CID 311A Special Agent study plan

Map the investigative process end to end (complaint or incident report through case disposition) and write a one-page flowchart labeling the decision point at each stage.

Define the elements of the most heavily tested offenses in the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) - absence offenses, larceny and wrongful appropriation, assault, and drug offenses - and state the proof required for each element.

Distinguish UCMJ jurisdiction from federal and state jurisdiction, including how status, location, and subject-matter rules interact, and record three worked examples.

Build a 40-term glossary pairing investigative-process vocabulary with UCMJ vocabulary so the two domains reinforce each other.

Work through the UCMJ punitive articles in small blocks, writing the elements, maximum punishment, and a one-line fact pattern for each block from memory before checking notes.

Explain the differences among a court-martial, nonjudicial punishment, and administrative action, and identify which forum fits five given scenarios.

Trace how a criminal investigation supports or undermines command action, and note where investigator documentation enters the process.

Draft ten original fact patterns that each turn on a single element of an offense, and write the correct charge and reasoning.

State the constitutional baseline for searches and seizures - reasonableness, warrant requirements, and the exclusionary rule - and explain how each applies to a military investigation.

Compare the recognized exceptions (consent, exigency, incident to apprehension, plain view, inventory, and border or inspection authority) and write the triggering facts and limits for each.

Apply search-authorization rules to six scenarios, deciding whether the search was lawful and identifying the authorizing authority.

Draft a lawful search authorization request that states probable cause with specific, articulable facts rather than conclusions.

Explain seizure doctrine for persons, property, and digital devices, and list what must be documented at the moment of seizure.

Describe chain-of-custody requirements from collection through laboratory submission and courtroom introduction, and identify the three most common ways a chain breaks.

Write collection and packaging procedures for biological, latent-print, digital, and firearms evidence, noting cross-contamination controls for each.

Practice completing an evidence custodian log and a property receipt with no missing fields.

Sequence crime scene management tasks - scene security, documentation, search, collection, and release - and justify the order.

Match forensic disciplines (DNA, latent prints, firearms and toolmarks, toxicology, digital forensics, questioned documents) to the question each can and cannot answer.

Explain how scene documentation supports later reconstruction and testimony, and list the photographs and sketches a complete scene file requires.

Identify the limits of forensic results, including error rates, contamination risk, and the difference between identification and association.

Distinguish interviews from interrogations and state the legal and policy requirements that attach to each, including warnings and voluntariness.

Draft interview questions that move from open-ended to specific, and revise five leading or compound questions into non-leading form.

Explain how to assess witness reliability and credibility, and record the factors that belong in a report.

Convert raw interview notes into a chronological investigative report and a link-analysis summary of people, places, and events.

Summarize victim and witness rights obligations that apply during a military investigation, including notification, protection, and privacy of personal information.

Identify vulnerable-population considerations - age, disability, trauma response, and intimidation - and adjust interview and reporting practice accordingly.

Apply ethical standards to five gray-area scenarios: conflicts of interest, gifts, unauthorized disclosure, evidence that helps the subject, and off-duty conduct.

Describe the consequences of investigative misconduct for the case, the investigator, and the command, and connect them to the constitutional rules studied in week 3.

Assemble a complete case file from opening report through final disposition, checking every required form and approval.

Prepare and deliver a ten-minute mock testimony, then answer cross-examination questions on scene documentation, chain of custody, and interview conduct.

Review the week 1 investigative-process flowchart and correct any stage now understood differently.

Take a timed 60-question cumulative practice test weighted by domain percentage and review every missed item to its source rule.