The Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI or AFOSI) is a U.S. federal law enforcement agency that reports directly to the secretary of the Air Force. OSI is also a U.S. Air Force field operating agency under the administrative guidance and oversight of the inspector general of the Department of the Air Force. By federal statute, OSI provides independent criminal investigative, counterintelligence and protective service operations worldwide and outside of the traditional military chain of command. Proactively, OSI identifies, investigates, and neutralizes serious criminal, terrorist, and espionage threats to personnel and resources of the Air Force, Space Force, and the U.S. Department of Defense, with a goal of protecting the national security of the United States.

Overview The Office of Special Investigations capabilities: Protect critical technologies and information Detect and mitigate threats Provide global specialized services Conduct major criminal investigations Engage foreign adversaries and threats offensively

OSI's Cornerstone is to "vigorously solve crime, protect secrets, warn of threats, exploit intelligence opportunities, and operate in cyber." OSI investigates a wide variety of offenses – espionage, terrorism, crimes against property, violence against people, larceny, computer hacking, acquisition fraud, drug use and distribution, financial misdeeds, military desertion, corruption of the contracting process, and any other illegal activity that undermines the mission of the Air Force, Space Force, or the DoD.

As of 2007, OSI had 2,900 employees. After pilot training, OSI remains the second-most requested career choice in the Air Force for officers.

History The Office of Special Investigations was founded in 1948 at the suggestion of Congress to consolidate investigative activities in the Air Force. Secretary of the Air Force Stuart Symington created OSI as a Field Operating Agency and patterned it after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). He appointed Special Agent Joseph Francis Carroll, a senior FBI official and assistant to FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, as the first commander of OSI and charged him with providing independent, unbiased and centrally directed investigations of criminal activity in the Air Force. Carroll later became the first director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

The Office of Special Investigations was officially established by Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force Carl Spaatz General Order No.1 of 2 January 1948. This same Order had appointed Joseph Francis Carroll as OSI commander. The official letter of Carl Spaatz of 9 April 1948 set forth the functions and responsibilities of the Office of Special Investigations, which were "to provide a competent, centrally directed special investigations service to all Air Force activities", including the investigation of such major offenses as "fraud and/or conspiracy, arson, black-market operations, bribery, burglary, embezzlement, forgery, larceny, perjury, robbery, smuggling, and similar offenses ... and other major violations of the Articles of War, Federal Statute, and/or other pertinent directives".

A new Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force Hoyt Vandenberg signed the General Order No.29 of 15 July 1948 that empowered the Office of Special Investigations to carry out the counterintelligence activity including the detection of espionage, sabotage, treason, sedition, subversion, disloyalty, and disaffection. Also it was specifically stated that OSI would be responsible for all investigations formerly performed by the USAF Counterintelligence Corps.

1 August 1948 is considered the operational date of the Office of Special Investigations.

An Evolving Service Modeled on the FBI After becoming a separate service in 1947, the Air Force sought a single investigative branch. Founded in 1948, the new Office of Special Investigations (OSI) united a number of security-related groups. Organized similarly to the FBI, OSI's first director was a veteran FBI agent.

OSI has grown with the USAF, but its independent nature is unchanged. Though OSI is organized in alignment with USAF major commands and deploys regularly with other troops, OSI personnel operate outside the local chain of command by reporting directly to the Air Force Inspector General in Washington, D.C.. OSI agents work mainly in civilian clothes to keep rank and authority separate from investigative duties. OSI investigators are federal special agents and carry badges. Their initial training is conducted alongside personnel from various federal agencies, and OSI's special agents include civilians, officers and enlisted Air Force members.

Organization Under the leadership of Brigadier General Francis Dillon, the command underwent a massive reorganization which transformed the agency from a geographically based organization with District field offices to one primarily realigned as Regions based on the needs of the Air Force's major commands.

The reorganization effort began in September 1991 by restructuring OSI headquarters. In mid-July 1992, a special order was issued, which authorized the deactivation of district offices and subordinate detachments, while simultaneously activated the field investigations region headquarters and subordinate detachments that exist today.

Those changes were official October 1, 1992, and on that date, OSI was also reorganized from an organization with 16 district offices to an organization with 7 field investigations regions. In addition to the AFOSI headquarters at Quantico, Virginia, OSI has seven field investigations regions aligned with Air Force major commands and the Unified combatant commands

Region 1 with Air Force Materiel Command, Air Force Special Operations Command, Air Force Reserve Command Region 2 with Air Combat Command, United States Central Command, United States Southern Command, United States Strategic Command, 12th Air Force, 16th Air Force Region 3 with Air Mobility Command, United States Transportation Command, United States Special Operations Command, United States Central Command, Air Force District of Washington, Pentagon Force Protection Agency Region 4 with Air Education and Training Command, 2nd Air Force, 19th Air Force, Air University Region 5 with United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa, United States Africa Command, United States European Command, 3rd Air Force Region 6 with Pacific Air Forces, United States Indo-Pacific Command, Special Operations Command Pacific, 5th Air Force, 7th Air Force, 11th Air Force Region 8 with United States Space Force, Air Force Global Strike Command, United States Northern Command, 8th Air Force, 14th Air Force, 20th Air Force, United States Air Force Academy

The single region not aligned with a major command is Region 7, the mission of which is to provide counterintelligence and security-program management for special-access programs under the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force.

In addition, OSI has several specialized investigative, training, or supporting units:

Office of Special Projects (PJ) Office of Procurement Fraud (PF) Force Support Squadron (FSS) U.S. Air Force Special Investigations Academy (USAFSIA) Investigations, Collections, Operations Nexus (ICON) Center

AFOSI is the designated executive agency for the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center.

While the regions serve the investigative needs of those aligned major commands, all AFOSI units and personnel remain independent of those commands. In the OSI chains of command, each region is directly under the OSI headquarters. Such organizational independence is intended to ensure unbiased investigations.

At the regional level are subordinate units called field investigations squadrons, detachments, and operating locations. There are more than 255 AFOSI units worldwide including, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq and other Middle East locations.

Antiterrorism Specialty Team (AST) members have played a key role in Operations ALLIED FORCE, ENDURING FREEDOM and IRAQI FREEDOM. The first female OSI agent to deploy in a combat zone was a member of the AST, and currently several AST and other OSI agents continue to provide CI support for any ongoing operations.

Operations

Threat detection

OSI manages offensive and defensive activities to detect, counter and destroy the effectiveness of hostile intelligence services and terrorist groups that target the Air Force and Space Force. These efforts include investigating the crimes of espionage, terrorism, technology transfer and computer infiltration. This mission aspect also includes providing personal protection to senior Air Force and Space Force leaders and other officials, as well as supervising an extensive antiterrorism program in geographic areas of heightened terrorist activity.

Criminal investigations

The vast majority of OSI's investigative activities pertain to felony crimes including murder, robbery, rape, assault, major burglaries, drug use and trafficking, sex offenses, arson, black market activities, and other serious criminal activities. In January 2014, while investigating synthetic drugs abuse, OSI uncovered the facts of cheating on monthly proficiency exams at the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana involving 79 officers.Adam Lowther. A year later: Responding to problems in the ICBM force , Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 12 Feb 2015.

Economic crime investigations

A significant amount of OSI investigative resources are assigned to fraud (or economic crime) investigations. These include violations of the public trust involving Air Force and Space Force contracting matters, appropriated and nonappropriated funds activities, computer systems, pay and allowance matters, environmental matters, acquiring and disposing of Air Force and Space Force property, and major administrative irregularities. OSI uses fraud surveys to determine the existence, location and extent of fraud in Air Force and Space Force operations or programs. It also provides briefings to base and command-level resource managers to help identify and prevent fraud involving Air Force, Space Force, or Department of Defense (DoD) resources.

Information operations

The Air Force and Space Force counters global security threat to information systems by recognizing future threats to the Air Force and Space Force and how to respond to these threats in cyberspace. OSI's support to information operations comes in many forms. OSI's computer crime investigators provide rapid worldwide response to intrusions into Air Force and Space Force systems.

Technology protection

The OSI Research and Technology Protection Program provides counterintelligence and core mission investigative services to safeguard Air Force and Space Force technologies, programs, critical program information, personnel and facilities.

Specialized services

OSI has numerous specialists to assist in investigations, including technical specialists, polygraphers, behavioral scientists, computer experts and forensic advisers.

Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center

The Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center (DC3) was established as an organic entity within OSI in 1998. The formation of the DC3 expanded the operational scope of the OSI Computer Forensic Lab, established in 1995 as the first of its kind within the DoD. DC3 provides digital and multimedia forensics, cyber investigative training, research, development, test and evaluation, and cyber analytics for the following DoD mission areas: information assurance and critical infrastructure protection, law enforcement and counterintelligence, document and media exploitation, and counterterrorism. DC3 is a national cyber center and serves as the operational focal point for the Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity and Information Assurance Program (DIB CS/IA Program).

Force Protection Detachment Program