only four years in the army when they came in as an E1. I've seen a E7 in seven, and an E8 in 10 years. Most of the enlisted around E4 to E6 end up going warrant officer, which is the best path in the field to go. Most guys that do their inital commitment to the army as a 35L do end up landing a decent career even before they get out. When they get deployed they make some good connections with contractors and end up heading that route when they get out. They end up making upwards of over $110,000/year as a contractor, but mainly work in Iraq or Afghanistan for over a year to obtain that pay. But that's only some guys. Others get out and don't have any luck finding jobs, as most civilian equivilents (CIA, FBI, or DIA) require a bachelors degree plus experience. But with all the alternatives outside of enlisted CI, most are tempted away from the job in the army, hence the Star MOS standing.

The job has it's perks and will always look good, but it has its serious downsides too. If you're "stuck" in an all MI unit as a CI guy/gal, you will not experience your typical army unit. It's laid back and it seems to work backwards.

But enough of this rant, hope this helps.

So what type of clearance is generally granted with 35L?
Is it TS/SCI with CI Poly, full scope Poly, or no Poly at all?

Buick87,

Send me a PM and I can give you the name and email address of some POC's that you can get the info your looking for from reference the Civil Affairs MOS.

I'm currently assigned to the CA BDE where you would end up at if you were to choose that MOS and know all the instructors at the school house and the personnel who review and approve the selection packets.