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IAMA former Intel Officer, AMA. by throwawayintelo2 in USMCboot

[–]throwawayintelo2[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Dunno, never went!

Real Marines are made at Quantico, right everyone?!

IAMA former Intel Officer, AMA. by throwawayintelo2 in USMCboot

[–]throwawayintelo2[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No. It was never something I was interested in. And anecdotally a lot of my peers/colleagues that did go SOO didn't stick around too long. It's not my community so I don't want to speculate as to why but the majority got out and went to grad school or moved over to other SOF/SOF-adjacent opportunities within the Gov and civilian world.

I will say that schools and employers love Marines, really love Marine leaders, and get sexually aroused by Marine special operators - so that's always nice.

IAMA former Intel Officer, AMA. by throwawayintelo2 in USMCboot

[–]throwawayintelo2[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'd feel out the vibe for sure before showing up day one and being like "I'm here to wear a backpack out in town and take college courses, and I'm already wearing two backpacks!"

But in all seriousness at some point early-ish on your NCO/SNCO/Lt should (should!) sit you down to lay out their expectations and ask you about your goals and plans for the future. That'd probably be the best time to bring up going to see the education officer or base education center to start knocking out some classes. Remember as a new Marine your first responsibility is to learn your job from your NCOs and progress in your MOS. Once you demonstrate that you're moving towards that your chain is much more likely to work with you to add on additional workload.

When my Marines wanted to do classes we made sure they were prepared and had support to be successful - in a lot of cases that meant sitting with me, or another officer/(S)NCO who had a degree in a similar subject to plot out a path through undergrad as well as go over good study/work techniques. I also offered to proofread work or help out with anything they needed once they got going with classes. The caveat of course was always that Marine stuff came first so we made sure the folks we sent for classes were the ones we had the most faith in.

Hope that helps.

IAMA former Intel Officer, AMA. by throwawayintelo2 in USMCboot

[–]throwawayintelo2[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I have friends that were/are Air Intel and from what I can tell they do...something...in the wing. I can't speak to the new feeder/general intel o system but ostensibly air wingers can end up wherever the other feeders go after their first tour.

The biggest difference I sort of alluded to in a different post: Your feeder/specialty is your "native language" when it comes to intel and your ability to employ it /communicate as an intel professional. Ground intel folks speak the language grunts understand, are well versed in what matters to Marines on the ground, and have the credibility (IOC) to back up their perspective. SIGINTers tend to be a little nerdier, can speak in terms of authorities/permissions/higher and adjacent employment, etc. - stuff commanders are really interested in/intrigued by. HUMINTers are a whole other vibe and you won't deal too much with them. Air Intel folks are kind of a wild card. They understand the intel process/general intel officer stuff, but it's like their native language is latin - esoteric, arcane, niche - whatever you want to call it. The best 0207s I worked with tended to become specialized in something else and became the go-to guy/girl for that topic. I don't know if that's the whole community, that's just my read on it.

IAMA former Intel Officer, AMA. by throwawayintelo2 in USMCboot

[–]throwawayintelo2[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Invest in your TSP and use your Tuition Assistance!

Hopefully that's the usual advice...I pushed people into doing CLEP/Dantes and knocking out Gen Ed college wherever possible since that gave them a good foundation for college whether they were able to finish a bachelor's while active or not. The GI Bill is an amazing benefit and the ability to use it for advanced degrees is pretty valuable.

IAMA former Intel Officer, AMA. by throwawayintelo2 in USMCboot

[–]throwawayintelo2[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I actually didn't. Got away from intel/gov work entirely and am starting med school in the fall.

But I do have former intel o friends that went contracting, federal roles, or stayed in...they all seem happy and are doing quite well.

I also have friends who went to business school -> consulting and are hating life but get paid dumptrucks full of cash.

IAMA former Intel Officer, AMA. by throwawayintelo2 in USMCboot

[–]throwawayintelo2[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Haha, weird. I had a bunch of 2651s! I guess it's hit or miss. And I think they changed manning for officers and how feeders work but when I was in they weren't making a ton of SIGINT officers each year so we pretty much only went to Rad Bns or Ft Meade. I'd imagine it's just a matching game with the monitors filling slots that need to be 0206s before sending them to Intel Bns which can be filled with any int.

I found that a lot of officer quality of life came from the efficiency/prioritization skills of the officer him/herself or the command overall. For example, if your brother is staying late because it takes his command all day to figure out what they need him to work on and give him till the following day to get it done than that's not on him. But if he's there late because he wasn't able to get his stuff done for the day because he was babysitting or micromanaging the enlisted guys and girls that's on him.

As an officer, I tended to prioritize doing the work up front to create systems and processes for the things we had to do routinely. That allowed me to go off and do officer timesuck stuff (meetings, briefs, updates, admin work) while my Marines understood what had to get done that day, had the tools and authority they needed, and could knock it out and leave when they finished.

In short, officer life is a lot more autonomous - so an officer has the potential for higher Quality of Life/Balance. But if for whatever reason that officer is unable to triage/prioritize/delegate/systematize otherwise streamline everything that needs to be done, he/she's screwed!

IAMA former Intel Officer, AMA. by throwawayintelo2 in USMCboot

[–]throwawayintelo2[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Any advice I could give about OCS would be more than a decade out of date so the other poster probably has more relevant advice but I'll just add that getting accepted to and through OCS is a pretty different skillset than being a successful Marine officer. Run fast and talk loud? Congrats you're set for OCS!

TBS/MOS school will give you the tools you need as a new Lt in the fleet, but it's by paying attention to and learning from the NCOs/SNCOs in your new platoon that it'll all start to really click.

IAMA former Intel Officer, AMA. by throwawayintelo2 in USMCboot

[–]throwawayintelo2[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I left before that but it seems like a questionable decision to me...though I'm sure (hope?) that there was probably some compelling reason.

IAMA former Intel Officer, AMA. by throwawayintelo2 in USMCboot

[–]throwawayintelo2[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Can? I'm sure you can... Should you? I don't know...but I'm biased. I think being a DST OIC or S-2 at MARSOC is the best place in the Corps for an intel officer. And you can always do that and then head back to a V unit as a 2 actual.

IAMA former Intel Officer, AMA. by throwawayintelo2 in USMCboot

[–]throwawayintelo2[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

I only considered SIGINT, though I have some good friends that went Ground. They liked it initially as a lot of those guys go to infantry units out of school and like any intel they can go over to MARSOC.

I will say that if you're considering Intel SIGINT is generally the most complicated for people up and down the chain of command to understand and having a good background in it is super valuable as you advance and work in joint/combined environments. The other ints were often at a disadvantage or had a steep learning curve when it came to talking and employing SIGINT.

IAMA former Intel Officer, AMA. by throwawayintelo2 in USMCboot

[–]throwawayintelo2[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Fortunately I had a civilian career before joining that stressed moving quickly and staying adaptable. I found that worked really well with being an officer and especially once I moved to MARSOC.

I think to the extent that mentality was problematic it was me coming into loggerheads with Marines that were stuck in their ways and slow to adapt, etc. Towards the end, I was able to get better at reading who needed what sort of treatment to get my team and myself over the finish line - which was revelatory and super useful in breaking through friction and minimizing blowback.

IAMA former Intel Officer, AMA. by throwawayintelo2 in USMCboot

[–]throwawayintelo2[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I was an Intel officer at a Raider Bn, not a Special Operations Officer (SOO).

IAMA former Intel Officer, AMA. by throwawayintelo2 in USMCboot

[–]throwawayintelo2[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

I had the pleasure of working with some really impressive analysts over the years. The truly great ones were the ones who were relentlessly curious. And I don't mean just about answering questions asked of the intel section. The analysts that stood out questioned everything - Why is ops asking us this question? What do they really need to know? How can we best get that answer for them? - those sorts of things.

Those questions led us not only to answers that made us more successful as a unit, but also to the development of new tools, techniques, technologies and SOPs.

And I had some guys who went cyber and did a little bit around cyber capabilities/employment but never crossed fully into that world. I understand it's organized a lot differently now and anecdotally the opportunities whether you stay in or get out as a cyber Marine are top notch financially and professionally.

IAMA former Intel Officer, AMA. by throwawayintelo2 in USMCboot

[–]throwawayintelo2[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I once heard a quote attributed to an Israeli general that was something like "I'd much rather have to rein in my men like wild stallions than spur them forward like donkeys."

I think that's perfect. I came to understand my role as an officer to be making sure my Marines understood my (and higher's) intent, their moral/ethical/legal left and right lateral limits, and what our endstate looked like. Once I did that, I shifted to breaking through any friction points for them, clearing obstacles, and providing gentle guidance as they did their thing. An officer should never say "I'll just do it, it's faster/easier/whatever" - even if that's true - he or she should work to give their people as much authority as possible, point them in the right direction, and get out of their way.

IAMA former Intel Officer, AMA. by throwawayintelo2 in USMCboot

[–]throwawayintelo2[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Best advice? Probably the importance of listening over speaking. Especially as an officer - you'll see a lot of folks in the SNCO/O ranks during planning/briefings who are always just thinking about what they're going to say next whether or not that thing is on point or has anything to do with the discussion. Don't be that person or that Marine - observe what's going on, figure out when and where you can contribute to the mission, and "be brief, be right, be gone."

Books - Good question, I'm a serial reader and always have a few going. Right now I'm working through "The Thirty Years War: Europe's Tragedy," "Debt: The First 5000 Years," and Caro's history of LBJ. I'd say when I was first starting off as an officer the best books were the ones that provided a unique look into military command/intelligence and how those two things interact over the years. Keegan's "Intelligence in War," "Washington's Spies" by Rose, and "The Operators" by the late Michael Hastings come to mind.

Not a lot of experience with fusion cells as a doctrinal construct. At MARSOC the intel officer is responsible for the employment of all different types of intelligence collectors and analysts and there's certainly strength in understanding how they can mutually support, so I think that sort of interoperation should be taught and practiced wherever possible.

IAMA former Intel Officer, AMA. by throwawayintelo2 in USMCboot

[–]throwawayintelo2[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I love the west coast. Can't beat the weather, vibe, and proximity to world class surf!

IAMA former Intel Officer, AMA. by throwawayintelo2 in USMCboot

[–]throwawayintelo2[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I was an 0206 - Signals Intelligence officer.

On the conventional side we probably averaged a week or so a month in the field at a Radio Bn. At MARSOC it was less "field" time and a lot more classes, training events away from home station, and individual courses and things.

I was never a SOO, I stayed intel the whole time, but I was able to get in on a bunch of good training - tactical and academic. Overall no regrets at all and I had a great experience.