Protecting national defense information from adversarial, Foreign Intelligence Service and terrorist threats is vital to our nation's security. Intelligence specialists, such as the Counterintelligence Agent, are integral to providing Army personnel with information about enemy intelligence capability and intent, and countering those capabilities.

The Counterintelligence Agent is primarily responsible for supervising and conducting counterintelligence surveys and investigations to detect, identify, assess, counter, exploit and neutralize adversarial, Foreign Intelligence Service and terrorist threats to national security. Some of your duties as a Counterintelligence Agent may include:

• Conduct investigations of national security crimes, such as espionage, treason and subversion
• Process counterintelligence evidence
• Prepare and distribute counterintelligence reports of Force Protection information to all relevant parties
• Perform counterintelligence support to anti-terrorism operations
• Conduct liaison operations
• Maintain counterintelligence files and databases

Since MOS 35L is not available for entry-level Soldiers, Basic Combat Training will have already been accomplished during enlistment into previous MOSs. Job training for a Counterintelligence Agent requires 19 weeks of attendance at the Counterintelligence Special Agent Course (CISAC) and on-the-job instruction, including practice in counterintelligence investigations, operations and analysis. Part of this time is spent in the classroom and part in the field. Some of the skills you'll learn are:

• Interviewing techniques
• Preparing maps and charts
• Evidence collection
• Preparing counterintelligence reports
• Using computer systems
• Multi-discipline counterintelligence techniques

Helpful attributes include:

• An interest in reading maps and charts
• An interest in gathering information and studying its meaning
• An ability to organize information
• An ability to think and write clearly
• An outgoing personality

Advanced level Counterintelligence Agent provides guidance, supervises and trains other Soldiers within the same discipline. As an advanced level Counterintelligence Agent, you may also be involved in:

• Conduct liaisons and operational coordination with foreign, and U.S. law enforcement, security, and intelligence agencies
• Plan and conduct CI investigations of national security crimes
• Apply fundamentals of military and civil law
• Detect, identify, counter, exploit and neutralize threats to Army and DoD missions, organizations and personnel
• Conduct CI collection activities and source operations to include overt collection, surveillance and non-technical operations
• Provide support for CI analytical products, to include preparation of CI reports, estimates and vulnerability assessments

The skills you learn as a Counterintelligence Agent will help prepare you for a future with federal government agencies such as the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency or the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The training you receive in collecting, recording, analyzing and distributing tactical and technical intelligence information will prepare you for other fields, such as research or business planning. You'll be able to pursue a career as a criminal investigator, detective, private investigator or undercover agent.

Because of the time you'll spend studying society and human nature, depending on which specialty you pursue, you might be interested in a career as a lawyer, statistician, marketing manager, advertising executive, mathematician, computer programmer, computer scientist, reporter, social worker or counselor.

• Human Intelligence Collector (35M)
• Criminal Investigations (CID) Special Agent (31D)

Learn more about the relationship between military training and civilian certification requirements.