ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Espionage, Intelligence, and Security Volume ...

Air Force Office of Special Investigations, United Statesevent detection sensors, the U.S. Atomic Energy DetectionSystem (USAEDS). When the USAEDS detects a disturbancein the ground, water, atmosphere, or space, AFTAClaboratories undertake an analysis of the event to discoverwhether its causes relate to nuclear testing or deployment.It then reports its findings to national commandauthorities through Air Force headquarters. In the mid-1990s, AFTAC developed the U.S. National Data Center,which makes use of various ground and satellite centersfor the monitoring of nuclear activities and treaty complianceworldwide.❚ FURTHER READING:BOOKS:Boyne, Walter J. Beyond the Wild Blue: A History of theUnited States Air Force, 1947–1997. New York: St.Martin’s Press, 1997.Clancy, Tom. Fighter Wing: A Guided Tour of an Air ForceCombat Wing. New York: Berkley Books, 1995.Gann, Ernest Kellogg. The Black Watch: The Men Who FlyAmerica’s Secret Spy Planes. New York: Random House,1989.Richelson, Jeffrey T. The U.S. Intelligence Community,fourth edition. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1999.ELECTRONIC:U.S. Air Combat Command. (April 13, 2003).U.S. Air Force Intelligence and Related. Federation ofAmerican Scientists. (April 13, 2003).U.S. Air Intelligence Agency. (April 13, 2003).SEE ALSOAir Force Office of Special Investigations, United StatesDoD (United States Department of Defense)J-StarsPhotographic Interpretation Center (NPIC), United StatesNationalPhotography, High-AltitudeUSSTRATCOM (United States Strategic Command)Air Force Office of SpecialInvestigations, United StatesThe Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) isthe principal investigative service of the United States AirForce. Established in 1948, AFOSI is charged with investigatingand preventing criminal activities by United StatesAir Force personnel, as well as by individuals outside theair force whose actions threaten the service’s equipment,personnel, activities, or security. Its ranks, which numberednearly 2,500 in 2002, include active-duty Air Forcepersonnel, reservists, and civilians.Then United States Secretary of the Air Force W.Stuart Symington formed AFOSI on August 1, 1948, as theresult of recommendations by the United States Congressthat the air force (created in 1947) consolidate its investigativeactivities. Symington patterned the new office afterthe Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and appointedSpecial Agent Joseph Carroll, assistant to FBI director J.Edgar Hoover, as the first AFOSI chief. Symington andCarroll developed an investigative service designed toprovide unbiased information and operate independent oftop air force command. To this end, the AFOSI includedcivilian personnel from the beginning.AFOSI is based on a fourfold mission, intended toprotect the air force from dangers within and without. Asstated by AFOSI itself, that mission is to (1) Detect andprovide early warning of worldwide threats to the AirForce; (2) Identify and resolve crime impacting Air Forcereadiness or good order and discipline; (3) Combat threatsto Air Force information systems and technologies; and (4)Defeat and deter fraud in the acquisition of Air Forceprioritized weapons systems.Fulfillment of the AFOSI mission. The majority of AFOSIactivities are directed toward the fulfillment of the seconddirective listed above. Among the crimes addressed byAFOSI investigators are murder, robbery, rape, drug useand trafficking, black-market activities, and other unlawfulacts committed by or against air force personnel. Economiccrime, or fraud, is an area of investigation thatplaces particularly large demands on AFOSI resources.Additionally, the service is concerned with detectingand protecting against outside threats, activities that requireinvestigation of espionage, terrorism, technologytransfer, and computer infiltration. In line with the firstdirective in its mission, AFOSI personnel provide personalprotection to senior air force leaders and other officials.Within the ranks of AFOSI are also personnel withspecialized missions and skills who fulfill functions rangingfrom that of polygrapher to computer expert to behavioralscientist. Other AFOSI agents operate within one ofthree antiterrorism teams, based at Lackland Air ForceBase (AFB) in Texas; Ramstein AFB in Germany; andHickham AFB in Hawaii.Organization, personnel, and training. In addition to AFOSIheadquarters, the organization has eight field investigationregions. Of these, seven are tied with major air forcecommands: materiel (Region 1), air combat (Region 2), airmobility (Region 3), air education and training (Region 4),United States Air Forces in Europe (Region 5), Pacific AirForces (Region 6), and Air Force Space Command (Region8). In line with the original vision of AFOSI as an independentunit, these regions report to AFOSI headquarters andEncyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security13