Best place for a HUMINT/CI IS to do direct support in the navy: SRT, DEVGRU, NEIC?

Drsock89

Intelligence
Verified Military
Joined
Sep 7, 2023
Messages
16
I am ultimately looking for a stepping stone to DIA SOD or army ISA. I want to be in a position where I can conduct combat operations and intelligence operations. I know there's a few places it can be done in the navy but don't exactly how combat heavy those positions are.

I am heavily considering attempting to go army SF after my contract with the navy due to their mission set
 
Welcome to the site. There are people here who can definitely give you some good insights into the career choices you've mentioned.

I'll offer that it's generally considered bad form to refer to SOF career fields as "stepping stones." For many of the individuals in those lines of work, what they do is a profession and a way of life, and it can come across as denigrating (or at least uninformed) to refer to them in the way you did.

With that out of the way, there are many ways to get into the DIA or ISA. You mentioned you're in the Navy, are you already in an intel career field?
 
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So @Marauder06 already kinda covered the poor form.

Welcome.

Using a SOF unit as a stepping stone is a poor decision based off of statistics alone. Your chance of becoming say a Green Beret is somewhere around 30%, if you are in excellent physical condition, chances are you aren’t. To get into a unit like you mention that is probably like 10%, and of those they are already the cream of the crop. So maybe you have like a 3 percent chance.

My advice, would be to decide what you want to do. If you want to be an intel guy, by all means, do it. Be the best intel guy you can be. @Marauder06 wasn’t an operator at any level. But I bet he was a pretty shit hot intel guy to have that green tag (verified SOF). You don’t randomly get assigned to SOF units at the National level unless you are anything but excellent, and pass some form of assessment. Either commit 100% to being the best intel guy, or commit 100% to becoming an SF guy. Don’t half ass either.
 
I would like to conduct direct combat support with SOF while in the navy. I know a few of those units I listed have their intel guys fulfill such a role but I was curious if anyone could give any insight on HUMINT/CI within them if possible.

I definitely want to try for army SF in the future but I've still got some years left on my contract in the navy, my eyes don't qualify for seals, and I'd like to get as close to field work as possible while I'm in the navy.
 
People are generally reluctant to talk about CI/HUMINT in those types of units in public, especially with people they don't know.

Additionally, there is no way of knowing whether what a stranger on the Internet is telling you is accurate, even on an authoritative site like ours.

I will offer though that from time to time various joint SOF units out out a call for augmentees for various assignments, including downrange tours.

Something rust isn’t work well for you is for you to message your detailed/branch manger (IDK what you have in the Navy) and let them know you’re interested in deploying with a joint SOF unit. They may have something they need to fill…
 
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Only my opinion - the VERY first thing you need to do from a strictly "career choice" point of view is expectation management.
Do you want to smack people in the lips?
Do you want to wear dark sunglasses, a fake mustache, and carry a fake passport while wooing hot babes and fooling them into giving you their nations deepest secrets on a super encrypted USB drive so you can help make the world America?

Those are two distinctly different career paths and no matter how hard you train, you will NEVER throw a touchdown pass and a no-hitter during the same game - no matter how good your arm is.

Point-Man-On-The-Door-Kick is NOT going into the room to sweet talk someone out of their information. The singleton doing trade craft in a semi-permissive environment to support intelligence preparation of the battlefield is almost always going to be a complete and utter failure if he puts himself in a position where he has to smack someone in the lips.

It was my experience during 25 years in 'the industry' that you can only work at the tip of one spear at a time. If you want to shoot mother fuckers in the face, you don't need to worry about how well you speak your target language - you just need to be able to master the fundamentals of combat marksmanship under the rigors of extreme physical exertion. That means you have to devote your training to being able to silently patrol 3 or 4 kilometers over hill and dale (or more, depending on how far away the last terrain feature was); fighting your way into a compound, clearing your way through numerous buildings and several stairwells without being too winded to take a precise rifle shot - in the dark - without hitting an innocent noncombatant or team mate.

Furthermore, a knuckle-dragger that can do everything in the above paragraph without breaking a sweat has not really done anything to serve as a stepping stone into a job as a shadowy intel operative that is able to conduct meaningful and productive close target reconnaissance and asset management in an environment were just looking like an American is enough to be arrested on espionage charges.

The back side of that is the size of the SOF community. You are pondering a career in an industry that is just big enough to be globally lethal while still being small enough to afford everyone the opportunity to quickly draft their own reputation. Once you get a reputation as a stepping stone practitioner, NOBODY will want to work with you because they will see that your priority lies in the next stone and not the continuity and success of the team.

A spear only has one tip and the stepping stone approach to glory and greatness is for people that don't have confidence in their abilities to truly serve at the tip of that spear. If you worry about the tip of multiple spears, none of the tips will ever be as sharps as they could be.

Parents that tell their kids, "you can be whatever you want to be if you put your mind to it" are terrible parents that are only proliferating shattered dreams and unrealistic goal setting.
My advice to tons of folks over the years has always been the same:
-Figure out what you REALLY want to do with your life.
-Go out and do that shit - and do that shit to the very best of your ability.

Just my two cents though - I've never been anywhere or done anything that has led me to a spot on the new york times best seller list
 
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People are generally reluctant to talk about CI/HUMINT in those types of units in public, especially with people they don't know.

Additionally, there is no way of knowing whether what a stranger on the Internet is telling you is accurate, even on an authoritative site like ours.

I will offer though that from time to time various joint SOF units out out a call for augmentees for various assignments, including downrange tours.

Something rust isn’t work well for you is for you to message your detailed/branch manger (IDK what you have in the Navy) and let them know you’re interested in deploying with a joint SOF unit. They may have something they need to fill…
Thank you for the insight, I will definitely reach out to my detailer and see what kinds of billets I am eligible for
 
Only my opinion - the VERY first thing you need to do from a strictly "career choice" point of view is expectation management.
Do you want to smack people in the lips?
Do you want to wear dark sunglasses, a fake mustache, and carry a fake passport while wooing hot babes and fooling them into giving you their nations deepest secrets on a super encrypted USB drive so you can help make the world America?

Those are two distinctly different career paths and no matter how hard you train, you will NEVER throw a touchdown pass and a no-hitter during the same game - no matter how good your arm is.

Point-Man-On-The-Door-Kick is NOT going into the room to sweet talk someone out of their information. The singleton doing trade craft in a semi-permissive environment to support intelligence preparation of the battlefield is almost always going to be a complete and utter failure if he puts himself in a position where he has to smack someone in the lips.

It was my experience during 25 years in 'the industry' that you can only work at the tip of one spear at a time. If you want to shoot mother fuckers in the face, you don't need to worry about how well you speak your target language - you just need to be able to master the fundamentals of combat marksmanship under the rigors of extreme physical exertion. That means you have to devote your training to being able to silently patrol 3 or 4 kilometers over hill and dale (or more, depending on how far away the last terrain feature was); fighting your way into a compound, clearing your way through numerous buildings and several stairwells without being too winded to take a precise rifle shot - in the dark - without hitting an innocent noncombatant or team mate.

Furthermore, a knuckle-dragger that can do everything in the above paragraph without breaking a sweat has not really done anything to serve as a stepping stone into a job as a shadowy intel operative that is able to conduct meaningful and productive close target reconnaissance and asset management in an environment were just looking like an American is enough to be arrested on espionage charges.

The back side of that is the size of the SOF community. You are pondering a career in an industry that is just big enough to be globally lethal while still being small enough to afford everyone the opportunity to quickly draft their own reputation. Once you get a reputation as a stepping stone practitioner, NOBODY will want to work with you because they will see that your priority lies in the next stone and not the continuity and success of the team.

A spear only has one tip and the stepping stone approach to glory and greatness is for people that don't have confidence in their abilities to truly serve at the tip of that spear. If you worry about the tip of multiple spears, none of the tips will ever be as sharps as they could be.

Parents that tell their kids, "you can be whatever you want to be if you put your mind to it" are terrible parents that are only proliferating shattered dreams and unrealistic goal setting.
My advice to tons of folks over the years has always been the same:
-Figure out what you REALLY want to do with your life.
-Go out and do that shit - and do that shit to the very best of your ability.

Just my two cents though - I've never been anywhere or done anything that has led me to a spot on the new york times best seller list
I really appreciate the detailed perspective. I guess that's my main issue is understanding what it is exactly that I want to do. I find both worlds extremely interesting and can see myself in either, I just need to decide on one. I was hoping there were worlds or positions where I could do a little bit of both but I guess that's not really realistic
 
Are you already a K13A?

If not, I'd submit a package for that school first and then ask those questions once I'm through.
Not yet, was supposed to be but due to issues with my detailer my orders weren't cut in time so I'll have to wait a few years, but I definitely will be asking questions as soon as I am one
 
If you want a taste of both worlds you can be IS support in NSW or for devgru.

Wanting to go to a tier 1 unit in your position is not unheard of, but it is, as already pointed out, abundantly rare and unusual. I have a good friend who is a crypto (CT) and speaks a couple different languages who was approached for ISA. In one of our many conversations about that particular unit, he said "you don't apply to them, they reach out to you."
 
@Drsock89 post an intro and send me a PM
If you want a taste of both worlds you can be IS support in NSW or for devgru.

Wanting to go to a tier 1 unit in your position is not unheard of, but it is, as already pointed out, abundantly rare and unusual. I have a good friend who is a crypto (CT) and speaks a couple different languages who was approached for ISA. In one of our many conversations about that particular unit, he said "you don't apply to them, they reach out to you."
Do you know if IS are forsure doing direct combat support at DEVGRU and NSW? I've heard mixed things from people in the community which as been disheartening. I know there is of course a lot of desk work as an intel guy which I'm fine with but I also want to get out beyond the wire and conduct real world collection
 
Do you know if IS are forsure doing direct combat support at DEVGRU and NSW? I've heard mixed things from people in the community which as been disheartening. I know there is of course a lot of desk work as an intel guy which I'm fine with but I also want to get out beyond the wire and conduct real world collection
Talented people are doing all sorts of things regardless of their MOS. I agree with what everyone else is saying but there is nothing wrong with thinking you are the golden child that will rise to the highest levels of SOF and government. Maybe keep it to yourself though. In any event, the first step is to dominate your current position, and then do the same to every job the Navy provides you until you are at your goal. You see it is a very simple process that starts with out performing your peers. There are aspects of hard work, talent, and luck that will contribute to the success or failure of this endeavor. Believe in yourself, never quit, and aim for the stars.
 
Talented people are doing all sorts of things regardless of their MOS. I agree with what everyone else is saying but there is nothing wrong with thinking you are the golden child that will rise to the highest levels of SOF and government. Maybe keep it to yourself though. In any event, the first step is to dominate your current position, and then do the same to every job the Navy provides you until you are at your goal. You see it is a very simple process that starts with out performing your peers. There are aspects of hard work, talent, and luck that will contribute to the success or failure of this endeavor. Believe in yourself, never quit, and aim for the stars.
Thank you, that means a lot. I will definitely work as hard as I possibly can. It's disappointing that my current command is considered really laid back and relaxed but hopefully I can keep the ball rolling despite that
 
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