LFCFan
*Insert nerd wings here*
One motivator for intel that hasn't been mentioned is who you get to work with. Say you're an aviation NPQ or a BUD/S-dud. Intel can give you a chance to work in those communities for your initial operational tour and maybe once or twice again after that. So while it is more Jane's than James Bond, it's fun to brief guys flying OIR missions like I did, create products about new threat streams, sit in all the lectures during SFARP and learn more about jets and missiles (both blue and red), and so on. And if they like you, a backseat ride or two may be on offer (or six, like one of my friends received). Or, even if you can't kick down doors to snag the bad guys, you can be involved in helping to make that happen in certain NSW related jobs.**
That being said, the community is mostly still focused on the maritime. A large percentage of JO first sea tours are in aviation (~40% from my last count) but after that you're probably going to be sitting on a watchfloor somewhere making powerpoint slides about where adversary ships are, or answering a storm of phone calls about whether or not North Korea is shooting a missile at Hawaii. If air or ground stuff is your main interest and you're not someone who is trying to redesignate, you should probably look at a different service.
In a nutshell, we're one of the support jobs out there that still has a toe in the fight vice being largely removed from it. Working close with URL officers has given me a decent idea of what "our place" is, vice having the delusion that IWC officers should be URL, which someone people actually think.
Our quality of life is pretty good. Less sea duty than other communities, but ashore you would find yourself working weird hours on a watchfloor for the first 6-12 months at most large intel centers. Additionally, while some jobs are certainly more career enhancing than others, we don't have a "golden path" per se, and have a lot of flexibility in terms of our assignments and detailing (too much IMO, but that's another story).
Some people find that boring and have to be in a trench, cockpit, or bridge for this to be appealing. If you're one of those people, this job isn't for you. Bottom line is that if you really like nerding out over military stuff like history, hardware, solving intel/targeting problems, and so on, it's an interesting career field to be in.
As for the admissions percentage...a pretty big chunk of us, myself included, were attrited from aviation or BUD/S (sitting height got me). I don't know how much of a dent this makes in the odds for guys applying pre-commissioning (whether as civilians or enlisted in the fleet). I've heard from senior folks that our community is somewhat dependent on attrites to keep our manning in order, since we don't get healthy USNA/NROTC grads and would otherwise have to fund more OCS slots.
That being said, the community is mostly still focused on the maritime. A large percentage of JO first sea tours are in aviation (~40% from my last count) but after that you're probably going to be sitting on a watchfloor somewhere making powerpoint slides about where adversary ships are, or answering a storm of phone calls about whether or not North Korea is shooting a missile at Hawaii. If air or ground stuff is your main interest and you're not someone who is trying to redesignate, you should probably look at a different service.
In a nutshell, we're one of the support jobs out there that still has a toe in the fight vice being largely removed from it. Working close with URL officers has given me a decent idea of what "our place" is, vice having the delusion that IWC officers should be URL, which someone people actually think.
Our quality of life is pretty good. Less sea duty than other communities, but ashore you would find yourself working weird hours on a watchfloor for the first 6-12 months at most large intel centers. Additionally, while some jobs are certainly more career enhancing than others, we don't have a "golden path" per se, and have a lot of flexibility in terms of our assignments and detailing (too much IMO, but that's another story).
Some people find that boring and have to be in a trench, cockpit, or bridge for this to be appealing. If you're one of those people, this job isn't for you. Bottom line is that if you really like nerding out over military stuff like history, hardware, solving intel/targeting problems, and so on, it's an interesting career field to be in.
As for the admissions percentage...a pretty big chunk of us, myself included, were attrited from aviation or BUD/S (sitting height got me). I don't know how much of a dent this makes in the odds for guys applying pre-commissioning (whether as civilians or enlisted in the fleet). I've heard from senior folks that our community is somewhat dependent on attrites to keep our manning in order, since we don't get healthy USNA/NROTC grads and would otherwise have to fund more OCS slots.
