Selection Criteria

The question most often asked is “what do I need to do to get selected for the [fill in the blank] IWC community”? There is no magic formula or algorithm employed. However, there are certain requirements and considerations for each IWC community, which are discussed below.

[All IWC Communities] Eligibility for Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI):
IWC communities require all officers to undergo a security screening and Tier 5 investigation to gain eligibility for access to Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI). To be clear, you don’t already have to be TS/SCI eligible to choose IWC for service selection. Additionally, those serving at certain Intelligence Community sites will undergo a Counterintelligence Scope Polygraph prior to assignment.

The Department of Defense uses 13 adjudicative guidelines, detailed in this document, to determine eligibility for a TS/SCI clearance. The two most common ones that may make Midshipmen ineligible are:

• Foreign national family members
  • This includes extended family beyond your parents
  • This also includes dual citizenship
  • May depend on which “tier” of countries your relatives are in and if you have close and continuing contact with them
• Significant alcohol or drug abuse/incidents

NOTE: If you think there may be an issue with you being eligible for TS/SCI, please let us know as early as possible. Understand that no individual adjudicative guideline makes you automatically ineligible for TS/SCI, but some are easier to mitigate than others.

Cryptologic Warfare (CW)

• Performance as a Midshipman in and out of the classroom
  • OOM, AOM, CQPR
• Completion of a STEM degree (preferred but not required)
• Completion of USNA activities that indicate a demonstrated interest in the core areas of the cryptologic community
  • Related internships, cruises, ECAs, etc.

Cyber Warfare Engineer (CWE)

• Performance as a Midshipman in and out of the classroom:
  • OOM, AOM, CQPR
• Cyber Warfare development knowledge:
  • Proficiency in lower-level programming languages
  • Experience in technical cyber concepts (e.g. binary exploitation, hardware/software reverse engineering, web exploitation, cryptography, penetration testing)
  • Familiarity with software/hardware development processes (Agile, SCRUM).
  • Participation and Leadership in USNA activities that indicate an interest in the cyber development community (e.g. Cyber Security Team)
• Cyber Warfare Engineer Aptitude
  • Must pass CWE technical screener and interview
  • Successful completion of CWE-focused professional training events (e.g. CWE PTE, CWE Cruise)

Maritime Cyber Warfare Officer (MCWO)

• Performance as a Midshipman in and out of the classroom:
  • OOM, AOM, CQPR
• Maritime Cyber Warfare Officer development knowledge:
  • Computing related major (Cyber Operations, Computer Science, Data Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Robotics and Control Engineering)
  • Experience in disciplines related to computer science, cyber security, information technology, information systems, software and engineering
  • Demonstrated technical ability in network security, penetration testing, systems administration, artificial intelligence, and machine learning
  • Participation and Leadership in USNA activities that indicate an interest in the cyber community (e.g. Cyber Security Team, Information Warfare Club)
• Maritime Cyber Warfare Officer Aptitude
  • Successful completion of cyber-focused professional training events (e.g. CWE PTE, MCWO Cruise)

Information Professional (IP)

• Performance as a Midshipman in and out of the classroom
  • OOM, AOM, CQPR
  • All majors considered but completion of a STEM degree is a plus
• Demonstrated interest in the core areas of the Information Professional community
  • Related internships, cruises, ECAs, etc.
  • MISLO
  • Ham Radio Club
  • Prior IWC experience

Naval Intelligence Officer (INTEL)

• Academic performance
  • OOM, AOM, CQPR
  • All majors considered
• Intel Community knowledge
  • Successful completion of summer training programs (internships, cruises, etc.)
  • Success in intelligence-focused academic courses:
    • FP407 Intelligence and National Security
    • SY485C Espionage in the Cyber Age
• Intel Community aptitude
  • Demonstrated potential to succeed in Naval Intelligence (communication, information synthesis, bearing, etc.)

Meteorology and Oceanography (METOC) and SWO(METOC)

• Academic performance
  • OOM, AOM, CQPR
  • All majors considered, but completion of a degree in Oceanography or Ocean Engineering is preferred
  • Demonstrated potential to succeed in graduate school (calculus and physics proficiency)
• METOC Community knowledge
  • Successful completion of summer training programs (internships, cruises, etc.)
• METOC Community aptitude
  • Demonstrated potential to succeed as a METOC Officer (communication, information synthesis, bearing, etc.)