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DCO Intel Community Gouge (Bonus: "The Long Blue Wait" in FY09)

mgreen121774

New Member
Good Morning Everyone,

I have posted before, inquiring about the DCO process. I am now in the final leg of the selection process, having successfully completed the PRT. All I can do now is to wait until the selection board meets on March 31st. That date may be off now since the Navy has changed the application deadline from Mar. 17th to the end of February. We'll see.

Anyways, however long I actually have to wait to hear about being selected, I am curious about how realistic are my odds of being accepted into an Intel program. I am told by a recruiter who is a friend of my sister-in-law that I will be selected based on my qualifications and how "hungry" the Navy is right now for Intel officers. On the other hand, I have read some posts that have detailed how many intel officers were actually selected in the last board - not very encouraging. I will of course reapply if I am not selected, but at the age of 33, with a master's degree in Natural Sciences, great references, and more than eight years of work experience and scientific/analytical background, what are my chances of an affirmative response later next month?

Lastly, my wife tells me that this same recruiter insists that I will be deployed immediately out of DCO school. I have explained to her that this is BS and that she shouldn't worry because the two years of training after I finish DCO school is more or less what the OCS guys get in the 13 weeks. I have further explained to her that the Navy is not going to deploy an untrained officer going through the reserve DCO training process anymore than they are going to deploy an Officer candidate in OCS before he has finished training and has some idea of what he is doing. So my question is, who is right? Is there any chance of my being deployed early, or is the recruiter full of it, or did she perhaps misunderstand something?

Any gouge would be most appreciated as I await selection. Thank you for your time.

Very Respectfully,

M. Ragan "Trey" Green, III
 

dephyler

Member
Contributor
I was told that 84 active duty days must be completed before you can be deployed. That equates to about 2 years of drilling.

In terms of selection, the stats that I was always told was 10-25% of applicants were picked up, but that's not the likelihood of your selection. As always, it depends on your package and what you had to offer compared to everyone else. If your scores were good, you're probably historically competetive, but like stocks, history doesn't mean much.

I heard back within a week of the board, app was due 2 weeks before board. If they don't delay the board, figure about 3-4 weeks after submission. Then get ready for the long wait :)
 

mgreen121774

New Member
Long Wait?

That sounds good. Thank you again Dephyler. My recruiter told me the same thing about the 84 days thing. I could care less when I get deployed honestly - I will do what I am told and go wherever, whenever. I'll be sure to pass this on to her - should make her more at ease.

What is the long wait that you referred to in the last sentence of your last post? Once (if) I am selected, what else is there? Are you referring perhaps to the background check/medical screens? If so, what do they involve and what happens after that is done?


Trey
 

dephyler

Member
Contributor
After selection, you have x number of days to get a physical done. I'm not sure what that number is, some days I heard 60, others, 30, so I'm not sure. After the physical paper work is submitted, then there's something like an 8-14 week period where your name makes the rounds through the various bureaucracies.

In this non-perfect world, little things can happen to make the time longer. For example, I got my physical done at Newport on a drill weekend by a reserve Dr. in mid Jan. For whatever reason, the ear Dr. wasn't there that weekend so I couldn't get my hearing test done. I went back down about a week and a half later when the Active Duty staff was there to get it done. My recruiter was out of town the following week so my med forms weren't passed on for 2-3 weeks after my physical. My recruiter is guessing that I have another 8-10 weeks to go. It feels a lot longer.
 

FlyinSpy

Mongo only pawn, in game of life...
Contributor
Lastly, my wife tells me that this same recruiter insists that I will be deployed immediately out of DCO school. I have explained to her that this is BS and that she shouldn't worry because the two years of training after I finish DCO school is more or less what the OCS guys get in the 13 weeks. I have further explained to her that the Navy is not going to deploy an untrained officer going through the reserve DCO training process anymore than they are going to deploy an Officer candidate in OCS before he has finished training and has some idea of what he is doing. So my question is, who is right? Is there any chance of my being deployed early, or is the recruiter full of it, or did she perhaps misunderstand something?

The answer to the question "What makes me deployable" is pretty straightforward - a 9600 NOBC. OK, so what's that?

This is a code that you are assigned after you have completed the requisite amount of training that the Navy wants you to have before you are considered "deployable". This instruction (http://doni.daps.dla.mil/Directives...eneral Military Personnel Records/1001.25.pdf) lays it all out. The Cliff Notes version of the requirements is as follows:

-Commission + 12 months
-Completed SSBI
-Completion of Basic Reserve Intelligence Training (~ 1 year, on drill weekends)
-Naval Intelligence Officer's Basic Course (a 2 week AT)
-A year in a production unit
-Completion of the the Navy's information security course

There are ways to compress this or get waivers, but in general it would take a minimum of 2 years before your name would come up as a deployable body. As you can see, DCO school isn't even a requirement per se; it's just assumed you'll knock that out as your first year's AT.

The takeway is that unless you start applying for waivers or find ways to compress timelines, you've got a bit of a wait before you stare a mobilization in the face. After that time, though, all bets are off.
 

DangerousDan

I could tell you but I would have to kill you
The answer to the question "What makes me deployable" is pretty straightforward - a 9600 NOBC.

I heard that reservists attending the six month Naval Intelligence Officer's Basic Course get the 9600 right away.
 

JKD

Member
DangerousDan - yes. I know of a 1635 who completed the six month active duty NIOBC course who wanted to immediately volunteer to be mob'd and he was able to submit for his 9600 right out of the school.

I also know of a case where a Reserve Intel Area (RIA) Officer in Charge (OIC) wanted to mob someone right out of the active duty school, and the unit CO would not sign-off on the NOBC recommendation because the member was too "green".

So, with that said. The active duty school does fulfill the 84 day requirement, but it is not always a good idea to ship people off right out of school.

The items FlynSpy listed are in the example request for the NOBC. While the instruction does not make it as cut and dry as those requirements, most officers signing off on the NOBC want to see all those items before they give the recommendation.
 

DangerousDan

I could tell you but I would have to kill you
DangerousDan - yes. I know of a 1635 who completed the six month active duty NIOBC course who wanted to immediately volunteer to be mob'd and he was able to submit for his 9600 right out of the school.

I also know of a case where a Reserve Intel Area (RIA) Officer in Charge (OIC) wanted to mob someone right out of the active duty school, and the unit CO would not sign-off on the NOBC recommendation because the member was too "green".

So, with that said. The active duty school does fulfill the 84 day requirement, but it is not always a good idea to ship people off right out of school.
.

Yeah. We'll see what happens. I want to either be Mob'd or do some long term ADSW (prefer ADSW). Ive been sitting around waiting to redesignate and get qualified for two years. I'm ready to go and do something USEFUL!!!
 

mgreen121774

New Member
Selection Board Meeting Today...

Hello All,

I have applied for a commission as an intel officer. My packet is in for the selection board meeting today - Mar. 31, 2008. 'Anyone else also waiting anxiously in the queue?

Naturally, I am really excited and I am also curious about how long I may have to wait before hearing anything back. Any hints?

Also, should I be selected, what is the next step? I have posted about this before, but I am still a bit confused about the difference between selection vs. "final select". What, if any, is the difference? I have already done my physical and PRT. Does selection mean final selection in that I am finished once I am sworn in, or do I still have another hurdle(s) to jump over toward the final select?

M. Ragan "Trey" Green, III
 

dephyler

Member
Contributor
I submitted in Nov, board pushed to early December, I heard that I was pro-rec'd about the 15th of Dec or so. Then you'll have a physical and your background will be checked out. A few months go by and your recruiter will get a final select notice followed by comm docs.

My final select letter came in last Mon. and my recruiter said that Comm Docs take 7-10 business days after that. From what I've heard on here though, 7-10 business days needs a few large grains of salt. I'm anxious to get them, but it's all about playing the wating game.

A bunch of threads have been posted relatively recently though. Just change the default view to be from the "last 30 days" to "beginning" and you'll see them.
 

bucki4lyfe

Michigan Sucks
Yeah, I'm in that board as well. I don't know who your recruiter is, but mine at the Hyattsville Station said that once that board meets it takes 14-16 days for them to post the results. She told me they check the websites everyday to see if anything has been updated but that the 2 week delay is normal. She told me in an email today that I should expect to see results the week of April 14th.

As Dephyler said, after that they do the physical and background check. I am fortunate enough to have a clearance already and, per a new regulation, that has been passed to the Navy so I don't have to go through another one. If you have a high enough clearance, you won't have to go through another process, which will make the commission date a lot sooner. The physical, from my understanding, is pretty simple.

Maybe we'll be working together in the near future...
 

bucki4lyfe

Michigan Sucks
In response to:

but at the age of 33, with a master's degree in Natural Sciences, great references, and more than eight years of work experience and scientific/analytical background, what are my chances of an affirmative response later next month?

I've seen the same thing on here about people with insanely high ASTB scores (9/9/9/75) which is almost unheard of...

In regards to that, I had a 6/5/6/57 and my recruiter said that was very competitive (I don't think she had any reason to lie) and that the all 9's is really people blowing smoke on these postboards. 3's are minimums, 4's are better, 5's are competitive and 6's are awesome, is my understand from what she told me.

As for everything else you have, I don't think you can get better unless you have intelligence work experience.

I wish I had heard the story about the "Navy being hungry for Intel officers" because I'm in the same boat as you for this board...
 

DangerousDan

I could tell you but I would have to kill you
I want to either be Mob'd or do some long term ADSW (prefer ADSW). Ive been sitting around waiting to redesignate and get qualified for two years. I'm ready to go and do something USEFUL!!!


Well I went and talked to the skipper of my new unit and he said I was #1 on his Mobilization hit list. Its ok but kinda annoying because I had long term orders to EUCOM already arranged when I thought I was a part of the EUCOM unit vice the CENTCOM unit I ended up in.
 

dephyler

Member
Contributor
I've seen the same thing on here about people with insanely high ASTB scores (9/9/9/75) which is almost unheard of...

In regards to that, I had a 6/5/6/57 and my recruiter said that was very competitive (I don't think she had any reason to lie) and that the all 9's is really people blowing smoke on these postboards. 3's are minimums, 4's are better, 5's are competitive and 6's are awesome, is my understand from what she told me.

I would hope that the people on this board would be better than that, and I'm running with the assumption that a future officer would not lie to score points. As for the min scores, I never got hard numbers. However, I was led to believe that because of the competitiveness of Intel, scores in the 3's and 4's have pretty much no chance. Then again, someone with scores like that might get a board with all low scores and be picked up.
 

bucki4lyfe

Michigan Sucks
I would hope that the people on this board would be better than that, and I'm running with the assumption that a future officer would not lie to score points. As for the min scores, I never got hard numbers. However, I was led to believe that because of the competitiveness of Intel, scores in the 3's and 4's have pretty much no chance. Then again, someone with scores like that might get a board with all low scores and be picked up.

I found these two threads, the first is even called "9/9/9/64"

http://www.airwarriors.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-136973.html

http://www.airwarriors.com/forum/archive/index.php?t-4897.html

That one has some ridiculous scores posted as well. Maybe theres just some really smart people out there and we're all the idiots. :icon_tong

Also,

https://www.cnet.navy.mil/vp30home/EducationServices/OCS/opnavinstch4OCS.pdf

On page 4-6 of the document it states that an OAR of 45 is minimum for Intel. I couldn't find any other minimums but as you said, if you have 3's you can pretty much count yourself out.
 
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