QUANTICO, Va. -- OSI is ramping up its intelligence capabilities by appointing its first full-time Intelligence Specialist Functional manager, Eric O'Leary, to lead the agency's training, development and management of intelligence specialists.
When O'Leary assumes the role, he will also serve as the primary liaison to the Department of Air Force, Department of Defense and intelligence community's career field teams, emphasizing the Office of Special Investigations’ dedication to expanding its intelligence capabilities and workforce.
“This appointment is a crucial milestone for our OSI's continued mission success, showing the command's commitment to expanding and developing our talented intelligence specialist workforce,” said Brig. Gen. Terry Bullard, OSI’s commander.
As the intelligence specialist functional manager, O'Leary's duties include advocating for the professional development of OSI intelligence specialists through training and education to enhance the workforce within the command. He will also work with colleagues throughout the agency to be the primary point person on education and workforce development issues.
O'Leary will collaborate with the senior intelligence cadre to create comprehensive workforce strategies, he said, to expand joint duty and developmental opportunities and improve OSI processes by revising intelligence governance structures.
He will be positioned in the command section of OSI headquarters to allow for more direct access to senior leadership and representation of the intelligence specialist team on command level issues and discussions. This will give intelligence specialists a voice at all echelons of OSI, he said.
OSI has invested significant effort in developing and expanding its intelligence capabilities over the past five-plus years, including the commitment to develop a more robust intelligence specialist (0132) workforce, O’Leary said. The original team of one senior 0132 has expanded to four GG-15 SIOs (Senior Intelligence Officers) and an SIA (Senior Intelligence Analyst) at each of the OSI Center Branches, every Region, in new National Security Detachments, and in some PJ Detachments.
This new role isn’t something that happened overnight. Over the past five-plus years, OSI has invested significant effort in developing and expanding its intelligence capabilities, including the commitment to developing a more robust intelligence specialist workforce, O’Leary said.
O'Leary knows that his success is dependent on the success of everyone around him. "I will be depending on my fellow [Intel specialists] to help with my job as well,” he said. “They all have a role; they have a say and I will be looking at them for help and ideas.”
OSI's senior leadership congratulates O'Leary on his appointment to this critical position.
"With Eric at the helm of our intelligence specialist workforce, we are confident in OSI's ability to meet the evolving, complex and dynamic threats facing our nation,” Bullard said. “We are also proud of the progress OSI is making to expand our intelligence capabilities, and we remain committed to providing the resources and support necessary for our intelligence specialists to succeed."