Hi all, I'm an old Booomer NavET (from the early 70s). My daughter is considering joining the Navy. She recently earned her BA from SUNY, graduated Summa Cum Laude, so she has the study skills needed. She has no desire to do OCS.

She is interested in either CTI, IS or MC, with CTI as her focus. I told her I'd try to find out some info before she spoke with a recruiter. So if you all don't mind, please help out this old sewer-pipe sailor...

With CTI or IS rate, what is the initial enlistment length? 4,5 or 6 years?

If qualified in CTI through DLAB, does she do the A school and then go to her duty station or go from A to C school?

Any info on IS school and duty stations would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Dave

Dave, all CTI enlistments are 6 years these days, at least for Arabic, Chinese, or Korean. There is no longer a C school for CTIs...they go to A school in Monterey for up to 63 weeks, then go directly to their first duty station where they OJT.

Does your daughter know the difference between CTI and IS? They are VERY different rates with very different career paths and duty stations. Have her read previous posts here about what CTI is (and is not); same goes for IS, CTR etc.

With those kinds of grades (and depending on the degree), has she checked out one of the military intelligence internship programs out there? Although I am a former CTI, I now work for the Air Force as a govie and we have a LOT of new hires through the internship program.

I really know next to nothing about IS, but I'm a CTI and I'm glad I joined as one. I don't think I would have been happy at any other job in the Navy. If she wants a job of adventure and wants to go visit a lot of different places then CTI is not it. When I joined I figured that I'd be sitting at a desk at 1 duty station for my entire enlistment and that's pretty much how it's going. That doesn't appeal to everyone, but I really don't have a big desire to go on a ship or a sub. I can imagine it sucks a lot and most people who have been out to sea seem to share my opinion on it. I like my cubicle! Like Squid said, it's a 6 year enlistment for CTI. I've been in for 2 years and haven't started doing any work yet. Some people are in for 3 before they start. If they get rolled back in a CAT IV language they'll be at Monterey for a really long time. It's been all training up to this point. I'll be E-5 before I start doing the job. All in all CTI is a pretty cool job and not very typical to say the least.

The reenlistment bonuses are good right now for Chinese and Arabic, but by the time she's ready to get out, who knows. I'm glad I got Arabic though because they have a DLPT in Standard Arabic, Egyptian, Iraqi, and Levantine which are all dialects of each other and you can get paid language pay for each one of them (up to $1000 a month). It requires some study to pick them up, but nothing like learning a whole new language. Lots of people don't try to pick them up though. It takes self-motivation to do it and a lot of people are content with just getting their base pay and a little more, though I do know several people getting that $1000 extra every month and making more than some officers. If I had it to do over again I'd definitely choose CTI. The only thing I would have done differently would be going in right out of high school instead of waiting 2 years.

saxquiz,

I am cross-rating to CTI soon. I am wondering where exactly in Texas, Georgia, Hawaii, and Maryland do CTI's go and do they ever get overseas billets?

Ft Gordon GA and Ft Meade MD are the two biggies. Hawai'i has Kunia(under the mountain). and the TX base slips my mind at themoment.. San Antonio? maybe?! I dunno we are trying to NOT go there so I ignore it every time it comes up in conversations

there used to be lots of OCONUS billets for CTIs in DIRSUP shops in Japan and Europe. pretty sure all the Yokosuka ones are now in Hawai'i and San Diego now.

Basically language determines which coast and which Army post you will be stuck on....

Dave,

I am a former IS. I think is a great rating. I will echo Squid, IS and CTI are vastly different rates. I worked with more than a couple CTI while I was in and they were a great bunch also.

There are many postings here regarding what to expect at school and after for both IS and CTI. She should read them carefully to ensure she makes a good, informed decision on what she thinks she will prefer. Also what is she expecting to get out of her time in the service? Does she want to do the ship thing? What does either of these ratings do for her after she leaves the Navy? What are the chances of moving from enlisted to officer? What are the typical duty stations throughout a career? All of these can be found in the many postings found here.

Good luck to her and please post if there are questions that cannot be found in the previous postings or need clarification. I think we direct people to read more of the previous postings than some boards partly due to the nature of the jobs we represent. If you do not like researching questions and digging through minutia, then these fields may not be a good fit.

Mrsjvb,

Thanks for your answer. It is very helpful. So do Navy people all go to Army bases for the CTI job? I am woefully ignorant of the CTI world. I'm an Airedale trying to figure out what to expect once I pass school and hit the fleet again. I am kind of surprised to hear that I cannot expect to come back to Norfolk, VA anytime soon. In my current rating once you are in Norfolk, you might as well get comfy. Anyways, there is realatively no information on CTI's and what they do out there on the web, so anything you can share will be most appreciated!

Thanks.

there is/was a NIOC in Chesapeake.. may or may not be a DIRSUP command..which is just about the only way you'd get back there.

or you could end up on an Air Force base.. Misawa Japan.

they are doing a major overhaul of the command structure and mission paranmters right now and with DH being deployed I am not getting as many updates right now.

as for anything else.. what you see is what you get. unless DIRSUP KORLING shows his head although he is CTN now he may also be outta the loop you may be out of luck getting more info.. super secret spy stuff and all that rot....