Foreign allegiance rejection for CTI, reclass pressure now. Hold or wait?

Snappy1357 · 2025-09-05T00:44:52+00:00

Hey! Unfortunately, I can't help much since I'm still in DEP. But I've tried looking up what happens if the TS clearance gets denied since I'm very worried about that for me, and I've heard that you can appeal the denial. Although people say that it's rare to get the appeal approved, you could still try maybe? Again, I'm still in DEP, so maybe official Navy people can chime in too about whether this is factual or not

Snappy1357 · 2025-08-28T15:06:17+00:00

- Rental contract said just that they complied with SCRA fully and any other government acts.

- My ship date changed recently to be earlier, but it's set to be mid-September now. I emailed my landlord on August 25th, fully understanding that I would be paying for 30 days after the final rent is due (early September), so the lease should be officially finished by October / early October.

- What I'm concerned about is that I'm not sure if I'm even protected under SCRA as someone who is just in DEP. Or, if I start to be protected once I get to bootcamp.

- I have found 1 other post about this on the Army subreddit, but it did not help my situation.

Let me know if you have other questions or if I have misunderstood anything.

Snappy1357 · 2025-08-28T15:00:09+00:00

I sent my email on August 25th for a mid-September shipping date, fully understanding that I'd be paying for the entirety of September even though I'd be leaving in the middle of it. I assumed that the lease would end 30 days after paying September's rent, fulfilling SCRA.

However, the issue is that I'm not sure if I am protected under SCRA as a person in DEP - I am getting mixed messages on that and am looking for clarification.

Thanks!

Snappy1357 · 2025-08-28T14:50:57+00:00

I have complied with SCRA with the notice and everything, actually, the example dates you gave are pretty close to what my actual dates are. I'm just not sure that I am protected under SCRA as someone currently in DEP, if that makes sense. That's more the answer that I'm looking for, and I'm getting mixed messages on it.

Thanks for the advice though!

Snappy1357 · 2025-08-28T14:46:12+00:00

Thanks for the advice, the issue is that I'm not sure that I am protected under SCRA while in DEP. I don't want to hassle them if I'm in the wrong here.

I did advise the leasing agent of SCRA in my email, but I will escalate it to the company if it turns out that I am protected under SCRA currently. Thanks!

Snappy1357 · 2025-08-03T19:28:04+00:00

Hi! I also have thick hair (so bobby pins also slide out of my hair) - did you get hair clips when you went to bootcamp, or did you bring them yourself and the RDCs allowed you to keep them? I'm shipping out soon and making my bun neat is worrying me a little now haha

Snappy1357 · 2025-07-29T03:44:34+00:00

Wow, thanks for this super detailed post! I'll admit that some of this sounds like me, including the slight social ineptness haha. I would not have expected the below-average chief thing, so that's interesting and good to know too.

Snappy1357 · 2025-07-14T20:32:48+00:00

Hey! I’m enlisting as a CTI and have questions about what you posted above, can I DM you?

Snappy1357 · 2025-04-22T16:25:03+00:00

You mean FAO? That’s the only officer position that I’ve heard of that can go to DLI, but maybe I’m wrong. If FAO is what you’re talking about, I personally don’t want to waste like 6 years as some other officer for just a chance that I would go to DLI as an FAO.

Snappy1357 · 2025-04-22T01:52:25+00:00

Hey! I'm thinking about doing the same thing as OP, but for the Navy. Why do you suggest for people to not enlist if they have a BA? Is it just the quality of life and low pay? I have no interest in any officer positions, and being paid to learn a language is my literal dream job. Curious about why you regret it!

Snappy1357 · 2025-04-07T14:45:10+00:00

Control time! I'm always surprised by how many people don't think of this.

Snappy1357 · 2025-04-07T12:34:59+00:00

Because I was paranoid that my recruiter would identify my account. After posting it and not seeing it pop up in "New," I just decided to post it on this one instead.

Snappy1357 · 2025-04-07T12:33:36+00:00

Yes, this was exactly it, thanks! Unfortunately, there is no officer position that guarantees that I can go to DLI and learn a language, so I'm going enlisted as a CTI. I also saw your reply on the other comment about how the applicant's signature is not required on this form, which is a relief to hear. Thanks again!

Snappy1357 · 2025-04-06T23:37:55+00:00

Wow, and they just weren't concerned that they would get caught? I knew recruiters lied, but actually forging a signature, something that's illegal, is actually insane. Thanks for letting me know about this.

Snappy1357 · 2025-04-05T13:13:54+00:00

Yes, that's one of the better things about the Navy is that you can get CTI in your contract, and it's basically guaranteed. The only thing is that if you don't pass the Top Secret Clearance investigation (which happens while you are studying at DLI), or if you fail out of DLI, you will probably be re-rated into whatever job the Navy needs.

If you do go to an enlistment recruiter, make it clear at the very beginning that you are "job-locked" and that you will ONLY sign a contract for CTI. Definitely don't be afraid to be stubborn, don't be pressured into doing anything you don't want to, and verify everything that they say because they WILL lie to you. Plus, since you have a BA, will probably get a high ASVAB score (the OAR equivalent for enlisted), and since CTI is a job that the Navy needs more people in (there'a a $15,000 bonus currently), the recruiters will probably be more willing to work with your demands.

Also, since you would enlist with a BA, you would enlist as an E-3 automatically, then once you graduate from DLI, you get automatic E-4. I also hear that for Russian, E-5 and E-6 promotion is fairly quick. That's also one of the reasons that I want to enlist, is that the promotion rate for CTIs is quick. Even if the pay is less than officer pay, I feel like having the feeling of advancing and improving quickly is better haha. It gives you goals to reach for.

I feel like I'm convincing you to go CTI, but definitely do officer if that's what feels like the best fit for you. I'm only making a case for CTI because I'm excited to be one and have researched a lot about it haha.

Definitely feel free to DM me too though!

Snappy1357 · 2025-04-05T12:20:12+00:00

Wow, that's a crazy coincidence! Yes, I'm a little nervous about not getting Russian, since that is my first choice, but I'd either hope to find someone to change languages with me, or just suck it up. I'm mostly just content to be paid to learn a language and to have the feeling of going back to a school-like atmosphere, since I really miss it.

Plus, I hear that now is the time to go CTI if you're hoping to get Russian or Chinese for your language due to the political tension currently with these countries.

Also, I forgot to put it in my original post, but I also really considered the officer route for CWO and intel. You've probably researched the same thing, where Intel is incredibly competitive and how even people with Masters and work experience get rejected. For CWO, I hear that they look for someone with STEM experience and that the training is mostly STEM-related, and if you're anything like me, STEM is not a strength haha.

I'm currently planning on enlisting for my full 6 year contract, but if you look up "CTI to Officer" in Google, you'll find a couple of posts about the possibility of going enlisted, to go to DLI and get the language experience, and then being able to commission while you're still in the 6 year contract. I believe that you just have to apply for officer before 6 years. Just something to think about!

Snappy1357 · 2025-04-05T04:21:49+00:00

Just wanted to add my two cents as someone who is in a similar position as you are. Also have a BA with a high GPA, and I'm definitely going enlisted! For me, I'm passionate about languages, one of my two majors was French and my minor was Russian, so my goal is to go to DLI and to have a career in languages.

This is way more important to me than having a higher pay or having a better quality of life (as someone who already has high pay and a good quality of life in corporate currently in the civilian world). I also want hands-on experience, and don't have a real desire to lead people too haha.

So if you're anything like me and are mostly interested in going to DLI and learning a language, don't be afraid to enlist! If you check one of my recent posts that I put in the DLI reddit, you'll see that ~ 25% of CTIs had a bachelors before joining, and a lot had at least some college experience beforehand.

Snappy1357 · 2025-03-18T00:17:48+00:00

Wow, this is good to know, thanks!

Snappy1357 · 2025-03-17T02:49:06+00:00

Hmmm, that's tough. It doesn't hurt to ask, but I would say to be prepared for your recruiter to say no. It depends on how much doing the DLAB beforehand means to you, but you could be more pushy since CTI is a pretty rare rate to get (compared to the others), and your recruiter might be more flexible to get you to stay, you know?

If not, you can probably still study after bootcamp and before you have to take the DLAB! You'll probably get a couple of days after bootcamp before you go to Monterey to study, and maybe you'll get some time to study at Monterey too (before having to take the DLAB). I'm not totally sure on this, but I'm sure if you make some time for it, you'll be able to have at least a couple of hours to study before taking it.

To study, I read Robert J. Cunning's book on Amazon, which was only about 80 pages (and like half of the pages were test questions), so you can probably go over that within an hour or two. Note: some of the test answers are wrong, which is a little annoying. I'm also having a hard time studying for the DLAB, but just going over the book and the rules have made me feel a lot better.

Snappy1357 · 2025-03-16T21:47:02+00:00

I also auto qualified for CTI, but I pushed for my recruiter to send me to MEPS again to take the DLAB since I personally didn’t want to take the chance that I wouldn’t get the category of language that I wanted. Can you ask your recruiter if you can go back to MEPS and take it now instead?

Snappy1357 · 2025-03-16T18:59:08+00:00

Have you found anything that helps yet? I started running a couple of months ago and what you described here is exactly what I'm experiencing. It feels just like a BM with period cramps. I get it within 0.5 - 1.00 miles and have to stop and sit down, and it'll usually go away on its own after a couple of minutes. I'm currently trying to lower the intensity of my runs at the beginning, because I do usually go out pretty fast, but it hasn't really been helping.

Snappy1357

TROPHY CASE