Intelligence Officer

[Tommsmith12312]

Hello. I was wondering if anyone could shed some light on this. I recently became a US Citizen through my parents automatically, and I've lived in America for nearly my entire life. I was originally born in Israel, however, and I was wondering if this automatically disqualifies me from serving as an Intelligence Officer if I were to be appointed and graduated from a service academy (hopefully West Point). Thank you in advance!

 

[Vitalzt]

No that does not disqualify you from any intelligence job, actually not being born here doesn't mean you can't be given classified information. In fact the only position you can't hold the presidency. Just becoming an officer in the military you will be given some level of classified information and one day you could be director of the CIA or NSA if you want.. work hard for it.


Edited: I have two relatives in the intelligence community now, one works for the CIA and another for some weird agency and none were born here.

 

[NavyHoops]

More than likely you are fine. None of us can tell you if you would clear a background investigation. It is more than just where you were born and citizenship. They investigate several things very closely: finances, record, connections, travel. Finances they are looking for large level of debt or loan defaults. I have seen an officer removed for defaulting on a student loan. A Secret clearance is required for the USMC and they lost their clearance and separated. I had a classmate removed from service for debt and conduct. Foreign travel, foreign family members, foreign friends are all investigated heavily. Conduct includes criminal background and role in organizations (don't join some anti government group and you should be fine on this one). Most officers it isn't an issue to get a Secret issue. Top Secret isn't that hard either. There are additional access levels once you get to the TS level that require additional clearances and authorization.

 

[jagger19]

You'll probably be fine, but know that I have a teammate who can't get a Top Secret clearance because his girlfriend's parents are from a former Communist state. Seeing as how Israel is NOT, you shouldn't have many extra hoops to jump through.