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Typical Gnu
Mar 4, 2013

I'm getting pretty dang confused over which branch to join. I want to enlist and become intel, but it's hard to figure out which branch is least poo poo for that sort of thing. Marines I talk to bitch about how much better people in the Army are, Army folks bitch about how much better Marines are, and I don't think I care enough about planes or boats to enjoy much about being in the respective branches. I'm not concerned about security clearance or ASVAB scores; I got a 95% on the little predictive test they give you and I'm too boring to have anything that disqualifies me from top secret clearance.

Are there any goons in intel that can give me advice? Which branch would best fulfill my [crippling map-related autism / desire to become powerpoint proficient]? Does Navy and Air Force intel analyze information relevant to ground forces, or do they just analyze information relevant to their forces and pass any other collected data on to the concerned branch?

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Typical Gnu
Mar 4, 2013

Those both sound pretty interesting. An Army career counselor I spoke with said that Air Force deals with all sorts of subjects: suspicious-looking encampments, air fields, armor columns, fleet movements, whatever they can get pictures of with a C-130, but he seemed almost overly-enthusiastic about the Air Force, so I'm wondering if that's true.

Also, is there any enlisted job that would deal more with deriving intent from imagery, or is that more of an officer thing?

Typical Gnu
Mar 4, 2013

Victor Vermis posted:

I watched sketchy looking people on IR cameras during off-patrol days in The United States Marine Corps Infantry.

And then, by the time I got sick of that, I got to do other stuff that was more befitting a man (like me) with a big ol' penis (like mine).

..But like 95% of GiP is either air wing or intel (or Cole) so by all means don't listen to the proud and the few who want you to feel good about your four+ years as a slave.

This sounds like a half-joke but Marines right now seem to be tied with Air Force, largely because the Marine office at the local recruitment center is run by good people who are dead set on making people ready for the military, while the Air Force office has a phone number on the window that you call to get the recruiter to show up. Right now I suppose I'm mostly trying to figure out what the difference is between what Marine intelligence and Air Force intelligence do, and if there really is a huge difference between Marines in intel and Air Force folks in intel.

Typical Gnu
Mar 4, 2013

iyaayas01 posted:

There's a lesson here about which service you should join, hope you can figure it out since you're trying to go intel!

Well, the part of me that wants to join the Marines says that it means the Air Force generally doesn't have people that care as much as the Marines do, but the part that wants to go into the Air Force says that it means the Air Force doesn't have to try as hard to convince people to join.
From what I've heard from folks in this thread and other military folks I've talked to I'm thinking that the Air Force would be a better fit for me.

Typical Gnu
Mar 4, 2013

I'm decided on Air Force now and am looking especially at 1N031 and 1N131. I have three more jobs that seem interesting, but those two seem much more appealing. Problem is Air Force job selection, the way my recruiter described it, seems a little fuzzy. Would I be better off going down to MEPS and giving them my top 5, or should I go open-general and get first dibs on the jobs that month? It's hard to decide when I have no clue what the availability is for AFSCs or how they prioritize people; If 1N031's regularly open up but are taken by people going in Open then I figure it wouldn't be a big risk going open, but if they're rare then I'd be better of giving them my top 5 jobs and getting some intelligence job, even if it's not the one I'd like.

Typical Gnu
Mar 4, 2013

So I can go to MEPS, pass all the qualifications, get to the job list, and walk away if I don't see anything I like? I was told that by the time you get to see the job list you're already past the point of no return.

Typical Gnu
Mar 4, 2013

LingcodKilla posted:

Lol no. I held out for 3 hours before they offered what I actually wanted. I was willing to go home without signing but it didn't come to that.

I haven't had much luck finding a recruiter who doesn't insist that going open is the bee's knees, so I want to ask for a clarification:

If the worst case scenario comes, I go down to MEPS with my list of 5 10 jobs, all they have available are chef, services, combat chef, culinary artist, and security, and I decide to go home without signing anything, do they allow me to go back to that MEPS again at a later date, or does leaving without signing anything disqualify me from ever entering the branch?

Typical Gnu
Mar 4, 2013

I found an AF recruiter I can work with, took the ASVAB pretest he gave me-- according to him it functioned as a real test and I just have to take a short "verification"-- and I scored a 99. I read on some small forum a month ago about an option available at MEPS to people who score >96 where they are allowed to hold off and wait for their first pick to become available, but I'm a fool who only bookmarks useless things, so I can't find anything about it now. Has anybody heard about this? I have 10 jobs I'm interested in, but I still have leftover money from my job, so if I have an option to wait I think I'd take it.

Typical Gnu
Mar 4, 2013

Godholio posted:

They don't own you yet. You don't have the "option" to do poo poo because EVERYTHING is entirely up to you. You can go to MEPS and walk out the door if you want.

Don't take a poo poo job just because they push you to. If you're going to sign away 4-8 years of your life, do it for the job you want. They don't care what job you want or what job you get. As long as you sign for something they get credit for it; if what you want isn't available, WAIT. They won't be happy because it means you don't count in their "win column" yet, but gently caress that.

My understanding has become that, while I can leave any time I want once I get to MEPS, there's no guarantee that a recruiter will get me another MEPS date after I leave. Regardless, it seems like what I was talking about was called EWQ, and it was discontinued a few years ago. The jobs I have on my """""""Dream sheet""""""" are all appealing to me, meaning that either I'd enjoy them, or whoever was tasked with marketing them did their jobs properly. I'm looking at Intelligence Application, Imagery, Signals Intelligence, Electronic Intelligence, Electronic Systems Security, Cyber Security, Cyber Systems Operation, Spectrum Operations, and 9S100, which sounds like it's become my new #1 choice.
I bring it up just in case there's some red flag job in there that I should stay the gently caress away from.

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Typical Gnu
Mar 4, 2013

Hamlet442 posted:

There's a military sponsor thread with people from some of those career fields that might be able to weigh in on those career fields. I'm a 9S; if you have questions, I can answer some.

I've only seen people saying great things about 9S, so my first question is: Where do they bury the people that don't like the job?
My second and third questions are: How much control would I have over my assignment starting out, and how often do assignments change? It sounds as though 9S is like playing potpourri scientist and, since there are so few people in 9S, you can at least request to work in a particular field.

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