To the outsider the differences will appear very subtle, but to those of us on either side of the fence, there are dramatic differences. The biggest difference to me is that of the respective culture. Intel Officers “support the warfighter”, while IW Officers serve in positions where we support the warfighter and others where we are the warfighter. Because we are a restricted line community, the aviators will liken us to kickers on a football team (aviators of course being the QBs) and using that metaphor Intel Officers would be the statisticians on the sideline. I say that not to take anything away from our Intel brethren because they do provide value. They are very good briefers and have a wealth of knowledge on the specific target. However, they are not decision makers, have extremely small opportunities to lead (officer to enlisted ratio is more like USAF) and have virtually no command opportunities. We, on the other hand, have the opportunity to ride subs, be PCS afloat, fly and embed with SPECWAR. There is no other community in the Navy that offers so many opportunities to contribute across every warfare area. Ironically, we continue to struggle to have URLs acknowledge the warfare area of Information Operations as ours to lead.
I have had this discussion with many Intel Officers and the general sentiment is that it is more challenging to have an Intel Officer fill the role of an IW Officer than the reverse. Here’s what to expect from a generic career as an IWO:
1)IW Basic Course (Pensacola)
2)Cryptologic Center (HI, MD, TX, GA)
3)PCS Afloat, SPECWAR or other opportunity to lead IW in a tactical arena
4)Shore Staff Duty (OPNAV or NETWARCOM) and/or PG School
5)Operational Staff (Carrier/Expeditionary Strike Group)
6)XO and/or War College
7)Joint/Operational Staff
8)Command
We do not have a structured career path, but there are certain common experiences to which we funnel our future leaders. If you’d like to discuss in greater depth, please send me a note.