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DCO Intel Eligibility & Process

DC_Lawyer

New Member
Hi All--

I am very new here so apologies in advance if I misstate anything. I am very interested in the Navy Reserves DCO program, specifically for an intel role (Designator 1835).

I reached out to a local recruiter and sent my resume to him. Although I don't have a background in intelligence, I do possess a Bachelor's Degree in government (my school's equivalent to political science), a 3.5 college GPA, and significant coursework in college concerning global affairs, including a trip to Israel to study Middle East culture/religion. Since college I have received a master's degree in education (I was a teacher for 3 years) and a law degree from a well-regarded school. I am now a practicing attorney at a well-known law firm in the DC area. Without getting into specifics, I also have a number of activities on my resume that generally suggest strong leadership skills.

I mention all of this to say I was surprised when the recruiter emailed me back indicating I did not possess the minimum program requirements for any of the DCO roles. I understand I don't have the work experience "in the field" that would make me especially competitive for such a position, but I have seen several individuals on here (and elsewhere) with similar backgrounds that have worked with recruiters that at least have allowed them to apply for an intel position. I would like to be able to at least apply and put my best foot forward, even if I am ultimately unsuccessful.

1. Have qualifications changed such that I can't even apply without 5 years of intel work?
2. Could I potentially have better luck with a different recruiter? Am I allowed to reach out to a different recruiter outside of the DC area?
 

fieldrat

Fully Qualified 1815
Have you viewed the Program Authorization 108A: Intelligence?

If after reading you still feel qualified, call up the recruiter and give them a hard sell.

As an aside -
  • INTEL is way oversubscribed (just my personal opinion).
  • In the DC/MD/VA area, the talent pool is (crazy) deep.
  • Either be a stand out candidate, or apply from a "less-competitive" area.
 

Flash

SEVAL/ECMO
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
DCO, especially Intel, is extremely competitive nowadays and I would defer to what the recruiter says. Do a search for DCO and DCO Intel here and you'll find a lot on the process and how competitive, or not, you will likely be compared to others. Unfortunately for you that trip you made to the ME doesn't compare well to someone who has a Master's in Middle Eastern history and is fluent in Arabic.

As for others with your similar background who are in Intel, I've known more than a few lawyers who are Intel DCO's but every single one of them either commissioned before 9/11 or enlisted as an Intel Specialist and then got commissioned.
 

bubblehead

Registered Member
Contributor
Your recruiter is full of sh*t.

Read the PA for intelligence. Note, there is only a single requirement: a college degree from an accredited institution and with a GPA of 2.8 or higher. Everything else is preferred, strongly preferred, or desired.

The Recruiters who recruit for the Reserve Information Warfare Officer (IWC) community adhere to COMNAVIFORES INSTRUCTION 1120.B which details the procedures.

Recruiters work through the applicable Officer in Charge (OIC) of the NAVIFORES region to submit packages for the DCO Professional Recommendation (PR) Board.

Note, per the instruction, OICs may neither delay nor deny an application if the applicant meets the minimum PA requirements and wishes to proceed with the application process. The OIC may recommend that Recruiters counsel applicants with non-competitive applications as to the likelihood of favorable recommendations for consideration as an IWC officer.

The next board is in March and the cutoff date for applications is February 24. You may want to consider getting a package ready for the next board as you will not have enough time to put together a package and to conduct all of the interviews, etc., before the cutoff date.

You also will have to content with some recruiters who are just abject lazy. I interviewed a very competitive DCO candidate recently and the candidates recruiter did a poor job of quality checking the NAVCRUIT 1131 which took me all of about 10 minutes to review.
 

FormerRecruitingGuru

Making Recruiting Great Again
Your recruiter is full of sh*t.

Read the PA for intelligence. Note, there is only a single requirement: a college degree from an accredited institution and with a GPA of 2.8 or higher. Everything else is preferred, strongly preferred, or desired.

The Recruiters who recruit for the Reserve Information Warfare Officer (IWC) community adhere to COMNAVIFORES INSTRUCTION 1120.B which details the procedures.

Recruiters work through the applicable Officer in Charge (OIC) of the NAVIFORES region to submit packages for the DCO Professional Recommendation (PR) Board.

Note, per the instruction, OICs may neither delay nor deny an application if the applicant meets the minimum PA requirements and wishes to proceed with the application process. The OIC may recommend that Recruiters counsel applicants with non-competitive applications as to the likelihood of favorable recommendations for consideration as an IWC officer.

The next board is in March and the cutoff date for applications is February 24. You may want to consider getting a package ready for the next board as you will not have enough time to put together a package and to conduct all of the interviews, etc., before the cutoff date.

I’m siding with the recruiter here. Yes there might be one hard requirement, the strongly preferred is essentially a requirement as well.

His work experience and education don’t match with what the selection boards are looking for.
 

bubblehead

Registered Member
Contributor
I’m siding with the recruiter here. Yes there might be one hard requirement, the strongly preferred is essentially a requirement as well.

His work experience and education don’t match with what the selection boards are looking for.
BLUF: the recruiter lied by telling the applicant that they did not meet the program requirements. The only requirement is what I listed.

The preferred, strongly preferred, or desired items are listed that way to give the Navy the necessary wiggle room for various scenarios. I hear what you are saying, but, people have the opportunity to submit a package and to receive feedback.

Screen Shot 2019-01-24 at 11.51.52.jpg
 
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exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
BLUF: the recruiter lied by telling the applicant that they did not meet the program requirements. The only requirement is what I listed.

The preferred, strongly preferred, or desired items are listed that way to give the Navy the necessary wiggle room for various scenarios. I hear what you are saying, but, people have the opportunity to submit a package and to receive feedback.

View attachment 20809

There are many reasons the recruiter could have said what he said, could be he was just wrong, or could be he was following what he was told.

By the PA yes he should be able to apply, but the board gives no feedback, in some cases the only feedback will be from the recruiter and their experience.

If the command feels he isn't a strong candidate the NRD CO can hold a field reject board and then the application never goes to NRC.

It doesn't matter what area he applies out of, he is still going up against all those other candidates, the board could have all their Pro-Y's out of the DC area if they wanted, and actually for a long while that is where most of the selections were from.

What the recruiter said is technically wrong, but the recruiter is right in the fact he isn't a strong candidate, in fact of all the DCO candidates I saw go through my NRD he would have beee the least qualified.

He is still eligible for AD and that could be a better chance for Intel
 

bubblehead

Registered Member
Contributor
What the recruiter said is technically wrong, but the recruiter is right in the fact he isn't a strong candidate, in fact of all the DCO candidates I saw go through my NRD he would have been the least qualified.
All you are basing this on is the OP's post and not on their resume, etc.

Nevertheless, Recruiters are still required to process the packages for people who meet the requirements from the PA.
 

FormerRecruitingGuru

Making Recruiting Great Again
Nevertheless, Recruiters are still required to process the packages for people who meet the requirements from the PA.

That’s not true. Recruiters can field reject applicants if they feel they are not a good fit for the Navy. It’s usually for conduct reasons (being a douche to the recruiter mainly) but with recruiting quotas switching back to attainment credit, recruiters are going to not to want to work with marginally qualified applicants.
 

bubblehead

Registered Member
Contributor
That’s not true. Recruiters can field reject applicants if they feel they are not a good fit for the Navy. It’s usually for conduct reasons (being a douche to the recruiter mainly) but with recruiting quotas switching back to attainment credit, recruiters are going to not to want to work with marginally qualified applicants.
these statements are contradictory. Not trying to be difficult but OICs are required by instruction (above) to forward all packages.

I found the COMNAVCRUITCOMINST which details "Field Rejection Authority." Lemme have a looksy.
 

FormerRecruitingGuru

Making Recruiting Great Again
these statements are contradictory. Not trying to be difficult but OICs are required by instruction (above) to forward all packages.

I found the COMNAVCRUITCOMINST which details "Field Rejection Authority." Lemme have a looksy.

OIC doesn’t need to forward packages if they never make it to the OIC in the first place
 

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exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
these statements are contradictory. Not trying to be difficult but OICs are required by instruction (above) to forward all packages.

I found the COMNAVCRUITCOMINST which details "Field Rejection Authority." Lemme have a looksy.

I think part of the problem is during the last revision they put AC and RC together, when separate it was a bit better.

The OIC of the local intel unit that does the interviews will have their own views, the one that did the interviews where I was would not give a strong confidence score to a person that didn't have at least 5 years of relevant work experience, and that score is crucial so he was essentially killing their chances.
 

Hair Warrior

Well-Known Member
Contributor
Also, DCO package isn’t a DCO package if it’s still missing a piece of required paperwork...
 
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AULANI

Well-Known Member
Hi All--

I am very new here so apologies in advance if I misstate anything. I am very interested in the Navy Reserves DCO program, specifically for an intel role (Designator 1835).

I reached out to a local recruiter and sent my resume to him. Although I don't have a background in intelligence, I do possess a Bachelor's Degree in government (my school's equivalent to political science), a 3.5 college GPA, and significant coursework in college concerning global affairs, including a trip to Israel to study Middle East culture/religion. Since college I have received a master's degree in education (I was a teacher for 3 years) and a law degree from a well-regarded school. I am now a practicing attorney at a well-known law firm in the DC area. Without getting into specifics, I also have a number of activities on my resume that generally suggest strong leadership skills.

I mention all of this to say I was surprised when the recruiter emailed me back indicating I did not possess the minimum program requirements for any of the DCO roles. I understand I don't have the work experience "in the field" that would make me especially competitive for such a position, but I have seen several individuals on here (and elsewhere) with similar backgrounds that have worked with recruiters that at least have allowed them to apply for an intel position. I would like to be able to at least apply and put my best foot forward, even if I am ultimately unsuccessful.

1. Have qualifications changed such that I can't even apply without 5 years of intel work?
2. Could I potentially have better luck with a different recruiter? Am I allowed to reach out to a different recruiter outside of the DC area?
Sorry to hear about your situation. I came out of the DC area (not sure how many recruiting offices are there) but the recruiters I worked with were extremely helpful and knowledgeable about intel applications. Those guys do put a lot packages through and probably have a good sense of who is competitive and who is not.
 

Hair Warrior

Well-Known Member
Contributor
No offense to the OP, but there is a long-running stereotype of lawyers in Navy DCO intel (especially from the D.C. area) who think intelligence sounds cool on a resume, apply, get selected (often with political connections), serve for a few years, and end up as Capitol Hill staff or running for political office in their home state. I know some 1835 lawyers; many are good people and good officers. I hope in time they can be the ones to prove the stereotype false... but for now, the stereotype is still very much alive.
 
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