Having access to the correct information is absolutely necessary to plan for our national defense. Human Intelligence (HUMINT) Collectors are integral to providing Army personnel with information about enemy forces, strength, capabilities, vulnerabilities and intentions, as well as potential battle areas. HUMINT Collectors conduct source operations, interrogations and debriefings to collect this information.

The Human Intelligence Collector is primarily responsible for supervising and conducting information collection operations. Some of your duties as a Human Intelligence Collector may include:

• Assist in the screening of HUMINT sources and documents
• Assist in the conduct of debriefings and interrogations of HUMINT sources
• Participate in HUMINT source operations
• Perform analysis as required and preparing appropriate intelligence reports
• Assist in intelligence support to threat assessments

Job training for a Human Intelligence Collector requires nine weeks of Basic Training, where you'll learn basic Soldiering skills, and 19 weeks of Advanced Individual Training (AIT), including practice in intelligence gathering. Part of this time is spent in the classroom and part in the field. Some of the skills you'll learn are:

• Screenings, Debriefings, and Interrogations
• Source Management
• Preparing maps and charts
• Conducting HUMINT analysis
• Preparing intelligence reports
• Using computer systems

Helpful attributes include:

• An interest in reading maps and charts
• An interest in or ability for foreign languages
• 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 Human Intelligence Collector provides guidance, supervises, and trains other Soldiers within the same discipline. As an advanced level Human Intelligence Collector, you may also be involved in:

• Review and edit translations of foreign documents
• Plan and conduct interrogations, elicitations and debriefings of HUMINT sources in English and foreign languages
• Assist in the screening of HUMINT sources and documents
• Participate in HUMINT source operations
• Perform translation and exploitation of captured enemy documents, foreign and open source documents
• Prepare and review operational reports
• Use interpreters; act as an interpreter/translator for more complex intelligence matters and materials
• Conduct briefings as required

The skills you'll learn as a Human Intelligence Collector 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.

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.

• Cryptologic Linguist (35P)
• Signals Intelligence Analyst (35N)
• Psychological Operations Specialist (37F)
• Counterintelligence Agent (35L)
• Intelligence Analyst (35F)

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