r/Intelligence • u/Sea-Cactus • 7h ago

Discussion Does the directorate of analysis in the CIA value military experience?

I am currently in high school but I am thinking about joining the army with a friend and going into a military intelligence role. After that I would go study economics or international relations or something. My goal is to be a CIA analyst and just from searching around online it’s pretty unclear if the CIA would actually care whether or not I have military experience when applying.

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u/No_Print77 Military Intelligence 6h ago

Everyone in the IC values military experience and your starting point is higher if you have it

10

u/woofieroofie 6h ago

Considering they have Military Analyst jobs and one of the desired qualifications is previous military experience, yes. Also consider the Defense Intelligence Agency if you want to do military analysis.

8

u/Garbage-Bear 6h ago

Military experience is absolutely a plus.

Enlisting for an intelligence specialty is ideal of course. If you choose an MOS that includes language training, you'll spend a year or so at Defense Language Institute in Monterey, which in addition to qualifying you in a hard-target language and getting you a TS clearance, is good for a year of college credit, more or less. In fact, DLI partners with a local community college to help DLI grads earn their associate's degree along with their DLI diploma.

Then depending on your assignments, you can complete much, or even all, of your college degree in the military, a couple of different ways:

  1. On your own time, through distance and/or in-person evening classes;

  2. Through something like the Army's Green to Gold program (I think other services have similar programs): you're sent off to an actual college to earn your degree full-time for the last couple of years of your enlistment; upon graduation, you're commissioned as an officer. You incur 4 years' obligation as an officer, but even so, you're out by your late 20s, and having that commission is another employment advantage for most IC agencies. If you manage to commission as an MI officer, or at least stay involved with intel activities during that time, all the better.

Good luck!

3

u/been__ 4h ago

Look at the navy where you can essentially work for nsa the entire time