A Surplus Of Scary Jobs

July 10, 2008: The U.S. Army continues to have problems getting enough intelligence specialists, especially NCOs (sergeants). Troops in overmanned job specialties are being offered transfers and retraining for jobs like psychological operations specialists (plays mind games on the enemy) and counterintelligence agents (looks for enemy efforts to spy on American forces). Such transfers result in better promotion prospects and higher re-enlistment bonuses. But troops are not lining up to switch, because these intel jobs also mean more time overseas in combat zones (and not just Afghanistan and Iraq.) These jobs are also dangerous, requiring lots of contact with sometimes dangerous (and often unpredictable) foreign populations.