Army Military Intelligence Training
Army intelligence officers and enlisted soldiers go through training to learn how to support units during combat missions. In order to work in this field, you need to have high scores on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB, which is an aptitude test that the military uses to analyze your strengths and weaknesses. Your training will build upon your natural talents to prepare you for your job in military intelligence.
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Basic Combat Training
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If you're entering the Army as an enlisted soldier for the first time, you'll need to go through the Army's Basic Combat Training program. This nine-week course introduces you to life in the military and prepares you for combat situations by teaching you weapons skills, teamwork and confidence. Basic Combat Training also focuses on physical conditioning, and you'll have to pass the Army Physical Fitness Test in order to graduate.
Advanced Individual Training
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After Basic Combat Training, you'll move on to a course that focuses on your specific job in the military. Called Advanced Individual Training, or AIT, the length of this course depends on your specific job in military intelligence. The course for intelligence analysts lasts 13 weeks, while the courses of human intelligence collectors and signals intelligence analysts last longer, at 19 and 24 weeks, respectively. During AIT, you'll work with teams of other intelligence soldiers in hands-on training and simulated situations.
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Defense Language Institute
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Some intelligence jobs require that you be proficient in foreign languages. If this is the case, you may need to attend the Defense Language Institute for six to 18 months before attending AIT in order to learn a foreign language. If you already understand a foreign language, you can bypass the Defense Language Institute program by passing a proficiency test.
Counterintelligence Special Agent Course
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If you want to be a counterintelligence agent, you have to first take an entry-level intelligence position or other job in the Army. After showing proficiency in this other job, you can apply to enter the Counterintelligence Special Agent Course, which is a 19-week training course that teachers you interviewing techniques, evidence collection, report preparation, computer system usage, and other counterintelligence skills.
Special Operations Forces Training
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Special Forces combines military intelligence and infantry. If you're a candidate for this program, you'll go through a single 17-week One Station Unit Training program instead of Basic Combat Training and AIT. From there, you'll attend Airborne Training, which prepares you for paratrooping and a four-week Special Operations Preparation Course. After graduating from these training programs, you'll be sent to the Special Forces Assessment and Selection program, which analyzes your physical and mental ability to be a part of the Special Forces, and if you pass, you'll go through a qualification course, which will train you in land navigation, resistance and escape, air operations, unconventional warfare, language and other unique combat areas. At this point, you'll also choose a specialty and receive 65 days of training in that area.
Intelligence Officer Training
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If you want to enter the Army as an officer rather than an enlisted soldier, you will go through the Military Intelligence Officer Basic Course through ROTC, which allows you to become an officer while going to college. You can also apply for entry to West Point, the Army's military academy. If you're already in the military, you can apply to the Military Intelligence Officer Basic Course to become a commissioned officer if you have at least a bachelor's degree, or you can take training courses in order to rank as a non-commissioned officers in your field.
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References
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