What does AFOSI do?

I am so delighted that somebody FINALLY said that

A TS clearance is not as huge a deal as people make it out to be. Although OSI doesn't talk about their normal day to day operations it isn't as if they have some major hush-hush programs. I have been talked to and interviewed by OSI when it was discovered my neighbor in housing was a heroin dealer. They asked me, I knew nothing and they let me go. Couldn't have been nicer or less threatening. They had no issue telling me what they do. The only real caution I was given is to not tell anyone who they are.

Wasn't that big a deal really.

This whole thing gives me a great idea for a thread.

-Kyo

I can pass my PT test, but do you have to be super physically fit in order to be AFOSI?

I'm a retired AFOSI special agent. Firstly, in reply to an earlier post, as I understand it, AFOSI did not run project blue book, but it was recommended that AFOSI agents do the interviews and investigations regarding blue book.

The AFOSI is not exempt from the Posse Comitatus act. Memo five was a presidential directive under Ronald Reagan, which basically said that if drugs were coming into the military, the military investigative organizations, or MCIOS (we call them "mee-kos") can follow the supply, theoretically back to Columbia or wherever it came from. I worked under Memo 5 for a few years.

I worked several undercover narcotics investigations as an AFOSI Special Agent. Once off base, we had to work closely with local law enforcement. We were not allowed to arrest civilians, or serve search warrants under Memo 5. Believe me, I was very aware of my limitations in every case. In fact, local law enforcement had a lot less restrictions than we did. To have an informant go in with a wire, well, the locals needed basically nothing. We had to do all kinds of paperwork and requests, and have some specialist come in, just to put a wire on some guy to buy a marijuana cigarette. It was absolutely ridiculous. We tried to get around the restrictions, and the OSI command, well, I felt like all I wanted to do was to do my job, and my biggest obstacle was my command.

Regarding other posts, well, yes. The AFOSI is the FBI of the Air Force. It was founded based on the FBI in 1948. The only exception is that the AFOSI does a lot of dignitary protection, like the secret service, that the FBI does not. Additionally, OSI agents do a LOT of foreign travel that an FBI agent will never see.

The OSI is good, very good. Not all of the agents are very law-enforcement savvy, since they come from many different career fields in the Air Force. But I can tell you this, if I ever committed a serious crime, the last agency I'd want to investigate it would be the AFOSI. I retired because the micro-management was just too much for me, but as far as an investigative organization and the people who are a part of it, well, you couldn't ask for better.

Regarding the hush-hush thing... Air Force people, especially first-termers, are very paranoid about the AFOSI. They often think crazy things like we're monitoring their personal lives, recording every detail of what they do. We couldn't care less. Yes, we do often operate clandestinely. It isn't like you can be obvious when you're after a drug dealer. And after the bust, well, the dealer always says "wow, I was just minding my own business, and the OSI busted me." Then if you ask an agent, he can't tell you what actually happened, until the investigation is over. So there is a mistaken belief that the OSI sets people up and does whatever it wants. Not true, believe me, we're subject to tremendous control.

Oh yeah. Region 7. Counterintelligence. Well, basically, they try to catch the spies which spy on the USA. And they do a damn good job at it. With anything like this, I don't ask questions. You wouldn't get an answer, anyway. But don't assume there's evil going on just because you don't know what's going on. If they're anything like the OSI agents I've worked with, they're very good people, and very good at what they do.

[edit on 10-3-2009 by Ben Densin]

reply to post by Ben Densin


I'll confirm every detail written by Ben Densin. I too am also ex-Air Force, having served in England during the mid 80's, in a very delicate time period. (Russia, Libya, everyone spying on everyone)

Our OSI office was filled with agents (it was across the parking lot from my office). There was a lot going on back then.

I was 'drinking buddies' with one of them on my base and I was actually 'recruited' to go on a drug buy in a nightclub in a nearby town frequented by military members. That was my only involvement. I did the buy, the bad guys were Court Martialed, I got my 'commendation' (just a letter, nothing special), and went about my business.

Watch the movie "The General's Daughter". Although this was an Army movie, the same kind of happenings go on in real life.

[edit on 10-3-2009 by SlinkyDFW]

I would confirm about the TS clearance matter. TS clearances become more special, when the exotic acronyms are added on, for the kind of access. Also, being highly clearanced, is highly compartmentalized. All kinds of need-to-know situations. Say, you AFOSI guys, decades ago, when I was young, dumb, and immortal, (I'm now old, dumb, and immortal) I was in above-and-beyond deepest doodoo with you'all. You were always more 'nice' than scary, considering that circumstance, and I would like you all to keep in mind that, because of such, I was --more-- cooperative. NOT that I would have been a defiant cocky thing, if you were -more- harsh instead, I would have been more confused and shielding, than I already was. I recieved your 'good-cop-bad-cop' technique, -though- and it really worked. Well, but It really majorly miffs someone, when you are mean to them. This is an important lesson about --torture--. Heck, if I was being detained and tortured about something now, I would not only confess, but insist, that I was Saddam Hussein, even though he's dead, and a guy. And I'm neither. Anyway, I came out of my trouble mostly unscathed and exhonerated < or however thats spelled). Hey you guys, what do you think of the operations against Paul Bennewitz of Thunder Science? I always ask, how does the ufo community know that this was the OSI's intention, for him to fataly harm himself? Or was one SA getting carried away with rogue behaivior? I'd find your agencie's (NOT the ufo community's) opinion on such, --most-- fascinating.









[edit on 10-3-2009 by simonecharisse]

While I myself was not in the OSI - I was detached to an office when I was stationed at Tinker. Before that, I was in an Intel office.. anyways.

They are just normal guys in civilian clothes that for the most part spend the day investigating members that write bad checks, deal drugs, abuse their Amex, etc..

When Al Gore came to Tinker (he was V.P. at the time) they were dispatched as his security detail.

But like I said, I was not OSI myself - I was the network guy (3C0) and managed the SIPRNet (Secret Internet Protocol Router Network) within the facility. A fairly routine job.

Working at the intel office was much, much more interesting.

Also, as for the clearance - there are varying levels of TS. For example, I held a TS/SCI. A bottom rung TS clearance, there are higher. Having a clearance just means you can be in the building, I am not kidding when I tell you that I know of a Janitor or two with a TS clearance.



[edit on 25-3-2009 by crisko]

One of the reasons I like this forum in particular is because it's not filled with a bunch of conspiracy theorist wackos. At least in this topic, everybody seems to know what's really going on.

I hope the following illustrates the career of an AFOSI agent a bit further.

I worked as an investigator for the Air Force Security Police for some years, but what I really wanted to be was an OSI agent. As Security Police investigators, we would work theft cases mostly, assaults, that kind of stuff, but if something really major happened, the OSI would take it. Well, that's where I wanted to be.

First, I needed to talk to the superintendent of the AFOSI detachment at Langley AFB, where I was stationed. In some ways, he tried to talk me out of becoming an agent. He told me ten reasons why I should not become an agent. I don't remember them all, but here are some:

1. If you are a top-performer in your current career field, you will only be average in the AFOSI.
2. The friends you have now may not be your friends after you become an agent.
3. Nobody will ever be happy to see you.
4. If you have planned a romantic dinner and evening with your wife, and a crime occurs, you must report to the scene immediately, whether you are on call or not (normally this involves a crime scene which will take all night to process, and you won't be back home until the next day...this happened to me many, many times).
5. You will attend autopsies, photograph them, and record the procedure (I remember one of a baby that I will never forget).
6. You cannot discuss your cases with your friends or family (this is not to cover up anything, the problem is that the AFOSI must keep its reputation as an investigative agency with integrity. And Air Force bases are rather well known for gossip). Trust in the AFOSI by commanders and the public is paramount.
7. You will live in a fish bowl. You will find that many people would love to catch you doing something wrong as an agent. You must live a life free of indiscretions.
8. You will work more hours than most any other career field (I think the AFOSI works more hours than ANY other career field in the Air Force).

There are more but I can't remember them. I ended up being a superintendent, and I screened AFOSI applicants in the same way. We don't want anybody coming into the career field who isn't going to work out.

Later, I went before a panel of three seasoned AFOSI agents, who interviewed me. Wow, they asked me a lot of questions about my suitability. One of them asked me "would you be willing to skirt the law in order to obtain a conviction?"

I said "well, it depends on the circumstances." WRONG ANSWER. What I meant was, if I knew I had stopped a drug dealer, and I had a pretty good feeling he had stashed drugs under his car seat, or elsewhere, I'd rather take it and have the search thrown out of court than let the drugs remain on the street. That's what I meant by my answer.

He looked at me with eyes like daggers. He said "You will never, ever, skirt the law, under any circumstances. If you become an OSI agent, you will ALWAYS abide by the law, no matter what that law is. Is that clear?"

Hell yes it was. He scared the crap out of me. And I've never, ever skirted the law in my AFOSI career. I've also never personally seen an AFOSI agent lie, or do anything dishonest when it came to their duties. Of course it has happened, albeit infrequently. In one case, an allegation was brought against one of my fellow agents at my detachment (the allegation was unfounded). An agent from another detachment, not personally known to any of us, came to do the investigation. These internal investigating agents are not your friend, and they will not cut you a break, they will investigate you in the same way they would investigate anybody else. That's the way it should be.

Okay, that was a bit long-winded! But I hope that gives you a better idea of what goes on inside the AFOSI!

[edit on 6-6-2009 by Ben Densin]

Sorry for replying to my own post! But I wanted to reply to a question, and I'd run out of space! I hope you'll find my additional post of value:

what do you think of the operations against Paul Bennewitz of Thunder Science? I always ask, how does the ufo community know that this was the OSI's intention, for him to fataly harm himself?

I don't know anything personally about any operation against Paul Bennewitz. I'd never heard of him until I read your post, and did some Google searches, I think I have the basic story.

I can say that one of the things which convinces me that the general conspiracy theories are a bunch of bunk is because of the security clearance investigations, and interviews required to get a TS clearance. I used to do these as an OSI agent, and later as a contractor for the AFOSI after I retired. The US government goes to great lengths to make sure the holder of a TS security clearance has no criminal record, is honest, a good person, and can be trusted. To then say that people vetted through this process suddenly become horrible oppressors of fellow citizens, or mass murderers, in the case of the 9/11 conspiracy theory, is ludicrous in my opinion.

I'm in kind of a unique position, in that I've lived inside it all and I know what it's like. Those who haven't only have movies, TV, and whatever they find on the Internet as a source of information. Often the Hollywood movies have a theme that the US Government is the enemy. It's sad, and it really irritates me.

We occasionally got mentally ill people wanting to talk to us, warning us of alien invasions, wanting to have their "government-implanted tracking devices" removed from their brains, etc... and we used to get rather elaborate letters about subjects like this. We used to have to keep them for a certain number of months, then destroy them. We actually had a regulation concerning this. What a shame, if I had them all, it would make a rather cool book! So I can definitely say we do have people who think that some very weird things are going on, and they show up at the local AFOSI detachment.

All that said, I am a firm believer that we are being visited, and that these "UFOs" are the product of non-human intelligent beings. I'm not trying to de-bunk anything here. Not at all. I'm just providing my input as a former AFOSI agent.

Even former astronauts have come forward saying that they have seen evidence of extra-terrestrial craft, or have been briefed into programs where they were told that we've been visited by an alien species. Well, in my opinion, that's pretty damn good evidence, not to mention the thousands of sightings and testimony of others.

I believe it not just because of this, but because I saw one when I was about 12 or 13 years old. One flew over my house, and it scared me half to death. One doesn't forget such things! Secondly, when I was an AFOSI agent, an agent visiting our detachment who had been briefed into a program which apparently included something to do with UFOs, told me that they do exist and that we are being visited. Actually, he didn't say much, our casual conversation simply drifted to talking about UFOs, and he told me that if I believe they exist, that I am correct in my thinking. He was looking me straight in the eye and was quite serious when he said that. The levity of the conversation was gone. That's all he said, and I didn't ask any more.

Now, that could have been absolute B.S., since this was anything but a formal briefing on my part, and I would have no way of verifying that anything he said was true. With security clearances, you not only have to have the clearance, but the need to know. I didn't have the need to know. If it was true, what he said to me was a security breech. If it wasn't, it was just one agent joking with another, and believe me, that happens a lot in the AFOSI!

[edit on 6-6-2009 by Ben Densin]

[edit on 6-6-2009 by Ben Densin]

hi everyone,

I'm currently doing some research on AFOSI involvement in UFO sightings both past and present and I have an excellent understanding of AFOSI's structure and mission. So if you are a current or former member of AFOSI and did have some exposure to compartmentalized programs relating to UFO's or head something about those programs please email me. My email is at the bottom of the post. I promise all emails are confidential. I am also happy to respect any limitations you may have. I understand that there is information you cannot share.

On the flipside if you saw a UFO and were interviewed by AFOSI please also email me. I'd like to get some information about the interactions you had.

thanks!

- olav

[email protected]

I was googling AFOSI and this thread didn't pop up. Maybe google is part of the conspiracy. ;-)

In all seriousness, I put some random AFOSI stuff on this page relative to Edwards AFB and Nellis AFB, though potentially Groom Lake related.
AFOSI

Neliis has two region 7 detachments.

Air force off site institute? a college, they can go to? if that is right im pro,because that is a guess.

reply to post by whipsandchainsamerica


I would assume training is centralized at AFOSI HQ. That is how you would get uniform results.

I think these region 7 AFOSI groups are for special projects. It's on my FOIA list. Half the battle with FOIA requests is to think of how to pose the question. It is like google. To general a question pulls up too much information, which in turn goes past the budget you stated in the request. I self fund everything, so it is really money out of my pocket. Too detailed a request means you get nothing back.