VI. The Army Military Intelligence (MI)

The Army's Military Intelligence (MI) specialist is responsible for all intelligence gathered or learned during Army missions. MI Specialists are always out front, providing essential intelligence data and in many cases saving Soldiers' lives who are fighting in exposed areas or need air strikes to give them the advantage. During your AIT you will learn the skills associated with gathering intelligence from different sources. Depending on your Army job, you will learn to collect intelligence from human subjects through interview or gather intelligence from digital sources like photographs taken from Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Also to order a Navy or Army aircraft to monitor a specific target area. The student will also learn how to prepare his intelligence findings and to report them to his superiors and know how his findings fit within larger missions. The students also learn how to rappel out of chopper. 8013 will have a military speciality that will benefit him greatly.

Only a handful of people are selected right out of basic. It may have to with manning the new detached companies and a total reorganization. Also, it is very unusual for the soldier does not have a commitment to the Army. He must be talking about a three year enlistment. 8013 probably has no idea of all of this. He must be in somewhat of a daze. He left home less then 6 months ago.

No doubt he will be assigned to a Special Operations unit. In the post WWII years there was a lot of discussion about expanding Special Ops. He is very young and has a history of being irresponsible. However, the fact that he completed basic jump training with shining colors speaks well for him. There are rumors that he was selected for two reasons. They need trained personnel. 2. There is a rumor that he scored high on the Military Intelligence Test when he entered the Army.

Ten weeks went rather fast 8013 is at the top of his class and received a promotion to Corporal.
That is 3 pay grades above Private. Someone has recognized his potential. Lets hope he avoids the common downfall of becoming too cocky. There is a lot to learn out there in the practical world.

His new assignment is about to be announced. There is some administrative confusion as he is going into a newly form unit. His unit will be detached from an Army division where it will receive support. There are plans to reinstate Ranger units but there is no approval yet. Ranger units were disbanded at the close of WWII.

Note: 1000s of draftees have gone home leaving vacancies. Only a minority enlisted.