Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard/Marine Corps MOS nickname

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Expert: Rod Powers - 6/5/2006


Question
Hi Rod. Recently I was reading the book "Shooter" about Marine sniper Jack Coughlin. During certain chapters of the book he mentions having "Secret Squirrels" ride along with him in his humvee while serving in Iraq. I was just wondering what Marine MOS he is referring to when he calls these men secret squirrels. Are they in the intelligence field?

Answer
Hi Matt,

"Secret Squirrel" is a military nickname used for operatives who are on highly classified missions.  It generally applies when the individuals are not allowed (because of classification) to disclose their service, their status, or their mission.  Such individuals could be Intel (from any of the branches), or they could be CIA, or they could be Special Operations Forces (of any branch, depending on the mission).

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com

Careers: Military--Army, Navy, Airforce, Marines, Coast Guard

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Rod Powers

Expertise

Rod Powers is considered one of the premire experts about U.S. Military career information on the planet. He has more than 30,000 articles about U.S. Military career information on the About.com U.S. Military Careers Information website at: http://usmilitary.about.com. Additionally, he is the author of "ASVAB for Dummies," "ASVAB AFQT for Dummies," (available in Dec 2009), and "Veteran Benefits for Dummies," all published by Wiley Publishing. He is also the author of "Barrons' Guide to Officer Candidate School Tests," published by Barron's Educational Series.

Experience

Rod Powers is a retired Air Force first sergeant, with 23 years of active duty service, 11 of those years as an Air Force First Sergeant. He has helped thousands of military members, recruits, and military applicants since he took over the About.com U.S Military Careers Information site in 1999. He has a reputation for "telling it like it is," so questions may not be answered based on "what you want to hear," but will be answered based of the bast available information, concerning the service/situation.

Education/Credentials
Rod is a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Noncommissioned Officers Academy, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy, and the Air Force First Sergeant Academy. He also holds an Associates Degree in Personnel Administration from the Community College of the Air Force (CCAF).

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