Intelligence??
- Thread starter 2015wzhou
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It's not mediatory, and the Coast Guard is a member of the intel community, so you can shoot for those billets, typically second-tour or later (so not right out of CGA). My class had the first intel class at CGA…. it was fun. It wasn't nearly as sexy as we had hoped, because it's not like the movies…. but it is important.
To see the core curriculum and the required courses by major, see the current catalog:
http://www.cga.edu/academics2.aspx?id=306
http://www.cga.edu/academics2.aspx?id=306
I'm in the Government Major at CGA, and my focus is Security Studies. We have a pretty robust intelligence program, and we have the only classroom that is SIPRnet capable, which is pretty cool. Strategic Intelligence, as a class, is the capstone level course for those interested in intelligence. You usually take it as a 1/c or a 2/c, depending on how many courses you can validate and how far ahead you are on your graduation requirements. It is not a required class. There is also a class called Intelligence and Democracy, which was, when I took it, more tactical level. We used the SIPRnet room fairly extensively. One class was like working at a MIFC (maritime intelligence fusion center), while strategic intel focused on doing products that you might encounter at the ICC (intelligence coordination center). However, none of these classes are required. You can graduate as a government major without taking most of the intel classes. Also, non-majors can take an intelligence class as well, but it's much more broad and shallow than the two I mentioned.
I'm trying to get into the intelligence field second tour; you can't get into intelligence first tour, at least not as an Academy grad. Maybe you could if you graduated OCS after you were a prior-enlisted member who was an IS (intelligence specialist). From what I've heard, Intelligence billets are more or less as competitive as every other billet, some people say less competitive. I've also had the opportunity to talk to OPM (office of personnel management) who basically said it's very hard to progress in an exclusively intelligence speciality as an officer; they want you to balance your intelligence jobs with operational tours. The Coast Guard has two varieties of intelligence officers; a dual-specialty officer, and a primary intel specialty officer. There's names for both of these types but I don't have the OPM guidance in front of me right now. But the Coast Guard isn't like the other services: you can be a pilot, cutterman, response officer, etc, and also be an intelligence officer (I think the Marines do this too but I don't remember), which I think is a pretty cool thing.
I'm trying to get into the intelligence field second tour; you can't get into intelligence first tour, at least not as an Academy grad. Maybe you could if you graduated OCS after you were a prior-enlisted member who was an IS (intelligence specialist). From what I've heard, Intelligence billets are more or less as competitive as every other billet, some people say less competitive. I've also had the opportunity to talk to OPM (office of personnel management) who basically said it's very hard to progress in an exclusively intelligence speciality as an officer; they want you to balance your intelligence jobs with operational tours. The Coast Guard has two varieties of intelligence officers; a dual-specialty officer, and a primary intel specialty officer. There's names for both of these types but I don't have the OPM guidance in front of me right now. But the Coast Guard isn't like the other services: you can be a pilot, cutterman, response officer, etc, and also be an intelligence officer (I think the Marines do this too but I don't remember), which I think is a pretty cool thing.
- Joined
- Nov 25, 2007
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Great info!