May have caught a great break...

So, I'm currently up for nomination with the Defense Intelligence Agency (I am active Army). I should know before February 15th if they are sending me to Washington to work with the DIA in a support role. I would receive a Top Secret clearance by receiving the job, and would spend the next 3 1/2 yrs there (till I'm out of the Army).....not a bad way to get out of the Army at 24 with some solid experience! Pretty excited to be honest...

Now, the waiting begins.

Edit: Almost forgot..the best part- civilian clothes to work!

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Comments

Darthn3ss

congrats!

Netstudent

Good luck! Cross your fingers.

mikej412

Good Luck!

And in 3-1/2 year, if you like the neighborhood, you could probably easily triple or quadruple your pay (at least) by becoming a contractor (or becoming an employee of a company that then pimps you back to the government).

Mrock4 wrote:

Edit: Almost forgot..the best part- civilian clothes to work!

Plus you get to practice being a Civilian!!

Mrock4

mikej412 wrote:

Good Luck!

And in 3-1/2 year, if you like the neighborhood, you could probably easily triple or quadruple your pay (at least) by becoming a contractor (or becoming an employee of a company that then pimps you back to the government).

Mrock4 wrote:

Edit: Almost forgot..the best part- civilian clothes to work!

Plus you get to practice being a Civilian!!

Yeah. I figured the exact same about the "triple or quadruple your pay". I think if I worked for 3 1/2 yrs as a tech there, it'd be no problem to get hired for the same role (or a similiar one) within the agency...and just continue my work.

I just hope I'm not getting my hopes up too much. The Army sent my nomination to the DIA..just waiting for them to approve me.

phreak

Congrats!

With the TS clearance you should be set to do almost anything in the corporate world that requires clearances. After your stint there I'd go looking for positions with Northrup-Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Harris Communications, etc.

SrAtechie

Well, when you find out that you're going, congrats on that! Then you get to deal with "dirty" contractors like me

Mrock4

SrAtechie wrote:

Well, when you find out that you're going, congrats on that! Then you get to deal with "dirty" contractors like me

You aren't one of the contractors who makes the military servicemembers feel "great" about their "good" paychecks are you....naw......never.........

It's all good. I'll be doing the same in 3 yrs...

In all honesty, I enjoyed with with the GD guys.

SrAtechie

Hey, that "good" paycheck paid for college and helped me get enough experience to land a job without any certs (I'm still trying to get that part of my resume up to snuff) so I am insulted sir! Just kidding. But definitely learn all you can and take advantage of that G.I. Bill and let Uncle Sam pay for the degree. Hopefully you don't get stuck down range for too long (or not at all for that matter) that you can't get it done before you're out. Plus it sounds like you've got a good network out there in Hawaii to go back to when you do get out. I've been toying with the idea of trying to get a job out there myself. Is it really as expensive as I hear?

Mrock4

Well, gas at the moment is $3.56/gal for premium. I always use premium, so I'm not sure what regular 89 is or whatever, but probably about $3.35 or so.

The rest isn't really too bad. Especially if you shop on post by being a contractor..you really don't feel the crazy expenses people talk about in Hawaii. I've compared some prices (even on post), and
on average, I see about a 15-30 cent difference in price of Hawaii products versus mainland..that's just a rough estimate, though.

While in Iraq, our GD contractor, had no certs either. After he saw me pursuing my CCNA (he was about 30-35 years old), he pursued it with a purpose as well. He got it, and then I got it. I began looking towards the CCNP, and he got hot on the CCNP. Although I lost motivation due to redeployment and such..he's got his..so it looks like our competition pushed each other..always a good thing. Before I get out, I will have no less than the CCNP, at least MCP, and some other "easier" certs to round out the resume.

This washington assignment would basically ensure I wouldn't return to Iraq, and give me more time for certs, but we'll see. The experience is great. I would have never got some of the experiece I've gotten if I hadn't joined.

I have fiddled here and there with some college courses, and am well versed on the GI Bill/TA system (have coached a lot of peers on getting their education squared away), but I'm more concerned with certs while I'm in. I'm still taking a couple of classes here and there before getting out of course..

For what it's worth, a guy I was with in Iraq, who had no experience with networking, and a CCNA, got a job here contractiong for $70k/yr to start. Not bad.

phantasm

I knew an FC in the Navy who took his discharge at 12 years Active. Went to work for a defense contractor doing the same work he did Uncle Sam, his pay was 6 figures. lol.

Some people have all the luck.