I didn't see Mr. Twigsnapper's challenge either.I can add a bit to the original question, though, about what it's like to be in an intelligence outfit. My experience was as an analyst for a special forces group headquarters. That's not really anything terribly special, particularly since they let me start when I was 17. That's mostly a joke. Joining was easy; I met a recruiter at my high school. I had met several, but this was the first who didn't have an attitude like, "Join the military, and you can be as cool as me." Recruiters are often full of themselves. But this guy was genuine and acted like he cared about the people he was talking to. Anyway, that was hook enough for me to take a look, since he'd answer my questions. I was in an office with a sergeant telling me I'd score well on the aptitude test and could have any job I wanted. I could be an intel analyst! My second option was imagery. So, I took the aptitude tests, maxed it out, had a physical exam, swore an oath, and was amazed by the Marines stationed at the Processing Station treating us like dirt before we had signed up. Then I met my unit, and started drilling with my unit before I even finished high school. I remember my first assignment, for training, by the group intel officer to provide an assessment on North Korea's sincerity in negotiations (back in 2000). I had already been deep in that with Foreign Extemp and Model United Nations. I looked at the situation and came back and told the major that they must be sincere, because they couldn't afford to continue like they had. He told me I was wrong and seemed a bit irritated, but another sergeant thought I had fulfilled the assignment just fine. It just turned out that I was wrong. Flat wrong. The fact that economic and political liberalization was and still is North Korea's best hope for survival didn't mean that their leadership was actually going to be rational. Kim Jong-il is a peculiar brand of psycho.
I spent my drill weekends learning things and putting together what I could from open-source without a clearance. Then I was off to training, after I graduated high school, for 8 months. That was the hardest and most valuable thing I gained. For all the staring at maps, making overlays, learning equipment, tactics, order of battle, organization, learning about avenues of approach, key terrain, observation, communication, etc, and for all the value that came in strict organization, confirming or denying, identifying intelligence requirements, reverse planning, and so on and so forth; the greatest value came from being screamed at by drill sergeants, and looking straight ahead and pushing just one more before collapsing in muscle failure. One of my drill sergeants was the scariest man I'd ever met, and once I stopped being scared of him, nobody was scary. Nobody has been since, excepting sometimes dating girls. At the end, I graduated with honors and went back to my unit. I never got sent to the sandbox, but provided plenty of intel support for subordinate units down range.
Once I was out of training, it was sometimes interesting. I liked my particular duties. I could sort through huge amounts of information very quickly and keep it in my head. The officers liked me, because they'd pass me an intel request and in a short time I was an expert on the subject and could answer anything they wanted to know. I also regularly received combat training, which was intense, but enjoyable. I usually went to my "happy place" and was calm and detached while sighting targets, firing, moving in and out of cover. Of course, you still had to move quickly, and your hands still shook a bit, but it there wasn't any emotion in it.
I guess that's probably the key part about what it's like. You stop letting yourself be surprised or shocked by anything you're dealing with. A few times it still got to me, when stopped to think about the realities on the ground. Sunnis going into hospitals to finish off the Shiite survivors from last night's attack, and being horribly brutal about it too (I'll spare details)... that tugs at you. Bill and Ted had it right: be excellent to each other. Those few moments aside, though, classified or open, sending aid or eliminating targets, it was all just "business." An opponent makes the mistake of popping up in the same place more than twice in a row, and he's just DRT, Dead Right There. It's the job, and we've got a duty to do it.
Had, at least. My enlistment ended a while ago. I'm not sad about it, either. The job was fine, the bureaucracy and lack of thinking and innovation and flexibility drove me nuts. Maybe I should have tabbed and gone Green Beret, but my shins were awful for running and marching. But they made their own flexibility. Headquarters was too stiff, and I've got other work to do.
