FORT MEADE, Md. -- One day, an AFOSI Special Agent may be doing casework and the next, operating in an environment requiring more tactical awareness, medical response and seamless coordination with joint partners.
That reality brought Special Agents from across the National Capital Region together April 16, where they trained in marksmanship, casualty care and close-quarters scenarios, designed to sharpen their foundational skills across a wide range of assignments.
“Special Agents can move quickly between very different mission environments,” said Special Agent Vincent Mascari, a counterintelligence agent at AFOSI 7th Field Investigations Squadron. “They might be working fraud investigations on one assignment, then deploy alongside a special forces team in the next. Training like this helps build the foundation agents need to operate effectively in those environments.”
Mascari, who also served as the event’s organizer, said the unique training was not intended to introduce new concepts, but to give agents an opportunity to reinforce existing readiness through scenario-based instruction.
“The training gave us a chance to reinforce skills that support a wide range of AFOSI mission requirements,” said Special Agent Austin Thoreen. “Working through different scenarios really helps build on the fundamentals we may use in a real-world environment.”
The training also brought together agents from across multiple specialties, a point many participants said added to the value of the day.
“When the need arises to employ the skills learned in this type of training, there is nothing more important. It’s life or death, and it’ll happen when you least expect it,” said Special Agent Ryan Whipple, an investigator at AFOSI Office of Fraud Procurement Det. 6. “We diligently seek these opportunities to work with a wide array of our partners.
“These types of skills aren’t cookie cutter, you develop your best skillset by learning a variety of different methods,” Whipple added, “which then allows you to piece-mill together what works best for you and your strengths and weaknesses.”
Participants included Special Agents from many backgrounds, Mascari said, like major crimes, counterintelligence, technical operations, procurement fraud and the protection detail of senior leaders, specialties Mascari said do not often share the same training space.
The morning session, led by interagency partners, focused on marksmanship fundamentals and Tactical Combat Casualty Care. Later, attendees performed lifesaving skills like hemorrhage control and tourniquet application under elevated stress conditions designed to simulate operational pressure.
“Stress inoculation prepares Special Agents for real-world situations,” Mascari said. “Even when doing something as simple as applying a tourniquet, experiencing stress helps your nervous system respond more effectively if something happens for real.”
Following a short midday turnaround, the afternoon shifted to a realistic training structure for close-quarters tactics and scenario-based room-clearing exercises.
After weapons were cleared and secured to maintain a sterile training environment, agents worked through room-clearing scenarios that focused on communication, movement and threat identification.
“I think where we excelled the most was the building clearing,” Mascari said. “The Special Agents worked together across disciplines and picked it up very quickly.”
According to Mascari, following the event, feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with many participants highlighting both the realism and opportunity to train alongside colleagues from other elements as key benefits.
“One of the reasons the training was such a success was how it reinforced important skills while bringing people together in a different way,” said Special Agent Dustin Kepley, an investigator at the AFOSI Center. “It gave us a chance to work through scenarios, learn from one another and leave the day energized.”
Looking ahead, Mascari hopes similar training opportunities will continue in the future.
“At the end of the day, this was about reinforcing skills that matter anywhere the mission demands them,” Mascari said. “If Special Agents walk away more confident, more prepared and better able to operate with those around them, that is a success.”