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Intelligence Officer / Operator

  • Thread starter future_soldier
  • Start date
But a military pilot is so much more than a pilot. As an officer, a degree DOES help to open your eyes to critical thinking and the bigger picture, and since you're expected to go up, you need that in HQ. Otherwise, you're just a driver.

 
TimBit said:
But a military pilot is so much more than a pilot. As an officer, a degree DOES help to open your eyes to critical thinking and the bigger picture, and since you're expected to go up, you need that in HQ. Otherwise, you're just a driver.
Some of the greatest minds don't come from a uni. degree. If someone has previous experience flying especially one that has carried the lives of many, I don't see why that couldn't take into play. They let Ed's UP (show on a barenaked ladies guy) to fly a CF-18.
 
I agree to the need of having an education and its benefits. But it would be ideal in my opinion to not judge out life experience. In my case just for example I have 2 1/2 years of University studies. But I also have years of practical experience from the workplace as a pilot, in business and as supervisor managing pilots. The level of education I've completed equates to more than a PhD. For the flying role thousands of hours of command and flight experience in some of the world's most challenging environments. Would one make an argument that two extra years studying general courses in college is worth more than this experience combined? This isn't a question of getting that job but the opportunity to prove yourself in that role, flying and beyond. I'm done with the pilot trade, just my two cents on the subject :)

Go Army!  ;D

 
NikN,

Thanks for the detailed info! Was not aware of that possibility in AAC. It's nice to know and I'll look into it. That trip over there ended up very expensive as you know. A trick is to get a working holiday visa for the UK so you can work as you wait. Unfortunately I'd already used mine in the past during travels so I started the process in Northern Ireland, working in Ireland while I waited. The Brits wanted me to stay in country more so was shipped to London and then things got real pricey :) After failing the exam I had an opportunity to apply as a regular soldier but was running out of money with months left in the process. Called up the CF and the continuing ed program was open again for pilots with my file ready to roll. Came back and that's just when the new background checks were put in place and took over 2 years to complete, naturally during that time the program closed. What a mess that was. Should have stayed over in the UK. I was broke, in debt, had sold my car and couldn't go back. Morale went down the tubes. I eventually looked back into it to find a max age of 29 if I recall for infantry soldier. 32 now. I'll look into your suggestions with the Brits and that trade here, it could prove useful as backup.

I'll first try to join the CF and it's coming down to 1. signals and 2. infantry. Using this forum to read up on the signals trade. Thanks much and again, this is a great forum and community! Good luck getting into your trade NikN

Cheers!  :nod:



 
Thanks Nik! It's nice to know age won't be a barrier and there's a second option. I don't know the pub but thanks for the tip. I'll go to the Montreal recruiting center on Monday to look into an application for signals, to see how long it would take and so on. The crappy thing is my employer will require a 2 year financial bond mid May and I'm hesitant at dropping the job without an offer. Never a dull moment..  :p Good luck on your end!
 
Hahaha... Thanks a lot for the heads up. Surprised to see that considering recent threads. It's good to know the program is open again and I'll put it into consideration. The CC-144 pilots were telling me the training delays were up to 4 years even though they said the CF is short of flight crews. That's a turn off but it's good to know the program is up again. Thanks a lot for your help Nik! Any progress on your end?
 
George Wallace said:
I might add, if you are honestly serious about becoming a member of the INT Branch, in any rank, that you pay particular attention to your writing skills.  Your ability to correctly use Canadian English, spelling and grammar, will make or break you on course.  Your use of correct spelling, grammar, and sentence structure have a cause and effect on those receiving your work.  Your credibility will be on the line.  The surest way to loose credibility in the INT Trade is to produce a product that unintelligible, poorly written, and full of spelling and grammatical errors.  "US Spelling" is a big no no, so don't trust Bill Gates' Spell Check.  Plagiarism will mean failure.  Cheating will mean failure.  So, cite all sources and do your own work.

I believe there are many literary critics who would have things to say about overuse of punctuation, capitalization and fragmented sentences; however I do stamp this written piece as absolutely impeccable according to CFPAS and CF memo-writing standards.  >:D 

The smarterer it sounds, the less likelihood for  the WO to red-pen, then have the captain red-pen all your new corrections, just to be resubmitted to the R/C/B/S/T SM again (as the first two were lost, notice the double entendre), denied on principle on said 3rd try because the date is now over 14 days old and it must be resubmitted.  Of course, said process started 5 months ago, so now file numbers have changed, FORGENs superseded, all addressed members of CoC changed positions/names, and it was only to participate in a charity bowling game.

I love beaucracy. :D
 
bigabe said:
The smarterer it sounds, the less likelihood for  the WO to red-pen, then have the captain red-pen all your new corrections, just to be resubmitted to the R/C/B/S/T SM again (as the first two were lost, notice the double entendre), denied on principle on said 3rd try because the date is now over 14 days old and it must be resubmitted.  Of course, said process started 5 months ago, so now file numbers have changed, FORGENs superseded, all addressed members of CoC changed positions/names, and it was only to participate in a charity bowling game.

I would laugh but Ive actually endured that experience and I wasnt happy about it...
 
bigabe said:
I believe there are many literary critics who would have things to say about overuse of punctuation, capitalization and fragmented sentences; however I do stamp this written piece as absolutely impeccable according to CFPAS and CF memo-writing standards.  >:D 

Well almost impeccable except for the "loose"/"lose" oversight in the sentence pointing out the need for grammar checking! I do assume though that George was trying to see if we were all really paying attention....
 
Smarterer????? Is that a new word that spell check allows?? Dumberer is acceptable, but only if it refers to Harry and Lloyd.  ;D
 
smarterer
I was actually going to go on in my best Cape Bretoner English (You know who you are, buddy!) before the memo thing popped into me mind.  Oops, there it goes again.  I'm surprised it took 3 posters later to catch it.  I guess its kind of like the classic:

This sentence gives you the impression that I
I believe in the importance of attention to detail.

^^ See the screw up?
I feel like I'm playing a "Where's Waldo" of prose.  :piper:  For the record, I haven't used spell check in years, I simply read.
 
Cowboy said:
Mods please relocate to a more suitable forum if applicable:

This is a difficult question and requires a little background first. I am 26, a reservist from a combat arms unit with three years in. I have no operational experience but am PLQ qualified. I want to component transfer to the Regs and go ROTP. My goal is to become an intelligence officer. I know the selection is tough. I have directed my degree towards this goal (Ba in International Relations, with a focus on security and strategy) and in the process of learning my third language. I have been told the odds of me being selected for Int-Officer for ROTP are slim. Therefore I want to know what trade I could take up in order to better my chances for a remuster down the road? I am hoping after 5 years in whatever trade that may be I will be able to remuster to Int. What can I do to improve my chances? I know all the basics such as good grades, languages,  performance and potentially a grad degree but it is very difficult to get information on the kind of people who become eligible for this trade. I have even considered contacting a PSO. Any information or direction is greatly appreciated!!

I realize my reply is a little late, I apologize... I am an occasional army.ca reader...
But to answer your question, I would recommend getting into an MA in War Studies after you finish your degree.  The program is directly relevant and you can focus on intelligence studies.  I'm doing the BIOC DL right now and judging by the profiles of the candidates the vast majority have masters degrees or they are former NCM/NCOs.  By the time you finish all that you should be a Capt in whatever trade you are in.  Then you will be able to bring previous military experience to the table as well.  There are many different ways to make yourself more attractive, consider this just one helpful suggestion.
 
Hello,

On the Canadian forces site, it says that in order to get into psy ops  that it is necessary to be in  INT first, yet there have been post on here which state that it is not necessary to be in INT  for psy ops. Could someone please explain if it is or is not necessary
 
sean m said:
Hello,

On the Canadian forces site, it says that in order to get into psy ops  that it is necessary to be in  INT first, yet there have been post on here which state that it is not necessary to be in INT  for psy ops. Could someone please explain if it is or is not necessary

http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/96028.0

(Found by searching site:army.ca "psy ops")
 
sean m said:
Hello,

On the Canadian forces site, it says that in order to get into psy ops  that it is necessary to be in  INT first, yet there have been post on here which state that it is not necessary to be in INT  for psy ops. Could someone please explain if it is or is not necessary

No it is not, at the moment.

If and when you get into the military, by the time you're in a position to try for any such particular tasking or employment, you'll be in a position to know what the requirements are.

As it stands I very much doubt you have a clue what PSYOPS actually is, and I would not base your intentions on joining the forces on whatever conceptions you may have at this point in time about a task or organization that may or may not exist in similar or radically different form some years hence.

Worry about province you've got what we're looking for to get into the military first.
 
sean m said:
Hello,

On the Canadian forces site, it says that in order to get into psy ops  that it is necessary to be in  INT first, yet there have been post on here which state that it is not necessary to be in INT  for psy ops. Could someone please explain if it is or is not necessary

What happenned to HUMINT ?
 
Thank you very much for the help sirs.  haha that still would be the cumulative goal, but as Mr. Brihard stated to take it one step at a time.

CDN Aviator said:
What happenned to HUMINT ?
 
Just a quick update on the INT Officer trade.

By the end of this summer, when all BIOCs are complete (we are running 3 of them) the trade will be overborne by 60-70 officers depending on how many guys pass the training.  From what we have been told, attrition and a recruiting freeze will be used to account for the surplus.  What that means is that those of you who are not yet INT officers will have a VERY hard time becoming one in the reg force in the short to medium term.

I have been told that we are only taking 2 component transfers per year now and in order to component transfer you have to have been commissioned in the reserves for at least 4 years to be considered.

The good news is, we will have the opportunity to be posted to positions we could never do before due to being undermanned.
 
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