OSI, FBI establish joint office

06/22/01 - ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFPN) -- The Air Force Office of Special Investigations and the Federal Bureau of Investigations strengthened their ties recently when they formally activated a joint operations group outside of Atlanta.

The group consists of a resident OSI agent, an FBI supervisory agent and four FBI field agents. They are collocated in the AFOSI Region 3, Operation Location B, satellite office at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Marietta, Ga.

Air Force Reserve Command OSI officials here said the joint office is a first for the command and OSI. The group offers "unlimited opportunities for liaison and intelligence-gathering abilities between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies within the greater Atlanta area," officials said.

"A wealth of intelligence knowledge is now readily available and accessible because this office will serve as a central focal point among the law enforcement community in Atlanta," said Special Agent Jeff Fleshman, the OSI agent at Dobbins.

While the office is new, working with the FBI is not, said Staff Sgt. Mark Getsy, spokesperson for AFOSI headquarters at Andrews Air Force Base, Md.

"The new office at Dobbins ARB is another step forward in the continuing efforts to build a strong relationship between OSI and the FBI," Getsy said. "Worldwide, OSI has co-located with many of its federal, state and local law enforcement counterparts to make it more convenient for the mission and to solve the investigation."

At the activation ceremony, Special Agent-in-Charge Theodore Jackson of the FBI Atlanta Division and Brig. Gen. William P. Kane, 94th Airlift Wing commander at Dobbins, praised Fleshman and Atlanta-based FBI Special Agent Kenny Powers for creating the partnership between the two organizations.

Air Force Reserve Command activated Region 3 OL-B at AFRC headquarters in July 1998 to provide criminal, fraud and counterintelligence investigative services to reserve units worldwide in a manner comparable to OSI units serving other major commands.

In addition to Dobbins, the OL-B staffs full-time satellite offices at March ARB, Calif.; Westover ARB, Mass.; Fort Worth, Texas; and Homestead Air Reserve Station, Fla. The Reserve's special agents provide criminal and fraud investigative support at the five satellite locations as well as criminal investigation analysis and support-of-force protection at 15 AFRC locations. (Courtesy of AFRC News Service)

Source U.S. Air Force ONLINE NEWS