BradCon said:
I have been enjoying this debate immensely. It's great to see democracy in action.
George and the pro OT side, I understand your bias, in that you want Int Ops / Int Os with combat experience working on providing the info that informs the commanders decisions. It makes sense to me from your perspective that these people will have a better understanding of what CF is all about, and the language that members use.
What also makes sense to me is that the training one receives will largely determine the quality of work that one will provide. As a civvy hoping to become an Int Op, I am prepared to do my time in combat arms, if necessary but would much prefer to start my CF career as an Int Op.
What advice would you give a civilian to better prepare them for the role of Int Op should the come in off the street. What knowledge can a civvy arm themselves with beforehand so as too decrease the learning curves incline?
Tanks
B
There probably is not a whole hell of alot you can do to get a leg up in the tactical intelligence area. Former service really does help with that, but its not the be all end all. The fact of the matter is, weather you are a seasoned combat veteran or a bright promissing university graduate, the learning curve for this job is VERY steep, and its only getting more steep and the military starts to understand that they cant wait until after the war in Afghanistan is over to update their training.
Ive seen former combat arms soldiers come over as Int Ops and do a terrible job of it. There is nothing worse then an infanteer running around playing army with a pen in his hand. Ive also seen civies come in and be completely incompetant and useless as well. Ive also seen former combat arms types come in and prove to be amazing Int Ops and ive also seen some civies do the same thing.
Former military experience helps a little bit, but it doesnt help enough to justify the exclusion of others.
With that in mind, if you really want to prepare yourself, try to focus on the things that you have in your control. For example, stay extremely up to date with news from around the world of all different shapes and sizes. Ask questions here and see what people have to say. Dont take it as law, take it as a very small sample as to how some CF members communicate with each other. Practice your public speaking skills. Also practice writing very brief, short and do the point prose. You have to be a good writer to succeed in this job, but it cant be the academic good kind. You have to speak in simple terms, easy to understand, that dont take more time then available, or more space then available to make your point.
Communication is everything. It doesnt matter how much experience you have, if you cannot communicate your so called brilliance or experience then what good are you?
Read lots of books. Study Canadian military history meticulously. Short of combat arms experience, its the best education out there on military matters. Read books on intelligence as well, it will also help give you a breadth of depth going into the trade.
Make sure when reading this books, you are mindful of what kind of author is writing them. Is it a journalist or other form of "popular" writer? Or is it a scholarly or academic work? Being able to understand the differences there will help you evaluate these works as sources and take them for what they are. Which source is better? I dont think the answer matters here, what matters is that you understand how they both work and come to their conclusions so you can make your own assessments.
Take news with a grain of salt.
Stay active on the forums, read the combat stuff, ask questions, and dont get discouraged when you get rebuked.
Thats the best you can do, and even after all of that, you still wont be ready.
You will be well trained, by the time you get to Int given that the training is now changing. After you are done that, you still wont be ready. You are going to have to take all of that, put it together, and try your best, and roll with what comes your way. There is only so much that any of us can do. Just make sure what you do is your best, take opinions with a grain of salt, form your OWN opinions, and then strap in and see what fate has to say about it ;D
