Hi,

My name's Craig, I am thinking of joining the US army but am unsure of what I can do or should aim for.

I have what I guess is a pretty unusual upbringing. My Dad is an American, but I was born and raised in France. I lived there for 17 years. I am currently in my fourth and final year of study in England (London). I am studying History/Politics. I have never lived in the US. I have visited my family in California many times.

I like the idea of being an officer, but I am dual US-UK national, and I have read that the security clearance needed would mean abandoning my British citizenship. This doesn't appeal to me.

If I were to list my personal qualities:
* Deep thinker
* Good writing/communication/presentation skills
* Some language skills, fluent in French and Italian (not exactly what the army is looking for, I know)
* Good numeracy skills
* Good IT

I'm not particularly big on sports but I can deal with physical effort if I have to (last summer I had 45 minute bike rides to and from work, my shift started at 2PM so it was pretty damn hot and not flat).

With all this, I don't know where I would best fit in. Given what I know how to do now, of the jobs I've researched I think I would be best either:
A) An intelligence job: imagery analyst, intel analyst, psy ops, anything involving analyzing, writing reports etc.
B) Administrative support: HR or Finance

Part of the reason I want to join though, is to try something new, to see if there's something in me apart from academics/desk stuff. Depending on how initial training went, I might be more confident about trying some of the other jobs.

So.. yeah. I guess I've said a lot already. What do you think?

Craig,

You appear to have a good head on your shoulders in what you expressed. As you are a dual nationality you have that choice to make. Thats going to be all on you. by the by, My father was a yank and mom was a brit and I was born in Liverpool. So your situation is not all that unusual.

Should you decide to make the transition to the US Armed Forces, based on what you said, you would be a good fit into the intell field providing you could get your security clearance. As for the admin or finance roles...you would not be meeting your stated goal of trying something new and setting yourself apart from the academic/desk stuff. You would eventually become so frigging bored with it, you would question why you made such a choice.

If you want to be an Officer, you'll have to get the clearance.... period.

Remember what the US Military's primary task is and what the nation expects them to do. Factor this into your decision.

Committment to a military life is not an easy decision, we all have an oath we take and part of that is to defend this nation against all enemies foriegn and domestic, and this is happening right now to all branches of our military. Young folks who have taken this path (regardless of what they thought they signed up for) very often find themselves doing just that.

Those in Europe are not focused at a national level or have accepted the fact that there is a world wide war on terror going on with the US leading the way. This is what you are contemplating and must take into consideration.

Even enlisted intel jobs require a clearance, so you'd have to give up the UK passport for any intel position. Which you probably would be suited for. And French, with just a little bit of training is very useful in Africa. So, yes, it is a useful skill.

quote:

If I were to list my personal qualities:
* Deep thinker
* Good writing/communication/presentation skills
* Some language skills, fluent in French and Italian (not exactly what the army is looking for, I know)
* Good numeracy skills
* Good IT

I'm not particularly big on sports but I can deal with physical effort if I have to (last summer I had 45 minute bike rides to and from work, my shift started at 2PM so it was pretty damn hot and not flat).

With all this, I don't know where I would best fit in. Given what I know how to do now, of the jobs I've researched I think I would be best either:
A) An intelligence job: imagery analyst, intel analyst, psy ops, anything involving analyzing, writing reports etc.
B) Administrative support: HR or Finance

Part of the reason I want to join though, is to try something new, to see if there's something in me apart from academics/desk stuff. Depending on how initial training went, I might be more confident about trying some of the other jobs.

So.. yeah. I guess I've said a lot already. What do you think?

Eh, dont go infantry......

Agreed, don't go infantry. Stick with Intelligence or something technical.

I was in the same situation as you, minus the foreign languages, and I chose 25U (Signal Support Specialist) as my MOS. Came with a hefty bonus, and between the three jobs that I was interested in (MP, Intel Analyst, and Signal Spec.) it seemed to be what I was looking for in a job with the Army.

Good luck.

Craig, all the guys upstairs gave you a fair answer on your prospects but to become an officer is only possible if you are a US Citizen (not dual, because then you have an additional allegiance) have at least a bachelor from a reputable US college/University (your degree could be OK?) AND have graduated from ROTC/OCS or WP. In your case that means OCS (Officer Candidate School). To do so you must come to the US and see a recruiter, apply, pass a health physical and entrance test. By the way: If your fitness is not so great, forget everything. In OCS they will run your legs off.