MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala -- Drew Sanguinetti was still in high school in Natchez, Mississippi, when he realized he wanted to be an investigator.
He didn’t know exactly where that path would lead, only that he wanted to solve puzzles in a role that made a difference, he said. More than three decades later, that ambition culminated in his retirement after 33 years of combined military and civilian service with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
Most recently, Sanguinetti served as AFOSI’s liaison to the Air Force Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) School at Maxwell Air Force Base.
Col. Ben Hatch, now Commandant of Air Command and Staff College at Maxwell, previously served as AFOSI’s regional commander in the Indo-Pacific where Sanguinetti was stationed. Hatch said the same professionalism Sanguinetti demonstrated in the field carried into the classroom.
“Drew’s professionalism and judgement set the standard for those around him,” Hatch said.
For two and a half years, Sanguinetti was the first AFOSI Special Agent embedded within the JAG School, where he taught search and seizure alongside an attorney, pairing legal standards with real-world investigative practice.
The youngest of nine children in a large Catholic family, Sanguinetti grew up in Natchez and joined the Boy Scouts’ Explorers law enforcement program in high school, something he said reinforced his interest in investigations.
“At a very early age, I wanted to be an investigator,” he said. “I wanted to solve puzzles, and I wanted to do it in a way that mattered.”
He later earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Mississippi in 1990 and was commissioned through the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps.
After entering active duty in 1991 as a financial analyst, he pursued cross-training into AFOSI. Twice denied, he persisted and was ultimately selected to attend the AFOSI Investigator Academy at Bolling Air Force Base in 1993.
“I didn’t want to give up on it,” he said. “That was the dream.”
As a young agent at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, Sanguinetti handled criminal and fraud investigations, including a high-visibility case involving misconduct within a weapons storage unit. “Those early cases gave me an early understanding of how much the mission matters,” he said.
Later, as commander of AFOSI Det. 804 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, he strengthened relationships with the FBI on criminal and counterintelligence. His team also helped prevent the disruption of a National Missile Defense test launch, preserving a critical event and averting significant financial loss.
By 2001, Sanguinetti had advanced to regional counterintelligence leadership at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, overseeing broader operational efforts across multiple detachments.
“With every assignment, you start to see the bigger picture,” he said. “You’re not just running cases anymore. You become responsible for the people running them.”
In 2005, he deployed to Iraq as Special Agent in Charge of the Irbil Field Office within the Strategic Counterintelligence Directorate.
Leading a joint-service counterintelligence unit composed of AFOSI, Army military intelligence and Naval Criminal Investigative Service personnel, he directed operations aimed at identifying and countering terrorist networks and hostile foreign intelligence threats.
He later described the deployment as the highlight of his career and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for his leadership. “The relationships we built there, within the unit and with our partners, made the mission possible,” he said.
Later, Sanguinetti commanded AFOSI Det. 602 at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, overseeing operations across a broad Indo-Pacific area of responsibility. His detachment earned regional recognition following its role in a complex international effort that helped capture and extradite a long-sought Air Force fugitive.
In 2010, he was selected to establish the first AFOSI office aligned with the newly formed Air Force Global Strike Command, which helped build the counterintelligence and security framework supporting the nation’s nuclear bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile forces.
He retired from active duty in Dec. 2012 as a lieutenant colonel but returned to AFOSI as a civilian Special Agent in 2014. In that role, he oversaw security operations for Special Access Programs safeguarding more than $100 billion in advanced military technologies and capabilities.
He later served as Special Agent in Charge at Kadena Air Base, Japan. While there, an unexpected moment highlighted the same instinct that guided his investigative career.
Driving on base with senior leaders, Sanguinetti came upon a vehicle overturned at an intersection. He stopped, checked on the driver, retrieved her belongings and assisted emergency responders.
“I assessed what happened and responded,” he said. “That’s what [Special Agents] are trained to do.”
For his actions, he received the Command Civilian Award for Valor. He credits the recognition less to heroics than to circumstance.
Hatch, who witnessed the incident, later described Sanguinetti as “steady in crisis and selfless in service,” noting that the response reflected the same composure seen throughout his career.
Across 33 years of service, Sanguinetti and his wife navigated 12 moves and multiple overseas assignments while raising three children. They have been married 35 years.
In retirement, the couple plans to settle in Oxford, Mississippi, returning to the college town where they met. He intends to focus on health, volunteer work and opportunities to speak or teach on national security and counterintelligence.
Sanguinetti retired Feb. 20, a milestone he marked quietly with a lunch with colleagues. Before departing, he left a final message for those continuing the AFOSI mission.
“Go be awesome,” he said. “Keep carrying the mantle. The mission is absolutely worth it.”