Advice needed - Daughter thinking about service

just to ensure we beat the horse to ensure it's dead... OFFICERS RECRUITER!

Originally Posted by tobii3

screw Intel....point her towards CA/PSYOPS.

Cliff's notes -

Functional area description. Encompasses positions which re-quire officers possessing special skills relating to the conduct of PSYOP or CA. Additionally, these highly educated officers must have critical skills associated with a specific region of the world, foreign language expertise, political-military awareness, and cross-cultural communications. PSYOP and CA officers perform critical roles across the spectrum of conflict at all levels of command. In addition, both PSYOP and CA have companies, battalions, and one PSYOP group level command, which perform significant missions in support of Conventional and Special Operations, theater, and national objectives. PSYOP and CA officers play critical roles in foreign internal defense and unconventional warfare as well as other missions directed by the national command authority, in peace and war

I wasn't suggesting it as a shot in the dark like some of these recommendations, I was suggesting it because I have spent 20 years WORKING with these kinds of Officers.

Another point -

Special qualifications for both Psychological Operations and Civil Affairs Officers.

(a) Be fully qualified as a CPT in primary branch.

(b) Have a Defense Language Aptitude Battery (DLAB) score of 85 or above, or, possess a measurable ability in a foreign language.

(c) Male or female managed by the Officer Personnel Manage*ment Directorate.

(d) Be eligible for TOP SECRET security clearance under the provisions of AR 380-67.

(e) Be airborne qualified or volunteer for airborne training (if required).

(f) Possess a baccalaureate degree, preferably in social/political science or related disciplines, from an accredited college or university.

Cryptolinguist for the Air Force would probably be her best bet. That was my plan until my health deteriorated so badly. My cousin and few guys I smoke with have done that and it's a darned good job especially if she has some prior language experience. Although the languages really needed right now are Middle Eastern. Since her language experience is Indo-European her best bet would be to try for Farsi or Pashto which are relatively easy to learn in comparison to a Semitic language like Arabic or an Altaic language like Korean.

[bvilchez]

Originally Posted by Darrell

I think she should join the Air Force. They take better care of their people and have better facilities than the rest of the services. They also have a great Intelligence field, especially for Intel officers. Make sure she is seeing an OFFICER recruiter, and not an ENLISTED. You don't need your little girl who just spent 4 years getting a degree, getting suckered into joining the Air Force for 4 years as an E-3.

EDIT:

Tony beat me above about the officer recruiter thing.

Darrell you're my boy and all and I can't wait to herf with you but you only served in the Air Force correct? Just my but I've only served in my beloved Corps and don't know how anyone else takes care of their people. I understand it's your opinion and I respect it fully. But let's not jump to conclusions here please.

On the other hand Darrell has made a point that I have seen time and time again in the Corps and that's my junior Marines telling me they have a 4 year degree. WTF!?!?!?!? I hate it when recruiters do that because it makes us look bad as a whole and 99% of the time gives that one individual a bad taste in their mouth about that service since the recruiter pulled a fast one like that.

Whatever choice she makes just instill in her that it's a commitment. If she goes military and sticks with it for a few years then tell her to enjoy it and to make the most of it. There are many programs out there for officers that will definitely be beneficial for when they decide to transition out of the service and into the civilian sector. Some may even apply to something she might want to pursue later.

Biggest thing is make sure she weighs ALL her options.

[Tikihut27]

Now that we've all determined she should be an officer (not everyone wants to be one, although I am one myself), the key factor to me is how she is going to intergrate her service into her long-term career goals.

She should look at what job she wants 10-15 years from now... research a little as to the qualifications of the positions. Things like TS clearances, experience, civilian degrees, etc.

She should then tailor her military goals so that she meets her long-term goals- that the military leaves her with those qualifications when she decides to leave. The military helps with Master's degrees, but different branches and jobs within them will offer her specialty skills and clearances.

Then balance that with having her pick a job she will enjoy in the meantime.

For example, MI can help her get a TS clearance, but could be kind of boring if you are stuck writing powerpoint presentations all day. CA can get her out into the world and interacting with all types of people. Then again, CA folks get deployed a lot and it's a kind of dangerous job...

The National Guard and Reserves offer a lot of the training and experiences while at the same time allowing (most of the time, ho, ho) for officers to gain experience in the civilain sector at the same time. This has worked out well for me, except for the multiple deployments since 9/11. The National Guard also offers state missions, which in FL is a big deal. As a Guardsman, I can tell you the opportunity to help folks right here in NY deal with natural disasters is a big reason for me to stay in.

Drawback to the Guard and Reserves is that is can be hard to find the job you want located close enough to you.

Originally Posted by bvilchez

Darrell you're my boy and all and I can't wait to herf with you but you only served in the Air Force correct? Just my but I've only served in my beloved Corps and don't know how anyone else takes care of their people. I understand it's your opinion and I respect it fully. But let's not jump to conclusions here please.

On the other hand Darrell has made a point that I have seen time and time again in the Corps and that's my junior Marines telling me they have a 4 year degree. WTF!?!?!?!? I hate it when recruiters do that because it makes us look bad as a whole and 99% of the time gives that one individual a bad taste in their mouth about that service since the recruiter pulled a fast one like that.

Whatever choice she makes just instill in her that it's a commitment. If she goes military and sticks with it for a few years then tell her to enjoy it and to make the most of it. There are many programs out there for officers that will definitely be beneficial for when they decide to transition out of the service and into the civilian sector. Some may even apply to something she might want to pursue later.

Biggest thing is make sure she weighs ALL her options.

You're right Jay. We could all argue which service takes care of their people better and we would never get anywhere, because we work completely based off of assumptions -- however the AF does have the best facilities.

[Tio Gato]

http://careers.state.gov/officer/index.html
Take a look at the Foreign Service website.
Something I had wanted to do when I was young was work in embassies. Just make sure she can get CC's in the diplomatic pouch for you.