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FBI or CIA while in the National Guard? Which is a better choice?

I joined the Minnesota Army National Guard during my junior year. I am currently a senior I have more training after I graduate high school. I was doing research one day on the CIA for a school project and I noticed that I could become a CIA Agent while in the National Guard. I am wondering what the MAIN difference is between the CIA and the FBI? I am in the Infantry and am not sure if that will determine my application for either the CIA or FBI much. What do I need to do to further my chances of being accepted into the FBI or CIA. If do I "Ranger school" or "Airborne school" or "Marksmanship school/Sniper school" first would that make a big difference?? #military #fbi #cia

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Philip’s Answer

Thank you for your service to the USA (and the great state of MN).


From https://www.diffen.com/difference/CIA_vs_FBI "[t]he CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) mostly operates outside the United States to gather intelligence via a network of spies whereas the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) predominantly operates within the U.S. to both gather intelligence as well as tackle federal crimes."
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deric’s Answer

Hi Zachariah,

I served on active duty with the US Air Force for 4 years as an Intelligence Analyst, then another 9 years as a civilian contractor still working with the Air Force and Army. I believe you must qualify for all of the schools you mentioned above. So, I think the first step you should take is to evaluate which direction you want to go--CIA or FBI. FBI is focused within the US whereas the CIA is more globally focused. There's also many different jobs / agent roles within each agency to consider.

If those are the two options you feel most strongly about, I think you need to understand what their requirements are for entry. I would not rely solely on the National Guard to get you into the CIA or FBI, as the training will be different and it would be a very indirect path to get in. Instead I'd do more research on the FBI / CIA websites to understand their requirements and qualifications and the more direct paths for entry. I'd be skeptical when asking advice from your National Guard recruiters / counterparts what they could do to help get you in the FBI / CIA, since they themselves are not in and they're more likely to push you in a direction that is more beneficial of their needs and not your career aspirations.

You may be able to speak directly to an FBI recruiter and ask the questions you have. The CIA website doesn't seem to offer a direct contact for career related questions however. I've provided some links below to help you out. Hopefully you find this helpful.

https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/washingtondc/recruitment
https://www.cia.gov/careers/how-we-hire/requirements/
https://www.military.com/veteran-jobs/how-get-job-cia-and-what-its-work-there.html
https://www.military.com/veteran-jobs/how-join-fbi-after-leaving-military.html

Best,

Deric
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