What exactly does a Marine Corps ground intelligence officer do? Why do they get training in scout sniper school etc? How competitive is it to become ground intelligence officer at OCS/OCC. In b4 MUHREENS. Bumping with Muhreens
I accidentally posted this in /his/ because I am an idiot.
>>29955027
>>29955033
>>29955046
>>29955057
>>29955067
>>29955027
Pretty good question, ill help with a bump.
As for them going to sniper school i never heard of that. Guys from the line battalions who actually need the school barely ever get slots so its pretty fucking stupid if intel officers can go.
>>29955104
of course, I dont know how reliable this source is, but here.
http://www.usmcofficer.com/the-basic-school/marine-officer-mos-list/
Ground Intelligence Officer – 0203
Infantry Officer Course
Quantico, VA
12 weeks
Scout Sniper Platoon Commander Course
Quantico, VA
3 weeks
Ground Intelligence Officer Course
Dam Neck, VA
6 weeks
>>29955079
>>29955119
The platoon commander course is different than actual sniper school. I think the reason why they go there is that the sniper's main role is intelligence gathering so they need to see how it works.
>>29955027
Ground intelligence is easily the most overrated and poorly understood officer MOS. Everyone wants to go ground intel because you get to go to IOC and Scout Sniper Unit Leader Course (2 week course, no sniping involved), and have the potential to be a scout sniper platoon commander.
In reality, they all wind up being S-2A's and make PowerPoint slides all day while their Marines laminate maps. Nobody wants boot lieutenants to be sniper platoon commanders when they can just have a staff sergeant do the same job with more experience. I have never met a ground intelligence officer who was glad that he chose that MOS or enjoyed his job in any way. Don't fall for the trap.
Source: I am a Marine officer and have friends that were in ground intel
>>29955180
Interesting. SO I am guessing that in spite of it not being such a happy way to branch as an Officer, it is still one of the most competitive ones? Up there with Infantry?
>>29955180
Also what MOS are you?
>>29955194
It's competitive because people don't know what being an intel officer entails. They hear "maybe scout sniper platoon commander" and think it's gonna be all sexy stuff and secret squirrel missions. There are only a handful of slots available, and everyone wants it for the aforementioned reasons. In that way, yes it is competitive.
On the other hand, upwards of 20% of lieutenants wind up being infantry officers because there are a ton of slots available. A lot of people want infantry, but it's also relatively easy to get because there are so many slots.
But you don't actually "compete" for MOS's in that sense. You submit a wishlist to the staff at TBS and based on your class rank, MOS availability, what they think would be a good fit for you, what everyone else in the class wants, etc. they pick a job for you. You'll probably get in your top 5, but there's no way to influence which one you'll get beyond making your preferences known and being the best student you can. There were guys in my class who were in the top 5% that got their #5 choice, and guys in the bottom 1/3 of the class that got their 1st choice. It all depends.
>>29955246
Artillery. I deployed with an infantry battalion though, so I worked with some ground intel guys.
>>29955252
>>29955256
Lets say one is fluent in 3 critical languages and has a Master's from one of the top universities in foreign service? Does this kind of thing carry any weight in the corps in determining what my MOS would be as an officer? Also, what is the life of a Marine artillery officer like? Was it one of your first choices? And how does it compare to army artillery?
>>29955284
In that case you may be able to make the case for being "uniquely qualified". One of my buddies had a Master's degree in some kind of security studies and managed to get guaranteed a Signals Intel job. All you have to do is put together a package of your qualifications and submit it to the CO of TBS. Getting classed as uniquely qualified is pretty rare but it does happen. Your language/foreign service skills would probably be best suited for Human Intel.
Arty was my #3 choice. Artillery is a pretty diverse field. You're gonna have to be a little more specific about "life as an artillery officer", as I could probably go on for pages about it.
>>29955370
Thanks for your extensive answers first of all. You are great.
How does ground intel and human intel differ?
and I mean is there any difference in methodology between how the Army uses artillery and the Corps? Sorry if this is vague. If its a dumb question then please dont feel the need to answer. Also, is there a difference in culture between army and marine corps artillery units?
>>29955284
Also Army artillery is a joke. All arty officers go to the same school and the Marines are consistently smarter and better than their Army counterparts. We get 6 months of basic infantry/officership training prior to Arty School at Ft Sill, whereas they get like 3-4 weeks. Since artillery is a combat arms MOS, it's somewhat competitive in the Marine Corps but for the Army it seems to be a dumping ground for flunkies and retards. Watching the Army function at Ft Sill made me embarrassed to be in the military.
>>29955394
interesting. What is the dumping grounds for marine officers? Amphibious assault vehicle? Finance? communications? logistics?
>>29955392
In terms of culture/methodology in the use of artillery, the Army is much more armor centric. The Marine Corps doesn't have many tanks, and we treat infantry as the main effort in pretty much every situation. We're more comfortable operating in small units and expeditionary environments. The Army on the other hand has a fuckton of tanks and mechanized assets and uses them as the baseline for maneuver planning.
For example, the Marine Corps uses the M777 towed howitzer as it's main artillery asset, in addition to 120mm mortars (EFSS). The emphasis is on lightweight and expeditionary operations (both can be lifted via helo). The Army has mostly Paladin self-propelled artillery,which is designed to support tank units, and only uses a limited number of M777s or M119 (for airborne units).
There are also some differences in how fire support teams are utilized, but I'm not super smart on Army stuff in that regard.
>>29955453
Administration, I never knew you could pack so many retards in an air conditioned building before I had to deal with them in Camp Lejeune S-1.
>>29955453
Comm and supply are probably the biggest. Nobody really wants either one and both will get you yelled at a lot as a lieutenant. They're both super important to unit readiness, but not very "sexy". Logistics is actually fairly competitive among people that don't want to go combat arms, because they know it will get them a good job in the civilian world.
Also this >>29955479
Amtracks have like 2-3 slots per class, same as finance.
>>29955465
Interesting. Did you enter through OCC or NROTC or what?
>>29955579
PLC
>>29955585
Im gonna take a guess that you guys and NROTC and academy guys get pick of the good MOSs before guys who go through OCC and OCC guys get something of the "leftovers" as it were?
>>29955609
Nope. Everyone gets an equal shot. MOS selection doesn't happen until 3/4 of the way through TBS. Everyone is on equal footing when they show up to TBS. The only advantage to doing NROTC or academy is free college.
>>29955658
Thats great news then! I am edging more towards the corps in light of what you have told me. Certainly its gonna be down between infantry and Intel. for me. One more question, what is the deal with amphibious assault vehicle as an MOS?
>>29955741
Amtrac suck pretty hard. My old roommate was a tracker and he seemed to love it, but my experiences with tracks have been pretty shitty. Mostly they seem to act as bus drivers for infantry types, as their weapons are mostly for defensive purposes. Tracks would never assault an objective alone, they exist to carry grunts. They're also super old, loud, and crappy vehicles. Despite all that, trackers seem to be pretty proud of their job.
However, they are in the process of being pretty heavily upgraded and there's a new AAV on the way in the near future. Mite b cool by the time you'd be hitting the fleet. Expect to go on lots of MEUs.
As I see it, you've got a 2 basic options:
-If you want to do grunt stuff (shoot guns, carry heavy things, go camping), then go infantry
-If you want to work in buildings with no windows and make PowerPoints all day, go intel
>>29955940
The best way to get the MOS you want of course is to outperform everyone academically and physically at OCC yes? Or is it sometimes just down to things out of your cotnrol like the needs of the corps?
