Released: Jul 30, 1998
The move comes 50 years to the day since AFOSI was founded Aug. 1, 1948, at the suggestion of Congress to consolidate investigative activities in the Air Force.
Active-duty and retired AFOSI members will observe the command's golden anniversary with a cake-cutting ceremony July 31 at its new headquarters here. The move becomes official the next day.
Secretary of the Air Force W. Stuart Symington created the AFOSI and patterned it after the FBI. He appointed Special Agent Joseph Carroll, an assistant to FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, as the first AFOSI commander and charged him to provide independent, unbiased and centrally directed investigations of criminal activity in the Air Force.
The command has been at Bolling Air Force Base, D.C., since 1979. Andrews is also home to the U.S. Air Force Special Investigations Academy. The academy instructs AFOSI agent trainees, as well as U.S. federal and allied country investigators in basic investigative skills.
"Our legacy of service, integrity and excellence is intact and marches on today in the footsteps of the 11,000 men and women who have served in OSI," said Brig. Gen. Francis X. Taylor, AFOSI commander.
The command will formally commemorate its 50th anniversary with a Gala Ball Sep. 12 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel in Arlington, Va. The celebration will coincide with the biennial convention of the Association of Former OSI Special Agents.
RELATED SITES
* Air Force Office of Special Investigations
* Bolling Air Force Base, D.C.
* Federal Bureau of Investigation