What are solid steps a young servicemember in Military Intelligence can take to stay relevant in his/her field?

I believe education is the key no matter what. Work towards a civilian degree or always be striving for professional military training as well. The more certifications you have on that resume the better both in and out of the military. Take advantage of every training opportunity available, especially the FREE ones; i.e. ones your own unit does not have to pay for because it's more likely they will actually let you attend. JCITA is one of those that is fully funded by other organizations, find the course you qualify for, apply, get accepted and you're good to go. All you're current command can really argue with is the amount of time you will be away and not the usual "this unit doesn't have the funding to send X amount of Soldiers to this abstract training..." I come from a combat arms background and switched to MI mid career so I completely understand the whole trying to stay relevant within your job. I had to work extra hard at it because just about everyone else around me had already been doing it their entire career's and I was "the new guy"

A good course of action for you would be to find and download a copy of the 35M Career Map.  This document provides the "what should I be doing/completing" at each rank during your career.  It is a very useful document.  I believe that there is a link on the MI Page on the HRC webpage.  If it is not there, check the Office Chief of MI (OCMI) page.  If that does not work for you, shoot an email to SFC Pennington at OCMI.  He is the 35M Career Advisor.  Good luck.

Get that military training SPC Bradley.  I allready have two RFO out there for when we get home plus WLC and thinking about DLI.  If you want to progress be available and ready when these opportunities present themselves and you will stand above you peers.