PSO special agents support SECAF base visit to gauge effectiveness of nuclear-enterprise program

  • Published
  • By Story and photo by Special Agent Shannon Bancroft
  • AFOSI Detachment 805
QUANTICO, Va. --  Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James visited ICBM bases assigned to 20th Air Force to gauge the progress and effectiveness of the nuclear enterprise Force Improvement Program (FIP).

The secretary's February 2015 visit with stakeholders of the 90th Missile Wing, F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., also included an address to base personnel on the importance and progress of the FIP. 

An Air Force Global Strike Command press release states the FIP began as "an aggressive, grass-roots feedback program designed to quickly provide senior Air Force leaders with actionable recommendations for improvement by conducting one-on-one interviews and surveys with Airmen." 

Highlighting received feedback, Secretary James reaffirmed the nuclear enterprise as the Air Force's number one mission area. The President's 2016 budget allocates $5.6 billion in improvements to the nuclear enterprise over the next five years, including modernization of existing Minuteman III platforms, recapitalization of weapon storage areas into weapon storage facilities and replacement of the UH-1N helicopter fleet.

Secretary James' visit also demonstrated a flawless orchestration of a Protective Service Operation that featured special agents from the Air Force Office of Special Investigations and members of other federal and local law-enforcement agencies. Continuous-liaison efforts and seamless working relationships between various agencies ensured timely receipt of threat information, vehicles, K-9 sweeps and repeater-enabled radios. Noteworthy inter-agency support during the secretary's visit included traffic-management efforts by the Cheyenne Police Department.

AFOSI's Detachment 805 personnel assigned to the PSD include: Special Agents Tonya Stott, Tyler Wahls, Bryce Stringer and Zachary Gigeous.

The mission's feedback, though anticlimactic, was exactly what one wants to hear at the end of every PSO: "smooth."