Recently I was reading a post in which a person was telling another that if they were interested in "adventure" in the navy, then CTI would probably not be the way to go. While I know it is more of a mental job and often requires sitting in an office all day, I was wondering how often CTIs actually go out to sea? Are they usually just stationed one or two places for the 6 years enlisted? I am interested in becoming a CTI and I don't mind being in an office too much, but I could find an office job anywhere - I want to be in the navy so I can see the world. Also, is sea deployment solely need-based, or can one volunteer for it? I appreciate any feedback, thanks.
It is very possible to do several tours (and possibly an entire career) without every going to sea (or setting foot on a ship) as a CTI. Some CTIs go to sea somewhat frequently, others will never have that opportunity. It mostly has to do with what language you get, what your gender is, and what type of billet you are in. If you get a direct support billet, then you have a relatively reasonable expectation to go to sea....although I was in a DIRSUP billet and the only vessel I set foot on 1) never left port and 2) didn't belong to our navy.
If you want to go to sea and see the world, CTI may not be the rate for you.
CTI probably isn't the rate you want if you are looking for adventure and lots of time at sea. Each language has it's own (pretty much permanent) duty station that you'll stay at most of your career. If you're Arabic or Farsi then you better get used to being in Augusta, GA. When you graduate DLI you can request to go subs or aircrew, but not everyone who requests it gets it. Right now you can apply for IA if you want to go to Iraq or Afghanistan for a little while, so I guess that's an option, but CTI isn't like other rates that have a sea/shore rotation. Plenty of people get out without ever having set foot on a ship.
I have seen some CTI's do small TAD trips on our ship. When we went on our humanitarian tour we would have a linguist for whatever country we were in at the time (Philippines, Vietnam) They would often be the Commodores right hand for all the official banquets, ceremonies, tours, etc. Lots of high profile work.
Last deployment I met up with some Arabic linguists who were in my class at DLI (pre-expulsion.) They came on in Bahrain, trained for a week in the gulf, and left again in Bahrain.
HookedUp... Those CTIs to whom you were refering...those that served as translators for the Commodores, I'll bet you that most (if not all) were native linguists and not the DLI-trained type. Not saying DLI isn't a good school, but folks don't typically leave with the language skills to do any professional-level interpreting, as would be expected for a state visit.
Originally posted by XSquidling: HookedUp... Those CTIs to whom you were refering...those that served as translators for the Commodores, I'll bet you that most (if not all) were native linguists and not the DLI-trained type. Not saying DLI isn't a good school, but folks don't typically leave with the language skills to do any professional-level interpreting, as would be expected for a state visit.
Is there any benefit at all to not being a native speaker as a CTI? I am an American born english speaker who has taken a language for over 6 years but I will never be as fluent as a native speaker.
Well, yes, there can be real benefits to NOT being a native speaker. Being a CTI is NOT about being an interpreter...the job is not about translating for senior officers during diplomatic visits, working in embassies, translating during humanitarian missions, or other roles of professional, civilian trained interpreters.
Being a CTI is first and foremost about being an INTELLIGENCE professional. Being an effective intelligence professional requires having a VERY strong grasp of the english language so that you can write effective intelligence reports and accurately convey key pieces of vital information concisely to decision-makers. It means you have to make yourself understood IN ENGLISH.
Before I get flamed, I have well over a decade of experience, and in my OPINION, if a person cannot communicate effectively in english I have ZERO use for them in the intelligence community regardless of their ability to speak a foreign language. I am also a counter-intelligence professional, and it is my job to be paranoid. Not to impugn the patriotism of many fine Americans I know, but our adversaries routinely target 1st (and sometimes 2nd generation) American immigrants, especially when they have family back in the old country, who can be threatened and/or used as leverage. There is a good reason why we do not usually allow 1st generation immigrants into the CTI field.
You do NOT go to DLI to be a linguist-you go to DLI to learn language skills the military needs in order to be an intelligence professional. There is a WORLD of difference between the two.
Yes, sometimes CTIs do work as 'traditional' interpreters. Much of the reason for this is that the Navy especially put native linguists (so-called heritage speakers) into the CTI rate... I'm sure it seemed like a good idea at the time as they DO get better DLPT scores. I think the Navy did these people a disservice, in that they did not recieve adequate intelligence training and I used to have to train them on the job. Not that these people can't be good intelligence professionals with training and experience, but more that simply being a fluent linguist is not nearly enough to be a good CTI.
Is there any benefit at all to not being a native speaker as a CTI? I am an American born english speaker who has taken a language for over 6 years but I will never be as fluent as a native speaker.
Like XSquid said it's harder to get into CTI as a native speaker. In the Arabic field they are pretty rare. I think I've seen 3. Now Korean might be a little different since there are so many Korean speakers in the US compared to Arabs. It's not like your going to be competing for advancement vs a bunch of native speakers, so don't worry about it.
Also, to add something to the original topic, my room mate is kind of bummed that he went CTI. He was looking more for a more traditional military job where you have a rifle, go out and sleep in the mud, and PT til your dead. He also wishes there was more camaraderie like in the Marines. If you're the kind of person who wants those things then you most likely won't be happy as a CTI. If you can't see yourself being happy working in the places portrayed in Office Space and The Office think about your decision.
NP... and one other thing: It is very difficult to get out of the CTI field once you get in. I tried to out of CTI and into CTR upon joining the reserves, but no dice. I know a handful of CTIs that went to CTN, but they were E-6s at the time.
For those CTIs who dont ever deploy.. does this affect their promotion speed? I was reading in another thread that for many jobs as you get higher in rank your time at sea comes into play when being chose for later advancement.
Well, in a word, it can hurt you, and no, its not fair. Things were getting more equitable by the time I left the Navy, but basically, yeah, if you weren't going to sea, you potentially had a harder time getting promoted, ESPECIALLY when you were going up for E-7. Basically, if you were in non-deploying analysis and reporting billets for most of your career, you knew your chances of making E-7 were significantly reduced.
Even today, I would bet, deployments are still the key to promotion in many cases, although I have seen people make Chief without much deploying....however, they usually had something unique to make them stand out from their peers.
What if you are already in the fleet stationed on a ship. will that give you an edge over the ones who come in the Navy as a CTI that hasn't been on a ship at all. I Got my ESWS so i guess that isn't really seen in the CTI world. and Saxquiz said you can can go sub or aircrew. are you talking about aircrew on a Carrier?
No. While deployment to carriers is possible most CTIs fly on shore-based aircraft. I would think that an ESWS would certinaly not hurt and would help you stand out among your peers as it is not common in the CTI community.
