A little background on me first, I ship off August 6th and I will be a CTI. I just graduated from college but decided against applying for OCS because knowing another lanugage is a skill I would really like to have.

If I do decide to apply for OCS later down the road...I was wondering if most CTIs who become officers end up being Information Warfare Officers?...or is there a Limited Duty Officer for CTI?

What are my possibilities for going overseas?...either with an overseas billet or TAD?

As far as DLI goes....is living off base a possibility?....I am single with no dependents and will be going in as an E-3...Also, if living off base is an option, would I be able to afford it with my BAH?

Thanks for any help you can give

Very, very few CTIs become officers...I personally only know of 3 people who did. One became a surface warfare officer, another did eventually become an IWO...but only after first getting picked up for flight officer and being unable to complete the requirements (don't know the story). As for limited duty officer, those positions are ludicrously few and far between. When I was in, the number of positions that were open each year were in the low single digits...and I knew very competent and highly qualified people who had been applying every year for years. I know one person who did become an LDO...but he spent most of his time doing work that was related to aircrew training (as an instructor), not to his language.

The fact is, as a CTI, you will have little to do with officers. I went months at a time without ever having to interact with one. I almost hate to say it, but in the crypie world, officers usually just managers and paper pushers...they do a valuable and often thankless job, but they are not just better paid (and more respected) CTs. You will find some true technical subject matter experts among the officers...I had the honor to take a class from an 0-6 reservist (also a college professor) on the nuts and bolts of remote collection who was so good that he taught us differential calculus and made us think it was easy. For the most part, though, officers and CTIs have little to do with each other....no offense to any O's out there, but it is the senior enlisted and the civilians that usually really make CT operations work.

As for going overseas.....Iraq is a definite possibility, and you don't have to be an Arabic linguist to go. I know of a Korean Linguist who got sent..hey, a warm body is a warm body. Asian Language these days almost certainly equals an initial posting in Hawaii. Other overseas billets are in Korea, Japan, and (rarely) the UK. Most overseas billets have dried up and blown away...20 years ago (or earlier), yes, you could be stationed all over the world. That is not true today, however....most CTIs will be stationed in the mainland US or in Hawaii for most of their careers. The higher up in rank you go (E-7 and above especially), the more opportunities to go overseas there are.

I haven't been at DLI for 10 years, but do your homework and read previous postings...many other people have asked similar questions. I personally lived on base the whole time and I enjoyed it...it was hassle free and it meant I didn't need a car. I also enjoyed sleeping in and not having to commute to class every day.

Living off base is a possibility, but probably not when you first arrive. I'm a single E-3 and live off base but i was in the barracks the first 6-7 months I was here. It all depends on how full the barracks are...it has to be around 95% full before they let people move off. But i did hear that a lot of students should be arriving and they are pretty full now.

So with that in mind, my recommendation to you is when you first arrive fill out a Request to be placed on the move ashore list...the sooner the better because when they allow it they go down the list in order of when you signed up.( So if they decide to only let 10 sailors move off base and you are number 11 on the list..you are staying in the barracks). They do factor in other things such as rank, if you are fleet returnee, how you are doing in class, and how much longer until your graduation date. So, if you only have 4-5 months left until graduation and there is someone behind you that still has a year, they will probably let the other person move off. However, I do know of a guy that wasnt a fleet returnee but was a little older and college graduate and talked his LPO into convincing the chain of command to allow him to move off base, but that is rare. Just remember the squeaky wheel gets the oil....but an annoying squeaky wheel may just get replaced.

As far as being able to afford it...the BAH is enough to find a one bedroom apt, but it may not be the nicest place. I just waited until they announced the move ashore list and found someone on the list that wanted a roommate. With an extra roommate or two you can pocket an extra 5-6 hundred bucks a month in unused BAH...being an E-3 thats an extra paycheck a month almost.

I am glad to hear they are allowing people to move off base...so long as folks are responsible. When I was there, the barracks were so crowded that they were planning to put 3 or more people in a 2-man room...turns out that was a violation of the California fire code, so they couldn't.

Putting 3 or more people in one of those rooms...yes, it would be far more room than you have on ship...but that is NOT conducive to studying or doing the 2-3 hours of homework we had every night. NO WAY to fit 3 desks in those rooms...

at least on the NPS side they were sending three guys to live in a MFH unit up at OMC. granted, these were the old ones scheduled for Demo and that most families were turning down.....not sure how they arranged BAH though.

My roommate and I went and checked out Ft Ord when they said we could move off. Mainly because we didnt want to deal with the expensive deposits they make you pay in town, but they werent very friendly and gave us the run around for about two weeks. We finally just got tired of it and found a place in town.

They way I understood it though was that they take 75% of your BAH no matter if you had no roommates or 2(no roommates was rare). So they were making money on packing people into housing that none of the other families wanted. Unless you have a family I think living in town is a better deal.

Thanks for answering my questions. Acutally, looking around this forum has answered every question I could possibly think of about CTI, DLI, and joining in general. So, I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Just wish I didn't have to wait 2 more weeks..lol

Squid, the marines here actually had 3 to a room a while back. I don't think they still do it though. I don't know how they expect you to learn your language with 3 people in a room. I can't complain about the barracks here though, not that I have experienced any other barracks yet. lol I'll see what the Ft. Gordon barracks are like in a week or 2.

Saxquiz....sounds like you made it! Congrats, and above all... well done! I hope your graduation ceremony went better than mine....we lost power in the base theater, and they made ME sing the National Anthem, which I am sure scarred my classmates and their parents for life

I hope you enjoy Ft. Gordon...they have some fascinating missions, and I've always found the folks I've had to deal with to be competent and helpfull...being at USCENTCOM, we deal with the folks there a lot.

The scary thing is that your CPOs there are very likely to be friends of mine. I still think of them as fresh faced E-3s and E-4s, but in reality most of them have made E-7...for some of them, that's a pretty scary thought. If any of them start giving you grief, let me know, as I have a LOT of dirt on most of them ...