Turning Green to Gold

The Air Force Special Investigations green recruits into qualified, gold-badge carrying investigators.

It's 2 a.m., and Rick Pearson has been at work for more than an hour. The tranquil night would be soothing if it weren't for the gruesome scene unfolding at his feet.

With a flashlight tucked under his chin he steps back from the body and uses the beam to survey the scene. He smiles, happy with his handiwork. Then he turns and makes his way to the car.

He flips open his cellular phone and makes a call. The conversation is one-sided. It's short and to the point. "A body has been found at the Andrews dump. Get your team out here."

He flips the phone closed and waits Game on.

The students, nine total, roll onto the crime scene about 20 minutes later. Any hint of sleep is gone. Erased by the adrenaline rush of this much awaited, often feared, mock murder investigation. How they handle the investigation is one factor that will decide whether this group joins the ranks of Air Force Office of Special Investigation agents.

Special Agent Pearson gives the students a rundown on what has happened, and sets them in motion. He's the boss tonight -- judge, jury and appellate review for these aspiring agents.

Special Agent Pearson has been teaching for more than two years at the Air Force Special Investigations Academy at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. In that time, he's spent many early mornings at the base dump marshaling his young trainees through the final test of the 11-week special investigators course. The exercise is known at the school as "det ops" -- short for detachment operations. It's the last three days of the course designed to test students on all the information, tactics and training they've received up to that point.

"Det ops is grueling. We make it that way on purpose," said Special Agent Pearson, an 18-year Air Force veteran.

"When they graduate, I'm certain every student is ready to be an agent. There's no doubt in my mind," he said.

Green to gold

Special Agent Pearson and his fellow instructors are charged with turning green recruits into gold-badge carrying, full-fledged special investigators.

To meet field demands for new agents, the school runs four courses a year, averaging 55 students per class. The students come from all walks of Air Force life and bring a wide range of experience. Special Agent Pearson's current class has several second lieutenants, a couple of senior airmen, a civilian, a master sergeant, a technical sergeant and a couple of staff sergeants. Several of his students were cops, but the majority of them have no police background.

Lynn Radford, an academy student, spent 12 years as a medical technician before deciding he wanted to be an investigator.

"My wife thought I was kidding when I told her I wanted to be an OSI agent," admitted Mr. Radford. "It slowly sunk in, and she realized I was serious."

Seven months later, he finds himself knee deep in homework. The experience and information overload can be mind-numbing at times, according to students.

Meat and potatoes

The course covers four main areas: military law, collections, investigations and operations. Specific areas include forensics, crime-scene processing, weapons training, surveillance and other investigative skills. The academy staff delivers the bulk of instruction through a combination of lectures, seminars and hands-on training. Outside experts also teach some blocks.

"This course is pretty intensive," said Kala Pine, a student. "It's 'full-up' and they're constantly throwing new information at you."

She is one of Special Agent Pearson's disciples. This blond-haired, blue-eyed dynamo figured she would have an advantage coming into the course because she majored in criminology at the University of North Dakota. Although she admits her background has helped some, it hasn't helped as much as she thought it would.

"In a week here they cover the same information I learned in a semester at college," she said. "They teach the rule and then the 152 exceptions to the rule. It's hard to keep everything straight," she admits.

Another thing students realize early: police work is one part footwork and two parts paperwork.

"They drown you in paperwork," Mr. Radford said with a half-smile about the course. "There's a form or some type of report for everything."

This is no revelation to a seasoned investigator, but to the greenhorn, it can be a little overwhelming.

"We're an administrative beast spurred by the investigations we perform," said Special Agent Jim Hudson, course director and instructor. "It's by no means as rewarding, but the administrative part of our job is just as important as the fieldwork. We want the students to learn that early on."

For most academy students, the book learning and never-ending paperwork is bearable. What wears on them is the uncertainty if they'll be able to do the job on the streets.

Fear the unknown

"My biggest fear is doing the job for real," said Mr. Radford. "It's one thing to do it here, but doing it for real is scary right now. I'm nervous about that."

The school's instructors realize this. They take every opportunity to impress on the students that the skills they learn will carry them through in the field.

"I left here seven years ago praying for a simple case, because I had that same fear," Special Agent Hudson said. "They are not alone when they hit the field."

He said students are taught to prepare the best they can, and to not be afraid to ask for help so they can learn from their mistakes.

"There are some cases, that even with seven years' experience, I'd be scratching my head and saying 'I don't think I'm prepared for this,"' Special Agent Hudson said. "They are more prepared than they think they are. We validate these folks, and we're confident in their abilities, even if they're not."

Special Agent Hudson has good cause to be confident in the school's end product. The academy has been turning out investigators for 50-plus years.

Strong roots

The academy sprang to life shortly after the Air Force became a separate service. To meet the threat of criminal, fraud and counterintelligence activities, the first secretary of the Air Force, W. Stuart Symington, drew from the existing investigative services of the Army Air Corps to form the OSI. Secretary Symington named FBI agent Joseph F. Carroll as the first OSI director. Mr. Carroll subsequently opened the academy at the Washington, D.C., Armory in 1949.

Since then the academy has turned out thousands of investigators. In that time, a lot has changed, but surprisingly the course's basics are the same.

"Automation has significantly changed our processes, but the basics they teach haven't changed," explained Brig. Gen. Francis X. Taylor, OSI director. "When I was going through the academy 30 years ago, we got a briefcase full of books. Now we give a kid a computer, hook him into the LAN, and he does all his work over the computer lines as opposed to having to type on a manual typewriter."

Another thing that hasn't changed is the premise of objectivity. It's a cornerstone the school.

"Our students leave here with a lot of skills, but the most important thing our students leave with is a clear understanding that our mission is to collect information -- to collect facts," said Maj. Paul Tingle, former course director.

The school teaches that facts will bear out any case. If the facts prove someone broke the law that's how the case will come out. If the facts prove otherwise, that will also bear out.

"Our job isn't to put bad guys in jail," Special Agent Hudson said. "That may be the end result of what we do. But, when we go out to look at a case, we have to approach it objectively. There's no room for biased investigators."

Objectivity is drilled into students' heads from day one. By the time students cross the stage for graduation, it's one of the first words out their mouths.

Bittersweet moment

Graduation is the crowning achievement for students. The culmination of 11 weeks of intense study and learning result in their earning investigator credentials and badges.

"I tell them when they walk across that stage no one is giving them those credentials," said Special Agent Pearson. "They've earned them."

Graduation is a special moment for the students and a bittersweet moment for the instructors.

"I've given them everything I can to be successful. To be good and do right," said Special Agent Hudson. "I just hope they do it and remember what I had to say. As they walk across that stage, I say to myself, 'I know they're ready. I know they're ready.' But despite that I still want to grab them and give them one more piece of advice or information."

After graduation, the students head to their detachments around the globe. Their first cases await them as they prepare to work through a 12-month probation period.

The instructors bring in their next class and start the cycle again. In less than three months, Special Agent Ricky Pearson will be back at the Andrews' dump mapping out his next murder scene. Game on.

More than just the basics

The Air Force Special Investigations Academy at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., graduates more than 1,000 students a year.

The basic special investigators course is the largest course with about 255 students each year. However, the school also teaches 17 different advanced classes for OSI agents and other federal and allied country investigators.

The school offers advanced courses in many areas, including fraud, criminal, technical services, protective service operations, counterintelligence and counterespionage.

"OSI is a constant learning career field," said Col. Stephen Childers, academy commandant. "Our agents are always learning new things, and the academy plays a vital role in laying that groundwork for continued education."

COPYRIGHT 2000 U.S. Air Force, Air Force News Agency
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group