Future Navy Linguist / CTI. I'd like help selecting my language at DLI & 1st-hand account of what to expect.

Question

I'm a single female, age 29. DEP recruit, ship in May.
I know it's not all up to me, but as a proactive, resourceful gal, I'm doing my homework before I go.

A few questions:
How much say do I get in choosing my language?
What languages are most desirable and needed - both IN the service, AND once I'm out (unless I decide to stay for my 20)?

Should I learn some basics in several now (library tapes, etc) to see what languages I like/relate to more?

Training is intense, but after that what is a typical day life? Sea or shore duty differences? Paperwork-intensive or not? Challenging consistently or ho-hum? Time off? Travel opps?
Earning/advancement potential?

A couple details about me for context:
I REALLY want to travel.
French is my 2nd language. I'm fairly proficient, I've retained much from high school & college. I speak some Spanish, but am far from fluent.
I got a 119 on the DLAB (what a hard but great test!)

I appreciate any tips, advice, or cautionary tales you can share.

One more thing: Can I really earn my degree while in Monterey, or just many language credits getting me closer to a B.A.?
I have about 45 college credits already, but no degree - yet.

I know this is kind of an involved question so I really do appreciate your time and effort!

I've done quite a bit of research already, and understand the basics regarding what they don't need (people who speak Spanish/romance languages -- we're not at war with those countries).

I'm more concerned with what they DO need and how best to poise or market myself for most success in and out.

Let me clarify: I don't desire or expect to study French. I am curious, however, what might be a good combination with that. i.e. Arabic (lots of Arabs everywhere, including France)

Also..."spook," huh? Never heard that one before! I'm sure there'll be tons of things I learn and do that I'll never be able to tell anyone. I wonder what that'll be like, but I'm fine with it.
I figure most people would never understand anyways.
I'm ready for a mental challenge and long for work that's always changing up!
That's good info to hear. Thanks for your answers!

Answer 1

I am a retired Army Signals Intelligence officer, having served nearly 30 years active, reserve and civil service. Congratulations on your enlistment and best wishes for a great career.
The right language? Well, obviously, the current "hot" languages are Arabic (all dialects), Pashto, Farsi, and the Chinese dialects. I suspect Russian will get hot again soon, too. Korean is always in demand.
I'm not exactly sure what the current Navy policies are on women CTIs serving on board. I would bet they are allowed on the CV (carriers).
If you went with the SW Asian languages, your assignments would be on the deployed CVs and on shore field stations in the Persian Gulf. If you picked Chinese or Korean, your shore duty would likely be Japan or Kunia (Hawaii, near Army Schofield Barracks). Russian could see you at the big NSA activity in England. Of course, CTIs also can serve at NSA (FT Meade, MD) and San Antonio, TX.
DLI is a great deal and you can get lots of college credits there. Enough to complete you BA; not sure. Of course when you graduate and go to the Fleet, you can complete your degree on line with Navy financing.
POINTS OF INTEREST:
1. I hope you're getting a good enlistment bonus.
2. Ask for "traffic analysis" after DLI so you can not only intercept, but also do analysis and reporting. Helps in career advancement.
3. DO NOT!!!!! take a proficiency test for your Spanish or French until AFTER you begin your DLI course. 40 years ago(!!) I was on my way to DLI after Basic, took and passed my Spanish test, and was diverted to other intelligence courses!
4. If you make it a career in the active or reserve Navy, they have a great program for SIGINT senior enlisted: you can become a Limited Duty Officer, and move up to O4 (LCDR) ONLY being assigned to SIGINT jobs.
5. At the shore stations, you'd likely be on rotating shifts, with plenty of time to travel, take courses, etc. Afloat, you'll visit great locales and on board have time to work correspondence, on line courses.
My experience tells me that the Navy treats its SIGINT specialists a lot better than the Army or Marines. The Air Force will always treat people better and have better facilities; but in the AF rank is slow. The Navy has promotion tests and you can move up pretty fast.
All the Services are pretty good now at taking care of single parents.

I'd "try out" some of the language learning tapes at the Library and see how they "sound" to you; with a 119 DLAT, you should be able to handle any one of them. Then,if you have a favorite, ask your Recruiter if there is a Class at DLI starting after your Boot Camp.

P.S. All the Services, especially the Army and the Navy, are offering HUGE re-enlistment bonuses for linguists and SIGINT personnel. You;ve picked a great time!

So, great luck, and write me if you have any more questions.
It is often said that SIGINT personnel are "the top 10%" of all Service members. You'll meet some very smart people. Some weird "brainiac" types, too.

Rand Dee Bowerman
Major, Military Intelligence
U.S. Army Reserve (Retired)

Answer 2

The romance languages won't do you a whole lot of good but that score on the DLAB should serve you well. Problem is although they may tell you that you can 'choose' your language that all goes away once you enter basic. Needs of the service in this day and age run from Chinese, non-specific middle east, Somali etc. Those are the languages that will be on the list you choose from.

Life will depend on the where. If you are based somewhere like Ft. Meade it will be shift work, same thing shipboard but with a few less options for down time. The phrase needs of the service will trump any guarantee a recruiter offers you so as long as you know you want to be a linguist and aren't married to a specific language you'll do fine.

Answer 3

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Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Future Navy Linguist / CTI. I'd like help selecting my language at DLI & 1st-hand account of what to expect.
I'm a single female, age 29. DEP recruit, ship in May.
I know it's not all up to me, but as a proactive, resourceful gal, I'm doing my homework before I go.

A few questions:
How much say do I get in choosing my language?
What languages are most desirable and needed - both IN the...

Answer 5

You don't get a whole lot of say in what language you get. You'll be given the illusion of having a "say" in the matter but, as you know, it's up to the needs of the Navy and, more importantly, what language has available seats at the time.
With a DLAB score of over 100, you qualify for a Cat IV language --Arabic, Chinese, Korean-- but it is not guaranteed. You might still get put into something like Serb-Cro or Persian-Farsi. It happens; it's not rare. What's rare these days is a sailor at DLI with less than 100 on the DLAB.

The languages that'll provide you with the most "action" also aren't necessarily Cat IVs. Spanish is doing pretty well, as I understand. Those drug traffickers, mang! Tagalog is doing very well, too, but you won't get Tagalog =P
The most challenging to learn are definitely the Cat IVs, though. I'd say, among those three, you'd have the easiest time with Arabic. Mainly 'cause, yeah, they use a lot of loan words from romance languages. But, also, the Arabic course seems a bit easier and more lax than the other two.
Chinese is a bit tougher --Chi-lings complain a lot. Arabic and Chinese provide you with the best post-Navy options, though.
Korean is certainly the most difficult. Last I heard, they were thinking of extending the course and making it the first Cat V language. Korean, however, is probably one of the least marketable languages offered. Korea is the "hermit kingdom," afterall.

As for travel, you won't get a whole lot of it on the Navy's dime unless you go DIRSUP --or, you could wait a little while to get stationed overseas, which is kind of like travel (right?). DIRSUP is no pleasure cruise, though. But, hey, if you don't like the regular job you can always give it a shot.
Other than through DIRSUP... well, at some point, you're sure to get some immersion training away from your command. Beyond that, you'll have to use up your precious Leave and do your travelling on your own time. You'll be in the company of people who love to travel, though --it's that sort of people who are attracted to the Navy, right!-- so you could easily find yourself planning trips to different continents every few months.
You'll make quite a bit of money, though, so you should easily afford the travel --especially with three languages (eventually). You should be able to add $1000 to your base pay in a cinch if you test in French, Spanish, and whatever language you're given.

And advancement is very good... very good indeed. Someone made Chief is 6 years! Holy friggin' crap!

Anyway, as for a degree... it's an AA, not BA/BS. The course you take at DLI pretty much counts as the AA itself, you'll just need some additional GE courses to get the diploma. If you already have some college credits under your belt, you might just have to submit the paperwork and voila! get the diploma. There's a checklist on DLIFLC.edu of what courses you'll need.
An AA from DLI is a pretty grand thing, by the way. DLI is, perhaps, the best language school in the world --so, it's not *just* an AA. It'll look good on a future resume'.

As for the job itself... it's ehhh. Depends. Depends on a lot of things.
Unless you go DIRSUP, it's just a desk job. Some desk jobs in this rating are pretty cool, though, I tell ya. But, again, it depends... a lot on your own personality, I suppose. You might like it, you might not. Six years is a long time, though --keep that in mind.

Well, I think I covered enough. If there's something else you want to know, well... you probably don't actually need to know it --not yet, at least ^^

Answer 6

my twin brother is a navy linguist, the answer is you take a battery of aptitude tests and they match up your results with the languages your are most qualified to take, there is only a certain number of slots avaiable for each language and expect that they more indemand languages will have more slots (like arabic), the language training is pretty intense, expect to eat, think, and breath the language for 1 1/2 years straight while at DLI, obviously a backround in specific languages will help lean the test results toward the langauge you want don't expect training in language such as spanish and itallian because they have more spanish/romance language speakers then they will ever need
I don't know if they need this, but try for chinese, its a language which would serve you very well in the corporate world after your enlistment is up

Answer 7

Wow. That's a question. Probably the best answers can be found by researching the source rating.. CT. As a retired Master Chief with 24 years of service in the "spook " community you will learn that the opportunities are endless. One year you might be flying missions doing intercept, the next year working at Langley, or some back office in DC translating for Intel. The travel, YES... Boredom...Never.. Paperwork.. endless.. Being a spook ( and that's what you will be) is a great life. Ever changing. As you progress In your career the opportunities increase as well as the responsibility. Always a challenge. Never, ever boring.. Just to bad you can't tell anyone about it.

As far as lang choices, maybe... But remember.. NEEDS OF THE NAVY come first. Arabic...Arabic...Arabic...
Then maybe Chinese, Korean, etc.. Whomever our next potential enemy is.

Good luck. Welcome Aboard!!!

CTTCM, USN ( retired)

Answer 8

I spent three years with a bunch of CTs on one of the Special Project Fleet ships. It seems that most "I" branchers are sent through language training that meets the needs of the service. In the time of the Cold War that was Russian, Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean. I would imagine the concentration now is with languages like Arabic, Urdu, Pastho and Farsi, with perhaps some learning one or more of the languages used in Indonesia. Those languages are the ones associated with areas where groups like Al Queda and Jemma Islamiyah operate.
I would also assume that Arabic being one of the languages not written in Romanesque letters, might represent a situation where you will have to leap over a cultural wall to really gain proficiency. I know that I had that sort of experience with Russian and Japanese.

Answer 9

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Answer 10

I have three years of experience in Afghanistan as a DOD Farsi, Dari linguist.
Would like to be a Navy linguist to help our men and women in the military with my language skills.