[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 107 (Monday, August 3, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1515]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




RECOGNITION OF THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AIR FORCE OFFICE OF SPECIAL 
                             INVESTIGATIONS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. HERBERT H. BATEMAN

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, July 31, 1998

  Mr. BATEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the Air 
Force Office of Special Investigations--OSI. On Saturday, August 1 of 
this year, OSI will celebrate its golden anniversary as the 
investigative arm of the United States Air Force. OSI was established 
at the suggestion of Congress in 1948 by Secretary of the Air Force 
Stuart Symington, who consolidated and centralized the investigative 
services of the new Air Force to ensure a capability for independent 
and objective criminal investigations. The OSI of today is charged with 
a varied and complex mission that includes conducting criminal and 
fraud investigations, protecting our air forces from terrorism and 
espionage, hunting down military fugitives and tracking people who hack 
into Air Force computer systems.
  Although OSI has adapted to meet the changing needs of the Air Force, 
there has never been a change in the fundamental nature of the 
organization--an independent, high performance investigative agency, 
key and indispensable to the Air Force. The modern OSI is made up of 
more than 2,000 people operating from over 150 offices throughout the 
U.S. and in over a dozen countries overseas--basically, wherever you 
find Air Force interests or resources.
  Over the past half century, OSI has played a central role in the 
history of the Air Force. It was the OSI commander in Korea who first 
alerted General MacArthur's headquarters in Tokyo of the North Korean 
invasion in June, 1950. During the 1960's and early 1970's, OSI 
gathered early warning threat information on sabotage and surprise 
attack in support of air base defense in Vietnam. As terrorism became a 
household word in the 1970's, OSI responded with investigative tools 
and programs that enhanced the protection of Air Force people and 
resources. In 1978, OSI became the first organization in the federal 
government to establish a computer crime program. OSI's 
counterintelligence efforts contributed to the victory in the Cold War 
by identifying and neutralizing foreign intelligence operations 
targeting the American Air Force.
  There will be many new challenges in the next 50 years. For instance, 
the U.S. military is beginning to feel the impact of the cyber-threat 
and earlier this year the Pentagon tapped OSI to run the Defense 
Department's computer forensic training and laboratory programs. Also, 
the terrorists of the 21st century will be more deadly and OSI will be 
faced with the need to help protect an air and space force that will be 
committed to going anywhere in the world, anytime.
  A legacy of service, integrity and excellence marches on today in the 
footsteps of the 11,000 men and women who have served in the OSI, 
including two members of the 105th Congress, myself and my honorable 
colleague, Senator Arlen Specter. Mr. Chairman, it is with a great deal 
of pride that the Air Force OSI celebrates its fiftieth anniversary and 
remembers its motto: ``Preserving our legacy, protecting the future.''

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