Collect, analyze, and disseminate intelligence information to support Coast Guard operations and national security missions.
ASVAB VE+AR: 109
Catalog listing, not a contract offer. Confirm with a recruiter.
Intelligence Specialists collect, analyze, and package the information that tells Coast Guard units where to look and what to expect. The work is research and writing, correlating vessel tracking, reporting, and other sources into products a cutter captain or boarding team can actually use. Much of it supports drug and migrant interdiction, fisheries enforcement, and port security in American waters and approaches, which is where a Department of Homeland Security service spends its time. You brief crews before they go out on patrol and debrief them afterward, feeding what they actually saw back into the picture. The environment is a secure, windowless space with long stretches of concentrated desk work and few interruptions.
You learn analytic tradecraft, including how to weigh sources, spot gaps, and write a product that leads with the judgment. Geospatial tools, databases, vessel tracking systems, and link analysis software become daily instruments rather than occasional novelties. You develop genuine skill in written communication under a strict format, which is both harder and considerably more valuable than it sounds. Briefing practice builds the ability to explain a complicated picture in minutes to people about to act on it. Handling classified material teaches the procedures and personal habits that every clearance holding job in government and industry requires.
Curiosity gets trained into an actual method here rather than left as a personality trait you happen to have. You learn to separate what you know from what you believe, and to say which is which out loud. The job builds patience for painstaking work with no immediate feedback, since results may surface on a patrol weeks later. You become comfortable being the most junior person in the room and still stating a conclusion out loud. Trustworthiness stops being an abstract virtue once you hold information that other people badly want.
Analytic skill plus a security clearance opens federal, state, and contractor doors that are otherwise slow to get through. Homeland Security components, federal law enforcement agencies, state fusion centers, and defense contractors all hire directly from this rating. Private sector destinations include corporate security, threat intelligence teams, fraud and anti money laundering analysis, and maritime shipping risk work. The writing and briefing skill transfers into almost any analyst role, including business, market, and competitive intelligence. Many specialists finish a degree while serving and step straight into a government or contractor analyst position afterward.
You get into the intelligence workspace early to comb through overnight reporting and update the picture of maritime activity on classified systems. Your day centers on analyzing imagery, correlating vessel tracks, and drafting products that answer questions from operational commanders. You coordinate with fusion centers and partner agencies, then brief watchstanders and prep intelligence support for the next patrol.
No suitable exact-MOS or related career-field video has been verified for this page yet. No unrelated video or search-results page is substituted.
$43,902–$74,948
2026 basic pay only; the same grade and service time pay the same across jobs. Promotions are assumed, not promised. Excludes allowances, bonuses and special pays.
For Coast Guard IS Intelligence Specialist, official service-wide guidance and any exact feeder-list matches are distinguished below from unverified specialty-specific requirements. Ranks are not separate jobs, and these possibilities are not guaranteed promotions or available contracts.
Examples of higher service ranks
These are service-wide rank names, not a verified promotion ladder for this specialty. Examples are not exhaustive; appointments sharing a pay grade are not additional promotion steps.
Official military rank referenceThe October 2026 Reserve Servicewide Examination announcement makes advancement conditional on rating/pay-grade qualifications and command recommendation, with rating-specific examination exceptions. Its scope is Reserve E-5 through E-7, not every grade or active-duty cycle. It does not establish a promotion ceiling for this listing.
Coast Guard October 2026 Reserve advancement examinationService-level application reference—not a verified next step for this listing
Officer Candidate School is a separate competitive commissioning pathway open to Coast Guard enlisted members. This general program does not establish individual eligibility or a transfer to any particular officer specialty. Warrant appointments have separate requirements; no rating-to-warrant feeder match is asserted here.
Coast Guard Officer Candidate SchoolSpecialty-specific advancement, senior assignments, and eligibility for a different personnel category have not been verified for this listing. No feeder eligibility or automatic transition to another specialty is implied.
Advancement depends on current service rules, performance, required education, qualifications, selection, and authorized positions—not simply years served. Confirm current requirements with an official recruiter or career counselor.
Related military jobs below are for exploration, not promised progression or confirmed transfer paths.
Sources reviewed 2026-10-03. This is a partial evidence review, not verification of every advancement route for this specialty. Source retrieval dates do not replace policy effective dates.
Career-field mappings, not automatic qualifications. Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2024 national medians). O*NET links explain each occupation; military experience does not guarantee a job or salary.
Collect, analyze, and disseminate intelligence information to support Coast Guard operations and national security missions.
Intelligence Specialists collect, analyze, and package the information that tells Coast Guard units where to look and what to expect. The work is research and writing, correlating vessel tracking, reporting, and other sources into products a cutter captain or boarding team can actually use. Much of it supports drug and migrant interdiction, fisheries enforcement, and port security in American waters and approaches, which is where a Department of Homeland Security service spends its time. You brief crews before they go out on patrol and debrief them afterward, feeding what they actually saw back into the picture. The environment is a secure, windowless space with long stretches of concentrated desk work and few interruptions.
You learn analytic tradecraft, including how to weigh sources, spot gaps, and write a product that leads with the judgment. Geospatial tools, databases, vessel tracking systems, and link analysis software become daily instruments rather than occasional novelties. You develop genuine skill in written communication under a strict format, which is both harder and considerably more valuable than it sounds. Briefing practice builds the ability to explain a complicated picture in minutes to people about to act on it. Handling classified material teaches the procedures and personal habits that every clearance holding job in government and industry requires.
Analytic skill plus a security clearance opens federal, state, and contractor doors that are otherwise slow to get through. Homeland Security components, federal law enforcement agencies, state fusion centers, and defense contractors all hire directly from this rating. Private sector destinations include corporate security, threat intelligence teams, fraud and anti money laundering analysis, and maritime shipping risk work. The writing and briefing skill transfers into almost any analyst role, including business, market, and competitive intelligence. Many specialists finish a degree while serving and step straight into a government or contractor analyst position afterward.
ASVAB VE+AR: 109. This is the catalog's listed requirement, not an individual eligibility decision. Confirm the current standard and any exceptions with the service.
This specialty can be pursued through an initial enlistment, subject to eligibility and available contracts. Confirm the current status of this specific classification with an official recruiter.
Catalog sources consulted: 2026-09-26. This is not an entry-by-entry verification date. No record-specific verification date is recorded. Occupation audit evidence reviewed: 2026-09-26; this does not re-verify every requirement.
Official branch occupation evidence
Occupation identified. This occupation was identified in the cited source. This does not verify requirements, benefits, or a current opening.
Official occupation evidence · reviewed 2026-09-26
Confirmed. Catalog evidence is not an inventory of open contracts.
No dated public inventory confirmed a currently open recruiting contract for this role. This does not mean there are no openings. Confirm current eligibility and offers with an official recruiter.
Advertised — Coast Guard, as of 2026-09-28Deployment likelihood: Moderate*
* Estimated. Rank progression and specialty-pay eligibility are illustrative assumptions. Deployment likelihood, when shown, is inferred from similar specialties in the branch and career field, not a published specialty deployment rate.
Descriptions may change. No military role is free from risk of injury or death, including non-combat work. Catalog review dates do not establish current openings or re-verification of every requirement.
Recruiting signals reflect what each branch published on the dates shown. They are not offers, and they do not mean a contract is open for you. Eligibility depends on your ASVAB scores, medical qualification, security clearance eligibility, and ship date. Confirm everything with an official recruiter. See our Disclaimer and Terms.