<p>S is a rising college junior and has expressed interest in the CIA and/or FBI. He has come to realize that some background (in addition to a nice undergrad education) is needed.
Can anyone offer any advice? His impression is that he can serve 3 years through OCS, help his country while gaining experience for an ultimate goal of CIA/FBI. We know nothing about OCS (officer candidate school), if it would be appropriate and, if yes, which branch would be most suitable.
Any help would be appreciated on both fronts: Military and/or CIA-FBI.</p>
<p>Military experience isn’t necessary for a career with the CIA or FBI. I’ve known several people who worked for these organizations without having military experience. Your son should do a bit more research on recruitment practices for both of those organizations, and determine whether or not for his specific interests OCS and military service makes sense.</p>
<p>Would he consider working for the FBI in a position other than Special Agent? I know of two former intellignece analysts that worked for a few years, then were able to move into an agent position. The FBI recruits at many college campuses thoughout the year. So does Homeland Security and the NSA, so he could get his foot in the door.</p>
<p>Only go the military route if he is really interested in serving. There is no guarantee that it would help him get into CIA/FBI. OCS is getting harder to get into. Army and Marines would be the easiest to gain entry to for obvious reasons. </p>
<p>S1 is a Naval officer. He commissioned through the NROTC program. It’s not an easy life. Is there an ROTC unit at your S’s college? If so he should contact them and discuss joining ROTC for the last two years of college/or applying for OCS and get their views/ advice. OCS often has a wait list and takes the better part of a year to complete once you get started.</p>
<p>I seem to recall an FBI agent speaking to S1’s class years ago and told them that the minimum age for FBI was twenty- five.</p>
<p>Thank you both. It seems the internships are rather tough these days. He is a PolScience major at a top 50 LAC (tight connections with DC). CIA wants excellence in rare languages or computer science. FBI wants forensic accounting or security/military training. Homeland security and NSA are two great ideas. He may be missing something. I’ll help him with some more research.</p>
<p>packmom, thanks. I cross posted with you. That is great advice and food for thought.
Both FBI and CIA have internship programs, but they are quite difficult with only excellent credentials.</p>
<p>My D commented recently that internships in homeland security aren’t too hard to get, and he may be able to get security clearance with those (which in turn makes it easier to get a “real” job post-graduation in one of the organizations you have discussed). However, any internship with a security clearance requires very early application (I believe D received an offer in August for an internship starting in January this last year, and she put in her app months before the August acceptance – and clearance still barely came through in time). So he should start looking late summer/early fall to see when to apply for those organizations for internships for next summer if he wants to go that route.</p>
<p>There are a lot of security-related agencies in DC beyond CIA and FBI (a few have been noted on this thread). Sixteen in total, I think, and that does not include private contractors that do related work. And then there are international agencies like Interpol (D’s roommate in DC had an internship there last semester). Your son should investigate all of these, and apply to as many as possible for an internship next summer. He will probably find that (1) the skills from one may be transferable, (2) if he gets security clearance, it will help with his job search, and (3) he may really enjoy working for an organization that was not on his initial radar.</p>
<p>The military is a lifechanging experience and you can’t go back after you say the words. I think more smart young people should consider the military, but it’s a very big commitment, especially in time of war. </p>
<p>If he’s really interested, ROTC is indeed a good idea, it’s at least a little taste of military service. Also, note that each service is made up of hundreds of MOS’s (Military Occupational Specialties) and your kid’s experience will be totally different if he is a Lieutenant in the Medical Corps or Intelligence versus being a tanker or infantry platoon leader. Some MOS’ translate much better into civilian life than others.</p>
<p>And one more piece of advice: talk to recruiters, but know that recruiters are salesmen first and foremost.</p>
<p>Inparent & Laurelhurst - wow, both really excellent. Thank you.</p>
<p>I agree with others: only do the military if he’s really interested in it, there are other and simpler ways to get into the CIA and FBI. The military is a great career path for those that want it, but it would probably be difficult for those that don’t. And it’s a multi-year committment, above and beyond officer training. </p>
<p>OK, couple of things to note: The CIA and the FBI do different things. One is intelligence gathering, one is law enforcement. For the intelligence side of things, CIA is not the only gig in town, so to speak. Government agencies like State and DHS have their own intelligence shops, through which people can often do stints at the CIA. There’s also military intelligence groups, etc. FBI is law enforcement. So he should think about what aspect of these agencies really interests him, that will help direct his search to places that might help him get into these offices. For example, if he’s interested in the FBI, maybe he should consider law enforcement training or law school. If he’s interested in the CIA, he may want to try to get into a different agency first, or work outside of govenrment on a regional specialty, either at a think tank, research company, overseas organization, or in grad school. </p>
<p>Interning, even more than the military, is really one of the best ways to get positioned to work with one of these agencies. Also, internships give you a better idea of what it’s actually like to work for the particular agency in question. Most people do not have day to day contact with life inside any govenrment agency (DHS, State, FBI, CIA, you name it) so they may not have a good idea about what life is really like as an employee, especially a starting level one. But interning does not gaurantee you a job, it just helps you get the relevant experience and understand better how getting a job in these places really works. Remember that government internships are pretty competitive, so they tend to go to juniors or rising seniors only. It’s not uncommon to apply and be turned down several times before being accepted. If he’s willing to do an internship overseas or in some post other than DC, that may increase his chances as well (keep in mind it means paying his own way to/from, but if he’s overseas they’ll provide him with housing and transportation to and from work). </p>
<p>Also, find out if the FBI or CIA accepts fellowship candidates. The State Dept has a number of fellowships that allow you to work there while being in grad school, and are usually the fast track to a permanent job either in the civil or foreign service. If your son is interested in grad school, he should try one of those.</p>
<p>OP: first, OCS (Officer Candidate School) is a general term. Each armed service has a form of OCS, which all use as one of their commissioning sources for producing officers. There’s no “one size serves all” OCS, since each service has very specific missions and requirements and need a unique-to-their-needs OCS.</p>
<p>Often OCSs exist as a way for a uniformed branch’s enlisted members who have gained a college degree elsewhere to become an officer, and are also used to train and commission civilians who have a degree and have made the decision to join the military. Military recruiters are the best source for specific information on requirements and the like.</p>
<p>Citing my own experience, I became an Air Force officer after completing Air Force OCS in 1977 (I think it was a four-month course at the time). AF OCS was located then at Medina Complex, Lackland AFB, TX; it is now located at Maxwell AFB, AL. I had been enlisted in the Navy for over eight years prior to that, and had completed my BS going to school part-time at various locations (and by correspondence); not something I recommend anyone doing, btw!</p>
<p>The Air Force commissioned officers (then and now) through OCS, the Air Force Academy (the one in Colorado Springs, CO) and various on-campus Air Force ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Courses) programs. The other uniform services operate in much the same way. All have the Academies that everyone is familiar with (save the Marines, who accept Naval Academy grads as officers), college ROTC (again, the Marines are the exception, although some colleges do offer joint Navy/Marine ROTC programs), and a variation of the Officer Commissioning School that I described for the Air Force.</p>
<p>The Army, for example, has an OCS at Fort Benning, GA, while the Marines train officer candidates at Quantico, VA. The Navy’s OCS is at NS (Naval Station) Newport, RI. I’m not as well versed with the Coast Guard’s officer commissioning methods, although I know they have an OCS program that is run (separately) at their Academy in New London, CT.</p>
<p>The commitment (years) a person makes to a specific military branch varies; I’d check that before proceeding, as it can range anywhere from 4-5 years, as I recall. </p>
<p>That said, let me also suggest that your S ensure that he’s making the decision to serve his country through the military for the “right” reason(s). Please, understand that I’m not questioning your son’s patriotism or his level of commitment or sincerity. I say this only because I’ve encountered young men and women who view the military first as a means or route to something else. Yes, the military can be a way to finance an education (or repay student loans), or travel the world on Uncle Sam’s dime, or get free health care, or tap into a whole host of benefits including a very comfortable retirement, as it did for me.</p>
<p>Yes, military service can bring all of those things. But putting on that uniform is first and foremost a <em>contract</em> a person makes to “protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies.” Yes, everyone knows those words, but often they don’t stop to think that the words represent a very serious commitment that can ultimately cost life or limb, and such a contract should not be entered into lightly.</p>
<p>Good luck to your son (and you) as you sort out the future. Now, if only I could get my high school junior D to apply to one of the Academies!</p>
<p>If he is not serious about serving and only using it as a stepping stone then he should definitely not join. There is nothing deadlier than a green LT on a battlefield.</p>
<p>Talked to a friend yesterday whose son is a jobless college grad. He decided he would try to get into Air Force OCS. When he went in to talk to a recruiter he was told the waitlist for OCS was a year and a half at this point.</p>
<p>That was also my sons experience. You aren’t immediately accepted into OCS anymore. Just like everyone else the military is cutting back. Lots of military personnel in our area are not being given the option to re-enlist.</p>
<p>S has two friends who are now in the military, both headed for intelligence type jobs. However, they took a very different route to get there.
One did the ROTC thing in college, with the Marines. He ended up an officer and after some additional training in Quantico, is off to get further skills at Pendleton in CA in intelligence. The other friend graduated from college 3 years ago and struggled to find a decent full time job that was a good fit, in spit of his business degree from a very highly ranked university. He recently committed to the army but NOT as an officer as the wait list here was long and he wanted to do something NOW. However, based on fairly significant testing, he was determined a good fit for the linguisitics center and after 9 weeks basic training, will train there for a full year in intelligence, languages, etc. Although he will not be an officer, he hopes to be able to change that at some point. I don’t know enough to know whether that is easily doable or not.</p>
<p>Anyway, he is very happy to finally have some direction–and it seems he is also going in for the right reasons, so important as several have mentioned above.</p>
<p>curiouser, The young man you wrote about who enlisted will do fine. He may end up an officer some day and even if he doesn’t the specialized training he receives will stand him in good stead regardless. My S also did well on the DLAB (Defense Language Aptitude Battery) and is eligible to attend the Defense Language Institute at the Presidio in Monterey CA.<br>
He had to postpone that in order to attend Navy EOD school which he completes next week (hooray). BTW,most folks would be surprised to know how many people in the military have college degrees but are serving as enlisted rather than officers. There is a young man in S’s EOD class that left a Wall St. job to enlist in the Navy. For some military specialties, it’s easier to get into as enlisted than as an officer.</p>
@PackMom – curious, why do you say Army and Marines “for obvious reasons?”
A family member wanted to join the Secret Service and found that working as a border patrol agent for a couple of years was the best route to get in as directly applying to the SS is very difficult. Now happily in secret service.
My son started the OCS (for the Navy) process last fall. He did really well on the tests, passed the medical, I think they are finally gathering references. He might get to OCS this coming fall. We can’t believe how long the process is taking. He speaks good Arabic, and is interested in intelligence work ultimately.
His best friend from high school took the enlisted route after college.
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