by Staff Sgt. Jimmie Turner
ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. (AFNS) -- The building that houses the Air Force Special Investigations Academy, where all special agents of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations are trained, was dedicated here last month in honor of Lt. Gen. Joseph F. Carroll, OSI's first director.
Shortly after the inception of the Air Force as a separate military entity in 1947, Carroll, then a civilian member of the FBI, was loaned to the new service to organize the Office of Special Investigations. He retired as the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 1969 and died in 1991.
Brig. Gen. Robert A. Hoffmann, AFOSI commander, dedicated the building to Carroll.
"As the home of our training academy, the activities in this building are designed to teach our OSI core values of professionalism, integrity, impartiality and freedom from undue influence," Hoffmann said.
Brian Carroll, one of General Carroll's five sons, spoke on behalf of other family members attending the dedication ceremony. He related his father's days as an FBI agent, cornering notorious Chicago gangsters, to his duties as a military investigative and intelligence officer. The recurring theme, he said, was his father's allegiance to duty and adherence to high standards.
"Everything in my father's early life and career were foundational toward his ideals, his demand to instill high standards, levels of loyalty, and the maintenance of an ethical and moral approach to life and duty," Carroll said. "These halls of learning are a most appropriate setting to demonstrate when he established OSI, my father built a supremely professional organization, and he built it deep and strong with damn good people!"
Hoffmann said that it was General Carroll's personal character that first attracted him to the FBI, and that his personal values mirrored the core values of the FBI -- fidelity, bravery and integrity.
"We, too, value integrity. And while some of the other words may be different, the meaning is the same," said Hoffmann. "Instead of bravery, we say, 'service before self,' and instead of fidelity, we say, 'excellence in all we do.' Those values formed our organization and are embraced today." (Turner is assigned to AFOSI public affairs)