motivational statement: parents FOREIGN military experience?

[cossack]

Hi, I posted this on another forum but there has been no responses yet. I have a question regarding the motivational statement. Would it be beneficial or counterproductive if I mention that my father and both grandfathers were in the Soviet military and that I want to continue the military tradition in my family by serving in the US Navy? It is not the primary reason why I want to be a US Navy officer, but it could be a good addition to the statement.

Should I mention the Soviet military at all or just the military? I'm applying to IDC

Thanks.

 

[azguy]

Everyone's family comes from somewhere. Don't be ashamed of where yours comes from.

That said, if your last name is Putin...yeah you may want to leave the Soviet bits out

 

[robav8r]

Would it be beneficial or counterproductive if I mention that my father and both grandfathers were in the Soviet military and that I want to continue the military tradition in my family by serving in the US Navy?

YHGTBSM !!!!!!!

 

[cossack]

Everyone's family comes from somewhere. Don't be ashamed of where yours comes from.

That said, if your last name is Putin...yeah you may want to leave the Soviet bits out

haha, thank God that's not my last name.

I'm not ashamed at all... and the thing is, its not only my family that comes from there, but I'm originally from there also... so going into INTEL and through clearances might raise a few questions ))

 

[cossack]

YHGTBSM !!!!!!!

Why not? Yes, the military is subjected to the political establishment and loyalty to the country is 100%, but military culture is somewhat universal, so the tradition of wearing a uniform and serving is universal also.. the main problem is that its USSR... if I said some other country, a traditional U.S. ally or a neutral nation, it would be different, so there's the dilemma

 

[exNavyOffRec]

haha, thank God that's not my last name.

I'm not ashamed at all... and the thing is, its not only my family that comes from there, but I'm originally from there also... so going into INTEL and through clearances might raise a few questions ))

If you still have family there that you keep in contact with that could raise some issues, I had a young man who was born in Vietnam and his dad was still there, could not get him cleared to go nuke.

 

[LFCFan]

I'm more concerned about your security clearance than your statement right now. When were your parents in the Soviet military and what did they do? That might be relevant (a proud conscript is not the same thing as say, a career officer). What country are they *actually* from (since the USSR is now several countries)? If they are from one of the Baltic states that are now in NATO you might be ok if you say something about how your parents from said country served in the military and leave out the Soviet bit. Are they now US citizens?

I agree that you shouldn't be ashamed of where you came from, but since intel takes so few people a year I wouldn't be shocked if they saw that in your statement and thought "we can't risk taking this guy over someone else." Take that with a grain of salt because I've never sat on those boards or discussed the process with those who do. I watched one of my classmates with an estranged Colombian father struggle to get a clearance. There was also a guy who lost his clearance at OCS (he was going IW) because he was in the Ukrainian Air Force when he was younger.

 

[azguy]

I agree that you shouldn't be ashamed of where you came from, but since intel takes so few people a year I wouldn't be shocked if they saw that in your statement and thought "we can't risk taking this guy over someone else."

I don't buy that. The selection board members aren't background investigators. You're conflating two separate processes. I'll give the senior officers that sit those board the benefit of the doubt and assume that they pick the most competitive applicants, not just those whom they expect will be able to obtain a clearance.

In fact, there's something to be said for the benefits of recruiting intel officers who possess a deeper understanding of an issue/country/culture than just what they picked up in a few college classes or a vacation abroad.

 

[cossack]

Thanks for the responses.

Everyone is here and a U.S. citizen, originally from Russia (with love). I myself had worked for the Federal gov't before and they passed me for the background investigation, granted its not as detailed as a clearance. As of this year, I've lived most of my life in the U.S.

 

[Uncle Fester]

It will prob come up during your background investigation, but it won't really mean anything as far as application/selection. A lot of you guys are assuming there's rhyme and reason to the ssbi, but there ain't. I've known a guy whose parents were Iranian and took off when the Shah did (literally...IIAF colonel), still have family over there, and got clearances no problem. On the other hand, my wife's sisters were both born in the UK (dad-in-law was US Army stationed there) and that caused her no end of headaches for her clearance. Kept getting questions about her "British sisters". They weren't British, never were, were born to US citizens, but.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Thanks for the responses.

Everyone is here and a U.S. citizen, originally from Russia (with love). I myself had worked for the Federal gov't before and they passed me for the background investigation, granted its not as detailed as a clearance. As of this year, I've lived most of my life in the U.S.

Do you still have contacts there? that is what I have seen cause issues for a few people.

We don't know much about you, do you just qualify for Intel? or do you qualify for other designators that have a decent selection rate.

Edit: by qualify I mean age.

 

[Spekkio]

Would it be beneficial or counterproductive if I mention that my father and both grandfathers were in the Soviet military and that I want to continue the military tradition in my family by serving in the US Navy?

I think that you should focus your motivational statement on you instead of your ancestors, even if they served in the American military.

 

[cossack]

Do you still have contacts there? that is what I have seen cause issues for a few people.

We don't know much about you, do you just qualify for Intel? or do you qualify for other designators that have a decent selection rate.

Edit: by qualify I mean age.

No contacts there (relatives, but we don't keep contact with them at all). I'm 26 right now, so I qualify for everything I believe.

 

[exNavyOffRec]

No contacts there (relatives, but we don't keep contact with them at all). I'm 26 right now, so I qualify for everything I believe.

In that case you might want to look at other designators as well, IDC selects generally have at least some of the following qualities: tech degree, prior service or AD, and/or advanced degree.

IDC has one of the lowest selection rates in general.

 

[LFCFan]

I don't buy that. The selection board members aren't background investigators. You're conflating two separate processes. I'll give the senior officers that sit those board the benefit of the doubt and assume that they pick the most competitive applicants, not just those whom they expect will be able to obtain a clearance.

I am familiar with both processes, and I wouldn't risk it on a "benefit of the doubt" at all. At least at OCS when people had to redesignate from other areas some were told "you probably can't get a TS/SCI, so no IDC for you." So yes, clearance and applying are two different processes (as is an OCS redes, but at least that is made by the intel community manager and not a misinformed staff member in Newport), but I wouldn't draw attention to it in case someone looked at it and took it the wrong way. Don't get me wrong - I've said 1000 times on here that there is a ton of terrible gouge out there about clearances from people who have never done anything interesting and/or stupid to have to talk about when being cleared, but I think that saying "my whole family was in the Soviet military" is an unnecessary risk.

In fact, there's something to be said for the benefits of recruiting intel officers who possess a deeper understanding of an issue/country/culture than just what they picked up in a few college classes or a vacation abroad.

Slightly true, but I think this is based on the misunderstanding about what Navy intel does. It's more about technical stuff than political science stuff. As NavyOffRec has pointed out before, a common misconception is that speaking multiple languages is a big deal. It really isn't. You can wax poetic about Chinese politics until you're blue in the face, but if you can't wrap your head around threat systems or how navies operate, you're screwed.

Thanks for the responses.
Everyone is here and a U.S. citizen, originally from Russia (with love). I myself had worked for the Federal gov't before and they passed me for the background investigation, granted its not as detailed as a clearance. As of this year, I've lived most of my life in the U.S.

No contacts there (relatives, but we don't keep contact with them at all). I'm 26 right now, so I qualify for everything I believe.

All US citizens and no contacts over there is a good thing. Just for your reference, you'll need to provide copies of all their naturalization certs, so start digging those out sometime soon.

Also, being originally from Russia you're going to get a great callsign if you end up an AI (aviation intel O in a squadron). That I think we can all agree on.