QUANTICO, Va. -- Ensuring OSI is best postured to meet the evolving needs of our Air Force relies, in large part, on maintaining and expanding collaborative efforts with our US and international counterparts. In support of that goal, OSI focuses on continually enhancing our strategic-level liaison and partner engagement to positively impact field capability and influence.
Simply put, OSI cannot protect the Air Force without a fully engaged and proactive presence outside of traditional Air Force bases. OSI’s global footprint extends well beyond Air Force fence lines and is constantly evolving to best meet Air Force mission needs and US national security interests. We established Force Protection Detachments in the wake of the USS Cole bombing to better protect DoD forces transiting high threat and remote ports and airfields. We embedded OSI agents in FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Forces in the wake of 9/11 to elevate OSI engagement and information sharing specific to DoD-related terrorism matters. And, OSI stood up the 25th Expeditionary Field Investigative Squadron to elevate focus and capacity specific to Air Force interests in Africa and Eastern Europe.
OSI’s ever-evolving footprint and mission capacity is irrevocably tied to our domestic and international partnerships. We foster, sustain, and strengthen these partnerships through national level agency engagement; senior level and mid-tier agency embeds; relationships built through the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), and other national and global forums; and through strategic, multi- and bilateral engagements with key ally law enforcement, counterintelligence, and security agencies around the globe. Beyond cementing strong relationships with counterpart agencies at the national-level, OSI has elevated its focus on transitioning those national-level relationships into tangible interagency and multinational initiatives, as well as enabling heightened access and mission capabilities for OSI agents in the field. This has resulted in a more efficient, more impactful approach to the OSI mission-set and our ability to protect Air Force resources and interests at home and abroad.
As one of only three US agencies with worldwide law enforcement and counterintelligence authorities, OSI is frequently called upon to set the standard, building relationships and establishing interagency agreements where none existed before. OSI agents at all echelons work to not only maintain and further existing bonds, but to forge new relationships to better protect and support our Air Force. Through their outstanding professionalism and outreach, the men and women of OSI perpetuate the Air Force’s professional and respected image among our counterparts, ensuring OSI and the Air Force remain relevant and effective as a trusted mission partner both domestically and internationally.
Globalization, technological advances, and social media have and will continue to make the world a smaller and more accessible place. Within that ever-changing environment, the threats arrayed against the US, our Air Force, and our allies will continue to adapt, evolve and persist. OSI is fully committed to doing likewise…to evolve, adapt, and persist…with clear and unyielding focus on the imperative of enhanced global law enforcement, counterintelligence, and security partnerships to jointly identify and pursue threats of mutual interest.