Overview
As a member of the Army National Guard special operations community, the psychological operations specialist is primarily responsible for the analysis, development and distribution of intelligence used for information and psychological effect.
Job duties
- Research and analyze methods of influencing a foreign population from a variety of information sources
- Operate and maintain equipment such as ground tactical vehicles and shelter systems, loudspeaker systems, state of the art computers, analog and digital recording and playback devices, and communication systems
- Travel to overseas locations in peace, crisis and conflict to assist U.S. and foreign governments, militaries and civilian populations
Training
Job training for a psychological operations specialist requires 10 weeks of Basic Combat Training and 14 weeks of Advanced Individual Training, where you'll learn the skills of a psychological operations specialist. For active duty Soldiers, graduation from Advanced Individual Training will be followed by three weeks of airborne training and then four to six months of language training. For Reserve psychological operations specialists, airborne and language training are not required for qualification.
Required ASVAB score
General Technical (GT) : 107 Learn more about the ASVAB and see what jobs you could qualify for.
Helpful skills
- Interest in foreign countries, cultures and languages
- Ability to analyze and organize information
- Ability to build rapport in unfamiliar surroundings
- College-level aptitude in the social sciences
Civilian career relevance
The skills you learn will help prepare you for a career with the Department of Defense, the Department of State, other federal government agencies or related fields in the commercial industry. The training you receive may prepare you for other fields, such as public relations, sales, marketing and advertising. Because of the time you'll spend studying foreign cultures and social systems, you can explore a future career in the diplomatic service or as an anthropologist, journalist, social scientist, statistician, market analyst, advertising consultant or sales manager.
Recruiter verification required. North Dakota availability, qualifications, training length, incentives and service terms can change.
Source: Army National Guard career record · Updated 2019-08-08