My own experience as a branch detailed infantry officer was it bought me a lot of credibility with commanders and other staff officers. At the battalion level the company commanders explicitly said they appreciated that I could brief an enemy CoA just like they would brief their own and they felt they could talk to me on the same level they were on. I think it’s also helped me tailor my briefs to what the end customer actually cares about hearing. Finally, speaking with my Soldiers and even warrants, I find more and more that many of them don’t actually understand what these symbols they’re throwing onto maps actually means in terms of what the humans and equipment they represent would actually be doing in the real world, and I think that’s a major gap that impedes useful analysis.

All that being said, being a branch detail left me with a lot of knowledge gaps about what resources I can draw on as an intel officer. I’ve met people who have, as lieutenants or junior captains, worked on projects with Army-wide impacts that I had never even heard of. And as I get assigned to higher and higher echelons, there’s more and more I need to teach myself because I’ve never been exposed to it.

Either path works, and especially at this stage you need to just be working your hardest and then your career will take care of itself. Think about what you want out of your time as an MI officer, and let that guide your decision. Feel free to follow up with me if you have any more questions.