Not by any means. They absolutely get out to sea on ships and can also take special duty doing submarines or aircrew. CTR and CTT are the two most versatile of the CT rates.

/r
CTT1

Thank you.

Long ass post, I apologize, but I figure it'd best to get all questions in one post than twenty.

Howdy, I'm 22 years old, been to college and back, and have decided to join the Navy after having a horrible time trying to find a job in my chosen field (film). I went through MEPS a few weeks ago, came out with a Seaman Pact (long, frustrating story), wherein my former Navy brother told me to get back in there and get a real rate.
A day later, I took my brother and my parents in to my recruiter, ready to fight for the right to get an actual rate on my contract, with a list of rates I qualified for and that I wanted. Things in CT were at the top because I figured I wouldn't get them since they weren't open at MEPS the day previous and they were 'dream jobs'.
Before I could even get a word in, the recruiter says, "I know you want to say some things, but first let me tell you what I found that I think will be the perfect fit for you, it's in CT...." And I was dumbfounded. There was an opening for the CTR path, my #1 choice! He made a bunch of phone calls around the States and found someone who was falling out of the field while in DEPS. It's not all done and signed just yet, but the rate is basically mine. Needless to say, I'm metaphorically in love with my recruiter.

Now, because I wasn't anticipating this, at all, I neglected to put my first two jobs (working at two different McDonald's) on the NASIS, since both recruiters told me they weren't important (one was from almost eight years ago, the other didn't last a year; wasn't fired from either). I read a thread on the CTR subboard about a kid having to repeatedly call home from RTC getting all the info from his jobs and everyday life that he didn't know off hand for the SSBI.

- Am I going to need to know the info (specific start and end dates) of these two jobs for the SSBI? And does the SSBI do a medical history background check, or is it the same 'medical history' as MEPS (were you ever depressed/suicidal/in the ER, etc- no? Good, anyways....)? I'm getting slightly nervous that I might have forgotten something, or skipped over something I didn't think was near important. Speaking of...

- My grandmother is German (married a Marine), am I going to have to know her history (as far as becoming a US citizen), or is it irrelevant since she's not immediate family?

- Also, I'm unmarried, completely single, and not planning on getting in any sort of relationship anytime soon. Would I be able to have my first station somewhere outside the US? My recruiter told me that top of the class gets first pick on where they want to be stationed (as was the genuine case with him 17 years ago), but I've since read that this is kinda sorta bullshit, and much like my former Marine bother (I have two older brothers), they'll put you where they need you (he did end up in Hawaii, but I'm not nearly as interested in a tropical 'paradise', but somewhere by an actual ocean would be nice considering this is the Navy). But if the latter statement is true, are my chances of being stationed abroad still relatively high?

- As for A-School liberty, my sister is getting married in October (2016), and I'd have been out of RTC for three months by then. I'm her Maid of Honor, and was wondering if I'd be able to make the wedding, if only for two days. It's on a weekend. I know you get 2.5 days/m of PTO, but does that start while in A-School, or only when you're out and with the fleet? My backup plan, should I not be able to make it, is record a video of my speech and send it to them, but I'd much rather be there in person.

- One last question, my student debt is currently on forbearance. Not for any legal reasons, but because I don't make enough money/m to pay it. I attempted to pay it for the first few months, but didn't have enough left over to be able to live. I plan on making a one month payment before I go to RTC and then place it on forbearance again. Once I get out of RTC, I plan on taking an allotment of my pay each month and placing into my student debt payments, and hopefully won't even have to do forbearance again. But will that be an issue up front?

I've always had an interest in intelligence, and CTR seems my best fit, especially considering that it's a 'floater' path, as in you're proficient in a number of things and go where you're needed and don't hang around after the job's done, which is me to a T. So I'm very excited about this rate and want everything to go as smoothly as possible. (As a side note, I'm a fan of The Blacklist and am fairly certain Red was a CTR after all the shit I've read on it :P)

Thanks for making this thread, too. I'm having a hard time finding info on the CTR path. There's loads of info on CTTs, CTIs, even CTMs, but it's hard to find much on CTR that isn't the same info over and over again.

So I will keep this short and sweet! I am in an intel rate myself. Congrats on getting into the field, I think you may be over thinking it just a little bit lol. But I will only address the duty station and myths that go along with it. There is nothing set in stone about duty stations and being number one in the class. Though, it is very dependent on who is running the school house at the moment. Essentially what chief is in charge and what they want to go by. In IS "A" school I was number #1 in my class and yes... I got to pick between 20 available orders. Did people hate me for a week for picking orders they wanted or were close to home... YES. School gets competitive when it comes to active duty, so to keep it short. Work hard the whole time you are in school and stay out of trouble, even when those in charge are not looking. I finished top of the class and was able to get an overseas billet for my first command. So anything is possible if you work for it. Best of luck, let me know if you have any other questions!

Not sure where you're finding loads of info on CTMs, 'cus it's been a pain to find any! As for the leave, you should start accumulating whenever you start getting paid ( ie: bootcamp ). Taking leave on a weekend shouldn't be a big deal, talk to your chain of command when you get down to Pensacola and let them know up front.

As for forgetting stuff, I'm fairly certain the only time it becomes a problem is when you start "forgetting" things like major tickets, surgeries, incidents, etc.

Investigations: Yes, get that information if at all possible. An SSBI goes back 10 years, so if it falls in that scope, just go ahead and get it. If they end up not wanting it, then whatever, but it's waaay harder to get it after the fact. So just make it easier on yourself now and get it. As for medical history, no; the SSBI isn't concerned with your medical history outside of things like mental issues that might cause a security concern. IE if you had high blood pressure or something, nobody cares. Things we would care about would be histories of drug abuse, mental issues, suicidal tenancies, that kind of stuff that would make being in this job a no-go. Also of note is that they don't go digging up medical records or anything; this would come into play if someone they were interviewing about you brought it up. Then obviously they would need to follow up. But as a whole they don't go digging for your old doctors visits.

Wedding: During your training at A-school you won't be allowed to miss any training days. If this event falls on a weekend and you can prove that you'll be back on time then they might consider it, but being gone during a work day is going to be a hard no. As it comes up, speak with your chain of command and if there's some wiggle room they might be able to work with you. Staying on the side of caution though, if you're at a training command then just expect to be unavailable for things that don't involve training. It sucks but it's just part of life. If they let you go it'll be an exception and not the norm.

Loans: Debt is the single biggest issue in obtaining a clearance. The vast majority of espionage cases involved debt in money-for-secrets kind of deals. HOWEVER, things like student loans, car loans, etc, are considered normal things and don't raise big red flags if you're staying on top of them. If you've got records for your payments and have a solid payment plan in place then I wouldn't expect any issues from that. Just be mature and responsible with paying them and you'll be just fine. The debt that gets people in trouble is like gambling debt or just a craaaap ton of debt that you reasonably shouldn't have gotten into in the first place. Ya dig?


On mb11g's comment: Being top of your class at Corry Station won't have much if any bearing on your selection of orders. First tour Sailors are typically what we call "needs of the Navy" and are assigned where they are needed. CT's especially because there are so few of us and so many places we're needed, we just don't have the luxury to let the new guys cherry pick what they want. So expect your orders to be assigned to you versus being able to pick. Don't listen to what people in other rates have to say on the subject, as they have nothing to do with what happens in the CT community. (Not knocking you mb11, just speaking in general terms)

/r
CTT1

Alright, awesome, thanks for the replies. Puts me a bit more at ease now.

Thanks for the great thread! It's been a good read. I'm a depper (reserves) that ships out in May as a CTN. You've answered a ton of my questions. However, I have a couple more. I have a friend (that I met at church) that is from Kenya. She was here for college, but ended up moving to Scotland for medical school. I disclosed the relationship on my clearance forms, and gave an explanation of how we met and the nature of our relationship. Will this be an issue? Will it delay my clearance? Also, if I happened to not get the clearance what happens next? Will I be re-rated or what? Thanks.

No worries! It was different for us!

Sorry if that came off blunt lol Wasn't intended. I got nothing but love for my IS brothers and sisters ;)

/r
CTT1

If only I could get a good ELINTER for my 9-5 ;)

So I've been lurking on these forums for the past month as I prepare to ship out, but now I'd like to get a couple questions off my chest. I'll be fairly detailed in giving some background as to why I'm asking my questions so I'll BOLD AND ITALICS my questions just so they stand out.

I am 26 with about 3 years of college under my belt so I'll be entering boot camp as an E-3. I have signed up for CTI with an ASVAB AFQT of 98 and a DLAB of 140. I have previous foreign language experience: about 4 years of French (middle school through freshman year of high school), 1 year of Latin, 2 years of Chinese in high school, and a semester of Italian in college. I read in one of the posts that signing bonuses are based on what language you get in part, but I already have a contract for a signing bonus signed and filed so I don't think I have to worry about that. I leave for boot camp in 12 days on March 16, 2016. I was originally scheduled to leave on April 13th, but talked to my recruiter and was able to move my ship out date up because apparently another CTI recruit or something got themselves kicked out.

Anyway, I'd really love to learn Arabic. The challenge of the language seems like it'd be super fun to learn. I also really want to learn Russian some day, but being a CAT III language I think I'd be better off choosing a CAT IV language to start with (if I have the opportunity). I did read in an earlier answer that which language you are given is partially dependent upon previous foreign language experience and while I don't have anything against Chinese, I'd really rather study a different language. Will my previous training in Chinese hinder my ability to select a language like Arabic?

I am also concerned with the specific COE's after A School. I know that each of the four NIOC locations in Maryland, Georgia, Texas, and Hawaii all cater to a different set of languages (if my information is correct), but can anyone confirm which language set corresponds to which NIOC? If I'm correct I think I've read that Maryland is Russian and Georgia is for Middle Eastern languages. Of course if this information is supposed to be classified I'll drop the subject.

All in all, I'm a very avid fan of studying language. I would love stay in the Navy for life and I have also heard that CTI's get additional opportunities to continue learning language. Can anyone confirm if, when you re-enlist while CTI, you are given the option to return to the DLI to learn another language? Or are your language learning opportunities limited more to classes that are taught on the side? I think it would be fantastic to retire from the Navy knowing 3+ languages besides English.

My recruiter says I should pretty easily be able to E-5 within 1.5~2 years with my intelligence and test-taking ability. While I'd like to believe him, what are my chances of ranking up to E-4 while at the DLI within 6~9 months of boot camp? And what are my chances that if I DO rank up to E-4 that I am able to then rank up again within 1~1.5 years to E-5? I know I read in an earlier post that hitting E-5 before you hit your first duty station can actually be detrimental because you won't have really any hands-on experience in the Navy and you won't have earned the respect necessarily of your fellow Sailors which is necessary since E-5's command a fair amount of responsibility if I am correct. However, that being said, I think I am ready for that challenge and I definitely want to take every opportunity I can to move up the ladder when the next rung becomes available.

And finally. I know that being male, I have to volunteer for air and sub. I'm not interested in seeking out direct support positions at this time. I am friends with a retired Senior Chief and he suggested that if I am able that I should try to get myself attached to an air squad or to a sub, but I'm not quite sure I like that idea. That being said, if I do not want to become attached and I am fine with the normal CTI CONUS/OCONUS, do I have to go to air and sub school just because I am forced to volunteer? Or do you only go to the schools if you are going to be attached?

I know that was a huge wall of text and information, but thank you to everyone who hung in there. I'm really excited to ship out and even if y'all can't answer my questions, thanks for trying!

I'm fairly certain you don't have to volunteer for air or subs. And though I'm not heading in as a CTI, I think I've read that you really get no choice in what language you get.

Enjoy basic though, I leave Monday and it's supposed to be a warmer than average spring up in Great Lakes! #excited

In order to go Aircrew of Subs you must volunteer. If you don't want to go there then don't volunteer yourself. You can't be assigned those duties without that signed Page 13 though. Also, if you want out of those programs later on you can always drop out of them, as they are volunteer only.

Also, CTI's usually do get some limited pick based on their scores and what's available. All of the CTI's I work with had some what of a say (again, only based on what was available and what they qualified for).

/r
CTT1

So I'm answering in reverse order. I graduated about a year and a half ago from DLI anywho here we go!

when you sign for CTI you DO sign a paper saying you volunteer for aircrew/sub. Those billets are sparse though. During your last few months at A school you'll get a dream sheet and can put shore as your top 3 choices. chance are you will get it. You do not go to sub school as a rider but would go to aircrew school as aircrew. You will NOT get outconus orders your first tour since you have to go to your F school which is located at one of the four permanent duty stations.

You can not make e4 until after you graduate your a school. So if you take one of the harder languages thats almost a year and a half in. You may get frocked right after graduation or a few months later at your PDS. Depending on when you make e4 will depend on which cycle you'll be able to test for e5 first. For example I got frocked in Dec and that was the cut off for the Mar cycle. You can make E5 fairly quickly but the advancement exam is killer. That's about all I can say on it. I do know several people who did pass it on their first time up though. I just tested for the third time today! -_- E5 is the technical expert so having experience helps alot and will make you a better E5.

What you find on the Internet about where people go is pretty accurate. Those are the four you can go to on first tour depending on language. good job researching it prior to!

if you reenlist you can get it in your contract to go back to DLI. I'd personally never want to go back. There are a lot of resources (open to everyone in the military! pm if in and interested in learning a second language!) available to teach yourself an additional language. I'm working on language 3 and 4 right now! Yay me!


Language assignment is very random and needs of the navy. I got lucky as was asked what I wanted and got my 2nd choice. woo. The CTICS who assigns the language won't know about your experience unless you tell them. So don't bring it up if you don't want to. They also try to put you in something other than what you know so they can get the most out of you. You can DLPT in Chinese and try to get that extra pay if you think you can do well enough!

General question re: the SSBI, how deep do they go? Only reason I ask is I had a few speeding tickets in my younger years that my recruiter told me weren't on my record anymore and thus she didn't put it on my SF-86 (although I have an unnerving feeling this is a mistake). Any advice on the subject? I take my DLAB on the 18th and I'm nervous that it will all be a waste of time

An SSBI goes back 10 years.

That being said, if they DO find something that they don't like then your investigator will talk to you about it and you can explain what's up. Just be straight forward and honest and you should be fine. Speeding tickets (as long as we're not talking habitual or felony level) shouldn't be a huge issue.

Things that would really trip up an investigation would be things like ties to foreign countries/nationals, excessive unexplained debt (ie, not a car loan or student debt), drug or alcohol issues, that kind of thing.

tl;dr
Don't sweat it, you're fine.

/r
CTT1

Foreign nations might trip me up. I have a few friends from Israel who serve in intelligence and special units, but I put all of them down on my SSBI. As for my loans, my credit is all good so I'm not worried

Oh yea, I would say that's important!

Your best bet is to be 100% open with that stuff. If they even have an idea you might be lying and it's concerning ties to something like Israeli intelligence? They aren't going to give you the benefit of the doubt.

Be 100% forthcoming and honest. That's my best advice. If you hide it they will find it, and that'll be the end of the road. So just don't haha That's not a disqualifying factor in itself, but you will need to be very clear about it if they have questions.

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CTT1

How much can a spook tell their wife about what they do? Can I just say, "I work with computers (CTN)" or can I tell her more?

That's about it really. You can't discuss anything about what you're working on, what the missions are, what capabilities your shop does or doesn't have, who works on what, security strengths or weaknesses, mission successes or failure, etc, etc, etc.

She doesn't need to know what you do outside the of job sheet description. Anything more than that and you risk going to jail for a long, long time.

My wife knows I go chase bad guys at work. That's about it haha She doesn't need, nor want to, know more than that.

/r
CTT1

Gotcha. That's what I figured.

Anyone got any tips for the DLAB? More specifically the stress syllables and the visual section? Those two are throwing me for a pretty nasty loop

Bumping for all the recent CT questions.

bump

Cabin fever
 

Hello, I'm a paramedic right now so I am accustomed to be able to move around and not be stuck in a office. I signed as a CTR will I be stuck in a closet on a ship for my work space?

Not at all. If you do end up on a ship, the classified space you work in is just one of the places you'll be. You'll spend plenty of time out and about the ship; don't sweat it. Really you'll just be in there to do any classified work, stand watch underway, or occasionally do quarters. If anyone tells you that because you do classified work that you'll be holed up somewhere away from the world your whole career, they're full of sh!t.

CTR's can also go many places, of which a ship is just one. Ships, aircrew, subs, shore, and after your 1st tour maybe Special Warfare. So it's possible you'll end up on a boat, sure. But it's also entirely possible you end up going flying, or ride under the waves, or whatever you wanna try and go do.

/r
CTT1

Thank you... I would love to do air crew... Not a fan of being cooped up all the time so I was worried about that

Don't be. You can get out and about as much as you want.

/r
CTT1

Some questions about CTT AEF, CTT and CTR
 

CTT1(SW) Griffin -

Great thread with a ton of useful information about the CT community. My son is getting ready to go in after he graduates high school in May, and is trying to decide between CTT AEF, CTT and CTR. His ASVAB scores are high enough for all three, so should be no issues there.

Do you happen to know what the drop/fail rate is for the AEF school? I was a NUKE, and I remember that if you failed out of nuke school you went into the conventional Navy as your rate (MM, ET, EM). Is CTT AEF similar? Is the AEF school anything to worry about?

Also - do the CTT AEF guys get to do the same ops stuff as the CTTs? He wants to also be involved in operating the equipment, and not just repairing. Being a push button E-4 is intriguing from an advancement perspective, but are there any other advantages for being CTT AEF vs. CTT.

Thanks so much!

Hey there,

I personally don't know anyone who's dropped from the Tech track (AEF CTT's are SLQ-32 techs, so we typically differentiate by calling them techs versus us operators). If the pipeline is still the same at Corry, they will go through A-school first anyway so they should already have a rate before starting the meaty portion of tech training.

Yes the techs absolutely operate the gear. All that extra training they get is in maintaining the gear, but they're still operators regardless. The operators (guys who didn't do the 6y track) will also be doing plenty of maintenance as well, they just won't have the in-depth knowledge the way the techs do.

The AEF track will pretty much guarantee you're going to a ship since those are the only platforms with that system. So keep that in mind as well. Other than that, they usually get enlistment bonuses (this changes yearly though based on manning levels) and have credible skills in electronics.

Really any of those jobs he picks will be great. There really isn't a bad CT job in my opinion. We have one of the best lifestyles in the Navy. Feel free to ask me anything else that comes up!

/r
CTT1

My son is currently at RTC and I just received my first personal letter from him. He has a contract for CTR and asked me to find out what he'd be doing as a CTR.

We both realize, of course, due to the classified nature of the CTR that the only way he'll EVER know what he'll be doing is when he's actually doing it. He's just worried that his job will just be sitting at a desk with a computer and headphones on all day.

He's always been an "active" kid - the saying "grass doesn't grow under his toes" definitely fits for him. He originally started his path to the Navy for the Nuke program, but found out at MEPS that he has a tritan color deficiency, so that knocked Nuke out and with a 94 ASVAB, he wasn't about to just do "anything" in the Navy!

Any CTR advise I can give this active young man?

I'm not a CT, but I worked with them at Corry Station quite a bit. CTR are SIGINT (signals intelligence). They collect, analyze and crack various types of signals. As far as it being a desk job... ummmm... I haven't been with them in the fleet, but what I've seen of them in their actual training it's very computer intensive and tends to take place mostly while sitting. However, there are some awesome possibilities. I know one guy that graduated A school, went aircrew, and attended SERE training. Now that's some exciting stuff! CTRs can also fill billets for special forces, expeditionary warfare, and a host of other things that'll definitely be more suited for someone that doesn't like to sit still.

CTR, in my opinion, is one of the most badass rates in the Navy. And some of the greatest people, too. I made a ton of CTR friends at Corry. It's a good rate. And could be quite lucrative if he decides to get out and go work for a contractor. That TS/SCI is highly sought after, and SIGINT is a crucial role for national security.

Hey there! So first off, congrats to your son on joining not only the world's finest Navy, but one of the best communities within it! (I might be a little biased there haha)

So CTR's have a ton of versatility in their jobs. You could find yourself anywhere from a ship, shore duty at NSA, aircrew (although that's going away somewhat soon for the most part), special warfare, and even submarines. If the Navy is involved in it, there's a role for CTRs somewhere in it. Suffice to say that really whatever your son wants to get into, there's an opportunity for that.

**Some duties do require you to have completed your first tour however; special warfare being one of them.**

Job duties wise, CTRs are experts in COMINT (COMmunications INTelligence). Now that can take many different forms, so I won't get into the nitty gritty here. But suffice to say that he'll be doing some extremely important stuff in terms of national security work. He should be pretty excited; our community (CT's) are one of the few where you get to make such an important contribution right off the bat.

Let me know if you have specific questions. Or, if either of you want to ask me something directly or just chat I can get you some contact info.

/r
CTT1

Thanks so much! I know he's planning on going to sub school after A school - if aircrew is going away sometime soon, would you recommend him going that route first and then sub school?

He's a bit of an adrenaline junkie (ok, not a bit, a LOT), so I completely expect him to do his first tour and then try to get in with special warfare. He is a "take the world by storm" kind of kid and always has been - we're lucky he didn't end up in trouble with the law growing up! LOL

To give you an idea as to how active he is, he graduated salutatorian with Varsity letters in basketball, track, band, choir, cheerleading (joined cheer because he thought it would be funny, ended up going to London with it...), scholastics, plus was involved in scouts, Civil Air Patrol and community theater. The two phone calls and three letters his brother and I have gotten from him while at RTC all carry the same theme: "I'm bored and ready to graduate A school and start bing a REAL sailor!" WTH gets bored at boot camp? Oh yeah, my kid!! :laugh:
*Edited to add*
He's in division 919, doing drum line (quads), has been RPO (until he had his wisdom teeth out), AROC and "forward - something" (he said it had something to do with organization of supplies?), so he's picking up extra stuff to do while at boot & is still bored!

Thank you for your input on the CTRs you've known! :Thank you:

Getting a spot on subs will really just come down to if they have an opening/a need for it at the time he's picking orders. My best advice to him is to be vocal about what he's looking to do with his instructors during A-school. If the Fleet is out looking for a new sub guy, they might (no promises though) be able to help him out there! Always be your own best advocate.

The specific program he needs to look at is TIO (Tactical Information Operations). The selection process is pretty intense, but it sounds like he enjoys a challenge. Feel free to reach out if he has specific questions; I've got several friends in that community.

Sounds like he enjoys staying busy! Boot camp can be a little monotonous. It's really all about assimilating you into that Navy mindset, getting adjusted to our culture, and in general just becoming a Sailor. If he's anything like me then he's going to have that kind of "when does the REAL fun start?" mentality all the way to his first command. Once he hits the Fleet though I have no doubt that he'll be able to stay as busy as he wants to.

/r
CTT1

what kind of college credits are earned from going through CT training. and are CTs often selected for any of the enlisted to officer programs like sta-21?

College credits depend specifically on what flavor of CT you end up being and what training you end up doing throughout your career. Also, different colleges will accept different things depending on the school and what program you're applying for. So it kind of varies by each person.

College programs, especially something like STA-21, take a look at the "whole person". Having completed something challenging like CT training and having real fleet experience are great things to have in your pocket, but the boards do look for more than just that. They're going to look first and foremost at what kind of OFFICER you'll make. Everything else like "I wanna be a pilot" or "I wanna be a SWO" or whatever, all of that comes secondary to what kind of actual officer you'll make. Followed by that they're gonna wanna see what kind of student you'll be. Are you responsible, do you have the academic chops, etc. Basically they wanna see that the Navy is going to get a return on it's investment in you.

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CTT1

CTI ASVAB score?
 

What is the minimum ASVAB score to become a CTI? I've been taking pre-tests, but I don't know what is 'good enough'.