What are the major differences between Air force/Army INT

[cf643]

I got my OT to int OP, and I am wondering if I should transfer to air force.... The cell where I'm doing OJT is composed of 5 GREEN int nco's, so it's kinda hard to ask about the blue side. Anyone?

 

[fire_guy686]

I got my OT to int OP, and I am wondering if I should transfer to air force.... The cell where I'm doing OJT is composed of 5 GREEN int nco's, so it's kinda hard to ask about the blue side. Anyone?

Just a hunch but I'm going to say there would be no difference. An int op should be an int op regardless of what element you are. It would be like most trades that have multiple elements in it. No matter what uniform you wear in that trade you are all the same. I could be dead wrong of course.

 

[Ex-Dragoon]

Unless you know for certain don't speculate and confuse the issue.

Milnet.Ca Staff

 

[NCRCrow]

That's just bad intelligence!

 

[aesop081]

Well, here at the wing, we have some air INT guys and some navy INT guys. Its all the same job.

 

[cf643]

Just a hunch but I'm going to say there would be no difference. An int op should be an int op regardless of what element you are. It would be like most trades that have multiple elements in it. No matter what uniform you wear in that trade you are all the same. I could be dead wrong of course.

I know there are "specialization" inside the Int trade, imagery, EW, HUMINT.... On the actual INT QL5 there is an army phase for land pers. and an air phase for air force pers. So if there are two different ''phases''  this must mean that somewhere there are differences (postings??)

 

[aesop081]

I know there are "specialization" inside the Int trade, imagery, EW, HUMINT.... On the actual INT QL5 there is an army phase for land pers. and an air phase for air force pers. So if there are two different ''phases''  this must mean that somewhere there are differences (postings??)

Again, we , here, have both Navy and AF types. Last year we also had an army type here. They all did the same job for us. EW, photo and video analysis, presenting INT breifs to the crews, putting together deployment packages......blah blah blah......

There might be different portions for each but the job isnt that different.

 

[Chilly]

cf643

Yes there are differences.

While you may change uniform and be posted to a base that is compatible with that uniform IE. air base - air uniform, you have to realize that the Int trade was a purple trade before and pers regardless of uniform, were qualified to work in all environments. In the last "x" years (not sure how long ago this changed) there was a change in which the trade did become environmental. At my current posting there are all three elements - one Navy pers who has never been posted to a naval posting and one Air Force pers who has never been posted to an air base. My point being that if you wear an air uniform there is no guarantee that you will even be qualified in the air environment.

As for the differences - plain and simple yes. As an Army Int O, I wouldn't have the first clue as to what the old man would want if I posted to a ship, and vice versa for a Navy Int O posted to a Bde. An Army Commander needs to know different things then a Wing Commander would need to know. Sure the basics maybe the same - Intent+Capability = Threat, but there are more differences then just know what your boss needs.

I suggest you actually seek out pers from all three elements and talk to them about the differences so that you can make an informed decision.

CDN Aviator - From my perspective it would be the same as me saying a hornet pilot does the same job as an aurora pilot.

Chilly

 

[aesop081]

CDN Aviator - From my perspective it would be the same as me saying a hornet pilot does the same job as an aurora pilot.

Apples to Oranges. The INT Ops here at the wing provide the exact same services regardless of uniform they wear. We have army INT guys telling us about ships and we have AF guys telling us about tanks. Imagery analisys is imagery analisys regardless of whats in the picture and so on.

I'm not debating that there are some diferences but army, AF or Navy, the mission of the INT types is the same.

 

[exgunnertdo]

Int Op - "purple" trade.  Doesn't matter what uniform colour you wear, the training/job is the same.  Experience you get along they way will influence things, as it will for other trades.

Int O - environmental.  Different training for each environment.  There is a core portion then an environmental portion to the training.  There are some "purple" postings for Int Os (ie doesn't matter what uniform you wear for that particular job), but many jobs (most? not sure of numbers) are specific to the environment.

(Have worked with trg docs for Int O, and I know/have worked with several Int Os)

 

[meni0n]

From CFSMI web site

Number of Training Days
MOD 1 (Distributed Learning) :    10 Training Days
MOD 2 (Core Phase):          :    72 Training Days
MOD 3 (Environmental Phase):    42 Training Days

If there is an environmental phase, then there are some differences.

 

[Retired AF Guy]

I got my OT to int OP, and I am wondering if I should transfer to air force.... The cell where I'm doing OJT is composed of 5 GREEN int nco's, so it's kinda hard to ask about the blue side. Anyone?

First off, congrats on choosing the int branch as your trade. I spent 25+ years in the trade and I'm sure you will find it, as I did, very challenging. Even more so now that we are in an actual shooting war.

Now, to answer your question. First a little history. At one time the int branch was considered a "purple" trade. When you went on your basic int op/officer course the candidates were trained to operate in army, navy and air force elements. That meant, after graduation, you could be posted to any environment regardless of the colour of your uniform. However, about five years it was decided the basic int op/officer courses would be split into seperate army, navy and air force phases. So what happens now is that the basic int op/officer course is divided into two phases; a "joint" phase where all candidates learn those elements common to all int ops/officers such as, security regulation/procedures, int process, int functions, int cycle, Canadian int community, etc.

After the joint phase the candidates are split into their separate environments (air, navy and air force) where they learn those procedures unique to each environment(e.g. aircraft, vehicle, ship, missiles recognition and capabilities/limitations). And yes, the different environments do have different procedures. For instance, the army candidates spend a lot of time on Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield (IPB), while the air force and navy candidates don't.

Of course, there are also major differences between on how the army and air force operate as this diagram shows:

 

[Retired AF Guy]

The original cartoon can be found here:

http://forums.joeuser.com/148487