What differences are there in the roles of an OPMI vs an intelligence officer? Which is more interesting?

Hi Callum.

Great question, and thank you for asking. The main difference between an OPMI and an Intelligence Officer is the split between time spent doing analysis and time spent managing.

Our OPMIs are of course analysts who start out with no management responsibilities. That means that 100% of your time will be spent on the job at hand.

For our Officers, they of course manage teams of soldiers from Day One. This means that, broadly speaking, 50% of their time is spent on management of personnel. This will include things like report writing, welfare and discipline, HR type management, and task management. You'll spend the other 50% managing Intelligence problems. Typically you will break down a problem into smaller chunks that your soldiers will deal with individually. Then it'll be down to you to bring it all together into a coherent bigger picture.

I would add that in contrast to many other parts of the Army, loads of our soldiers are graduates. The minimum requirement is 5x GCSEs - some join with just that, some join with Masters degrees. The decision really comes down to whether you want to be primarily an analyst or primarily a manager.