Hello everyone! This is my first post, but I have frequently visited this discussion forum over the past two months for insight and understanding.

I am trying to decide which rate best fits what I am looking for in the intelligence profession, IS or CTR! I have done extensive research all over the internet and have boiled it all down to the following:

Intelligence Specialists - have more general, broad range of intelligence duties; break intel information into documents, graphs, maps, etc.; frequently brief personel on intel information; and basically organize any/all intel information that is collected by CT's.

Crytologic Technician Collection - more specific intelligence duties; perform intelligence collection that is specifically concerned with signals, radios, computers, etc.; more technical training; and basically they're, along with other CT's, the ones doing the actual "intelligence work."

*My assumptions have all been based off of what I've read on the internet and if I have falsely misrepresented any of the duties performed by these two ratings please feel free to correct me or add any job descriptions that would help me.

With all that said, I am trying to seek advice from anyone who are currently in these two ratings or who may have any information that may be of assistance to me. I am aware of all the prerequisites (top secret clearance, ASVAB scores, etc.) and have no problems meeting them. I'm just looking for a more defined idea of what these two ratings will entail. Which one of these ratings will make me more "attractive" to federal or private intel employers when I am finished with my military career? Which one of these ratings, if any, has training in SIGINT, MASINT, Open Source, etc? Does one rating provide more analytical intelligence skills over the other?

Thank you in advance for your help and assistance with my questions! I appreciate anyone who can help me answer these questions regardless of what rating you may be. Sorry if this was too wordy!

Either rating will provide you with skills that are in demand in the intelligence community. The basic difference is that IS involves all-source analysis, imagery, and intelligence support to naval operations. CTR is more focused on collection and reporting rather than analysis. All are critical to the intelligence community. If you are interested in working with NSA, especially signals intelligence, CTR is the way to go. If you are interested in imagery interpretation or all source analysis, then look to IS.