cama93
Member
- Joined
- Jun 9, 2016
- Messages
- 57
I'm dead set on intel and foreign affairs, so here's what I've learned so far:Well, I have a couple options I'm interested in. I've thought about medical school so I would probably major in chemistry if I went that route, I'm interested in political science but mainly in foreign affairs because I like foreign language so maybe an ambassador of some type, and I'm also really interested in military intelligence. Those are all super broad and really have nothing to do with each other but those are probably my main three that I'm thinking about. Maybe engineering if those don't work out.
I actually recently had a conversation with a USAFA rep regarding their opportunities for that career path. According to him, AF dedicates a lot of resources to intel despite being the smaller branch, and they have a very thorough major path for those seeking that career. You can either choose to major in political science and then pick a concentration within that (which would educate you more generally on world politics, and you could use that major to do practically anything, Ex: military law) or you can major in something called "FAS" (Foreign Area Studies) in which you would have to choose a geographical area and pick a language in which to become super specialized in. If you do FAS, they send you to your specialized area once you commission and you become the designated AF expert for whatever area that is. If you want to be an ambassador, having already lived in that area for a while as an officer should prove very helpful. USAFA also has a lot of opportunities for immersion while you're a cadet, including spending summers/semesters abroad practicing the language/culture you're learning about, exchanging with foreign military academies, foreign language/ culture clubs at the Academy, and more. AF also has a LOT of STEM power, and they love their engineers. USMA was founded to train engineers, and they also have good exchange/study abroad programs, but I think AF would be better in your case.
Go to the summer programs for the academies you are most likely to pick as your first and second choice. For some nominations, you can only pick one academy, so the summer programs could help you decide (or confirm) which academy is the best fit for you.