OCS SNA I-SEL chances (but I'm a dual-citizen)

[IsraeliDino]

Howdy all!

First of all I'll start off by saying that I have been lurking on this website for a while and have learned so much from all of the various postings here, it really is an honor to be able to engage in a place with such deep-rooted experience and knowledge. And being able to read threads from the early 2000s is quite something hahaha, a journey through time and history indeed.

Now, to make a long story short (I'll do my best I swear)...
I am a 26 year old Israeli-American who is coming up on his final year of aerospace engineering studies in Israel. After having served in the IDF the mandatory service required of me as an Israeli citizen (and making it a year in the Israeli pilot training program before washing out - the attrition rate per course is usually somewhere around 85% so naturally the philosophy is quite different than that of the USA hahaha) - I've known for quite some time that becoming a military officer + pilot/aviator is an ultimate dream/goal of mine, and that if I didn't explore every avenue to reach that, I would regret it deeply for the rest of my life. It also probably helps that I was raised in a USAF family - my father was a FAIP who later flew C-5s and C-21s - so this dream was brought into form from a very young age, being surrounded by aviation and growing up on air force bases, and was eventually "confirmed" to me from my time in the Israeli air force flight academy where I truly understood this was what I wanted to do, through experience.

And so, in deciding to try and open up all the doors and avenues possible for post-graduation, I scheduled to take the ASTB-E and AFOQT to see just what may be. I very recently took the ASTB (by the way, Barron and Trivium are awesome prep books, and all of the material on airwarriors was incredibly helpful as well - including Jantzen and Mike's trainer, WOW!!!) and my scores are as follows:

OAR - 67
AQR - 9
PFAR - 8
FOFAR - 9

Which should qualify me for SNA I-SEL since my GPA thus far is also high enough!
I'll be taking the AFOQT soon too, but there is no doubt that the Navy's process is much quicker as the test is all-in-one, that is, nice and streamlined haha. I also had my medical checkups/physical, and everything in that sense is good to go as well!

Finally, the bottom line is this - with my dual citizenship status and the fact that I have served in a foreign military, do any of you know/can infer if this will pose an issue for my selection to OCS with an SNA slot? At what stage does the security clearance process happen? I read that it occurs sometime in OCS, but it seems a bit odd to me that all of this background information on candidates won't be checked before beginning the process...

I will also add that I have asked my recruiters this and they confirmed that their past 4 SNA selects were ALL dual citizens of the USA and the UK, and they had no issue moving forward with the process...thing is that Israel is a tad bit different a country to be a citizen of when compared to the UK, especially in light of recent events, to say the least.

Have any of you met/known dual-citizen officers throughout your service, from countries other than members of NATO (or other "obvious" close allies like Australia)?

I know that in the end I'll just have to find out myself and continue forwards with the process, and that is exactly what I plan to do - but I am genuinely curious if anyone here can possibly shed some light on my situation.

Thank you all in advance for your time and assistance - I really appreciate it, and am hoping for the best!

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

Words

Welcome to the forum. The “new guy/gal” life story or “what are my chances” posts are discouraged since they have been asked and answered regularly here. Additionally, you have a handy and dandy recruiter to help fill in the pieces in terms of personalized questions.

Suggest utilizing the search function + leveraging your resources. Similar advice for any follow on or separate questions you may have.

Good luck!

 

[IsraeliDino]

Welcome to the forum. The “new guy/gal” life story or “what are my chances” posts are discouraged since they have been asked and answered regularly here. Additionally, you have a handy and dandy recruiter to help fill in the pieces in terms of personalized questions.

Suggest utilizing the search function + leveraging your resources. Similar advice for any follow on or separate questions you may have.

Good luck!

Hello there, thanks for your response, oh FormerRecruitingGuru!

I know they are discouraged, but after searching the forums I found that no one has asked about commissioning through OCS with prior military service from a foreign military, and believe that the experience of forum members who may know people who started their naval/military careers in a boat similar to mine may assist in shedding light on what is to come.

Also, it seems the recruiters don't have too much to do with the security clearance process which from my understanding happens later on - I asked them this already and they said that it is beyond them.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[exNavyOffRec]

Hello there, thanks for your response, oh FormerRecruitingGuru!

I know they are discouraged, but after searching the forums I found that no one has asked about commissioning through OCS with prior military service from a foreign military, and believe that the experience of forum members who may know people who started their naval/military careers in a boat similar to mine may assist in shedding light on what is to come.

Also, it seems the recruiters don't have too much to do with the security clearance process which from my understanding happens later on - I asked them this already and they said that it is beyond them.

Thanks a bunch!

The recruiting manual would provide insight, your recruiter just needs to look up the info.

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

Which should qualify me for SNA I-SEL since my GPA thus far is also high enough!
I'll be taking the AFOQT soon too, but there is no doubt that the Navy's process is much quicker as the test is all-in-one, that is, nice and streamlined haha. I also had my medical checkups/physical, and everything in that sense is good to go as well!

Finally, the bottom line is this - with my dual citizenship status and the fact that I have served in a foreign military, do any of you know/can infer if this will pose an issue for my selection to OCS with an SNA slot? At what stage does the security clearance process happen? I read that it occurs sometime in OCS, but it seems a bit odd to me that all of this background information on candidates won't be checked before beginning the process...

Hello there, thanks for your response, oh FormerRecruitingGuru!

I know they are discouraged, but after searching the forums I found that no one has asked about commissioning through OCS with prior military service from a foreign military, and believe that the experience of forum members who may know people who started their naval/military careers in a boat similar to mine may assist in shedding light on what is to come.

Also, it seems the recruiters don't have too much to do with the security clearance process which from my understanding happens later on - I asked them this already and they said that it is beyond them.

Thanks a bunch!

Re-read your questions, I put them in bold for you. Your questions are the following:

1. Are you eligible to apply with a dual citizenship/prior foreign military experience.
2. When does the security clearance process begin.

Both of these are basic recruiting questions your officer recruiter can tell you. Based on the fact they haven't rejected you from the initial phone call/contact, that probably shows you + indicates to you the answer to #1.

My original advice stands.

 

[IsraeliDino]

Indeed, the fact that I have made it through to this point proves that to at least start the process, it isn't disqualifying, but I was referring more to the rest of the process...

Either way, I will ask them again in the hopes they will be able to find the answers - and in the meantime, I'm also hoping that maybe someone on here has met, throughout their careers, officers with a similar background to mine and can provide some insight!

Thank you both!

 

[IKE]

There is recent policy guidance regarding student naval aviators/flight officers, but I can't find it online (meaning it may not be releasable). In short, one used to be able to go to Pensacola and fly with no more than eligibility for secret clearance. That isn't the case any more.

If you take publicly available information as a guide: dual-citizenship isn't a disqualifier for SCI, but you may need to renounce the non-U.S. citizenship, and traveling on the non-U.S. passport is a no-no. If you have significant Israeli connections (family, property, etc.), it could impact clearance for particular programs.

I'm certainly not a recruiting expert, but I'm not sure the retired folks are tracking this recent change for aircrew. I'd reach out to someone currently at CNATRA for details.

 

[IsraeliDino]

There is recent policy guidance regarding student naval aviators/flight officers, but I can't find it online (meaning it may not be releasable). In short, one used to be able to go to Pensacola and fly with no more than eligibility for secret clearance. That isn't the case any more.

If you take publicly available information as a guide: dual-citizenship isn't a disqualifier for SCI, but you may need to renounce the non-U.S. citizenship, and traveling on the non-U.S. passport is a no-no. If you have significant Israeli connections (family, property, etc.), it could impact clearance for particular programs.

I'm certainly not a recruiting expert, but I'm not sure the retired folks are tracking this recent change for aircrew. I'd reach out to someone currently at CNATRA for details.

Thank you so much, IKE!

No doubt my Israeli connections will be a hurdle, but I will do what I can to make it all happen. I have read about the possible renouncement of citizenship - it will definitely be interesting to see if this will be required of me or not, especially compared to those other dual citizenships who did not have to give theirs up. Either way, I will do what I must to keep the dream alive.

And wow yes, reaching out to CNATRA sounds like an excellent idea - I will try and find some relevant contacts and hopefully get some answers.

Many thanks again to you!