SANTIAGO, Chile -- To strengthen regional security and protect U.S. personnel abroad, the Force Protection Detachment at the U.S. Embassy in Santiago, which includes the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), led a National Security Threat Subject Matter Expert Exchange (SMEE), April 21-28.
The week-long event brought together American and Chilean security professionals to share best practices for identifying and countering national security threats.
In all, nearly 30 individuals including lawyers, sociologists, anthropologists, intelligence analysts, psychologists, counterintelligence and intelligence officers, and investigators from various Chilean agencies attended the AFOSI-led event.
The event featured presentations from Special Agents, Intelligence Analysts and an Investigative-Operational Psychologist from AFOSI, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Texas Air National Guard.
The exchange, organized through the State Partnership Program, allowed Special Agents to advance their mission in a strategically important region.
“A unique strength of [AFOSI] is our dual role,” said Special Agent Christian Rivera, U.S. Embassy Santiago Force Protection Detachment. “As civilian agents embedded within the DoD, we bridge the gap between defense and law enforcement, bringing both perspectives to the table.”
This dual role is especially critical in places like Latin America, where the security landscape can be fragmented, with overlapping jurisdictions and competing priorities.
In Chile, for example, the Ministry of Defense might oversee border security, while the Ministry of Interior, like the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, is responsible for domestic law enforcement.
This division of responsibilities can create gaps that AFOSI works to bridge, ensuring a more unified approach. Rivera added that creating these connections is about more than just sharing information, it’s about aligning priorities and building trust.
“Our efforts align directly with the Embassy’s open-facing priorities and the broader State Department objectives of making America safer at home and abroad,” he said. “When we talk about this work, it’s about achieving measurable objectives.”
“When I first started working in Chile, I learned our host nation partners have a deep understanding of their security environment, including challenges like organized crime and border security, but sometimes we look for different indicators,” Rivera said.
That’s why, he said, the information exchange works as a two-way street, with both sides getting a chance to learn from each other’s best practices. At its core, the biggest goal was simply opening dialogue.
“One of our main goals has been to get all the relevant players in the same room to discuss what national security threats mean to them,” he said.
Overall, the event was well received, too, with feedback from participants reflecting a high level of satisfaction. Several participants noted that the presentations were directly relevant to their roles and praised the speakers for their ability to convey complex topics.
“Chile has a highly professional military and law enforcement community, and this event was about understanding their concerns and perspectives as much as it was about sharing ours,” he said. “It was a genuine exchange, where we learned as much as we taught, reinforcing that our collective strength comes from mutual understanding and collaboration.”