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The United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations is a
field operating agency with headquarters at Bolling Air Force Base,
Washington, D.C. It has been the Air Force's major investigative service
since August
1, 1948.
Mission
The primary responsibilities of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations
are criminal investigative and counterintelligence services. The organization
seeks to identify, investigate and neutralize espionage, terrorism, fraud
and other major criminal activities that may threaten Air Force and Department
of Defense resources. AFOSI provides professional investigative service
to commanders of all Air Force activities.
Personnel and Resources
AFOSI has about 2,000 personnel, of whom two-thirds are special agents.
Eighty-eight percent of the special agents are military and 12 percent
are civilian. AFOSI consists of seven regional offices, seven overseas
squadrons and more than 160 detachments using a worldwide network of
agents at all major Air Force installations and a variety of special
operating locations.
 Operations
Counterintelligence. The counterintelligence mission primarily
is to counter the threat to Air Force security posed by hostile intelligence
services and terrorist groups and to identify and assess the threat for
Air Force commanders. AFOSI manages offensive and defensive activities
to detect, counter and destroy the effectiveness of hostile intelligence
services and terrorist groups that target the Air Force for espionage.
This includes investigating the crimes of espionage, terrorism, technology
transfer, computer infiltration and other specialized counterintelligence
operations.
The counterintelligence mission also includes providing personal protection
to senior Air Force and other officials as well as supervising an extensive
anti-terrorism program in geographic areas of heightened terrorist activity.
Criminal Investigations. The vast majority of AFOSI's investigative
activities involve general felony crimes. These crimes include robbery,
rape, assault, major burglaries, drug trafficking and other criminal
activities. The most complex of these crimes require investigators to
use their specialized expertise and advanced techniques learned from
initial training and on-the-job experience.
Economic Crime Investigations. A significant amount of AFOSI
investigative resources are assigned to economic crime or fraud investigations.
These include violations of the public trust involving Air Force contracting
matters, appropriated and nonappropriated funds activities, computer
systems, pay and allowance matters, environmental matters, acquiring
and disposing of Air Force property and major administrative irregularities.
AFOSI uses fraud surveys to determine the existence, location and extent
of fraud in Air Force operations or programs. It also provides briefings
to base and command-level resource managers to help identify and prevent
fraud involving Air Force or DOD resources.
Specialized Services. OSI has numerous specialists who are invaluable
in the successful resolution of investigations. They include technical
specialists, polygraphers, behavioral scientists, computer experts and
forensic advisers. These investigators provide assistance when a specialized
technique may move the investigation closer to a suitable conclusion.
Training. To do its investigative mission, the Air Force Office
of Special Investigations recruits, selects and trains its own agents.
Officer, enlisted and civilian candidates attend a mandatory, 10 1/2
week basic Special Investigator Course at the U.S. Air Force Special
Investigations Academy, Washington, D.C.
The basic investigator course includes instruction in law, investigative
theory, report writing, forensics, interview techniques and other subjects
designed to prepare special agents for the challenges of investigative
duty. Upon graduation, new OSI special agents spend a one-year probationary
period in the field. Upon successful completion, the agents may return
to Washington, D.C., for further specialized training in economic crime,
anti-terrorism service, counterintelligence and other sophisticated criminal
investigative capabilities.
Selected special agents attend 10 weeks of technical training to acquire
electronic, photographic and other skills required to perform technical
surveillance investigations. Experienced agents selected for polygraph
duties attend a 14-week DOD course.
Point of Contact
Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Public Affairs Office; 226
Duncan Avenue, Suite 2100; Bolling AFB, D.C. 20332-0001; DSN 297-5352
or (202) 767-5352.
Above Information Courtesy
of United States Air Force
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