Life as a 35L counterintelligence agent?

Tactical-you will be a Soldier first, regular full days starting at 6am for PT, work call before 9am, daily activities supporting the non-deployed mission of your unit, sometimes helping out in the S2 office on CI assessments-security Ops-PR Etc, with the MICO conducting debriefing, screening, tactical CI Force Protection or CI Ops. It’s a great place to cut your teeth and get greened, a combat patch and some line time. In Uniform and usually (not always) don’t use your B&Cs. This is the level you are most abused and Mia-utilized as a Special Agent-folks don’t know what you do and what your mission is and have a hard time understanding. Deployed you fair much. Enter-but not much. You do get some opportunities for scare badge schools and other non CI training at this level that is not available at the other 2.

Operational you could be at the BDE, DIV, Corps or higher Echalon above BDE office utilizing your skills in CI support to planning, Ops and or leading efforts on CI SPt to NEO, PR and linkages in the CISO or TFCICA areas as a manager of info and reports etc. still usually in uniform and rarely use B&Cs. You are used in your capacity as a Special Agent but usually staff work and not field agent or ops. You have more seasoned CI NCOs and Officers in this realm. So you can get some cool schools, training and opportunities to do some real CI if you perform.

Strategic-this is where a CI agent should be at. Mostly civilian clothes if in Feild agent position, could be uniformed if staff. Know your operational environment

It really depends on if you end up in a FORSCOM unit or an INSCOM unit. In a FORSOM unit, you may be tasked with doing mundane things that do not even relate to CI work. In INSCOM (such as the 902nd, 66th, 501st, 500th, etc.), you are more likely to be operational, conducting CI investigations and operations in support of strategic objectives. Bottom line is that INSCOM CI SA's do their job *much more*, but even then you may be mis-utilized. However, ACI is changing (for the better) to address many of the concerns to include mis-utilization by commanders who may not even be able to spell counterintelligence. So in my opinion now is a good time to get into ACI. Over the next 1-2 years some *drastic* positive changes are going to happen which many of us know about, but cannot yet speak about in an open forum such as this.

Depends on where you are what your mission is. Briefings such as TARP are a thing you will do often, report writing when you are conducting operations, BSing in the office in civilian clothing about whatever.... BUT.... On the flip side you can be at NTC in uniform in a EMIB hating your life.