Representatives of the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) and the NATO Counter Intelligence Centre of Excellence (NATO CI COE) met in Krakow to increase cooperation and interoperability.
A delegation from AFOSI’s 5th Field Investigations Region (5 FIR) led by its Deputy Commander, Colonel Chris Thuotte, visited the NATO CI COE. At the beginning of the meeting, the Centre Deputy Director, Colonel Alexander Lučkanič, warmly welcomed the guests. Then, the AFOSI delegation attended a briefing with the subject matter experts on the Centre’s current tasks, projects, and future challenges. Finally, the delegation toured the recently expanded headquarters and training facility.
Discussions between representatives of both institutions focused on identifying potential directions of deeper cooperation to better support NATO activities in a timely and effective manner. The success of the Alliance’s counter-intelligence community depends heavily on mutual relations, cooperation skills, information flow, and efficient threat identification. This is why such meetings are an excellent opportunity to unite the activities of both institutions further to strengthen partnership and cooperation.
In the summary of the talks, both leaders concluded that the visit represented an excellent opportunity to share ideas and better understand the role and activities supporting NATO`s continuous transformational process. Continuing engagements like this with partners is critical to maintaining security, furthering the Alliance’s capabilities, and ensuring partnerships remain strong.
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AFOSI is one of only two U.S. military organizations with both law enforcement and counterintelligence authorities, however it is the only one with a military-civilian special agent workforce, posturing the agency to partner with the entire spectrum of foreign and domestic law enforcement, counterintelligence, and security agencies. AFOSI is headquartered in Quantico, VA, and has units in more than 290 locations globally. In addition to the many essential tasks AFOSI performs to safeguard the people and resources of the U.S. Air Force and Department of Defense, AFOSI is a significant supporter of the NATO CI COE and has personnel assigned to the Centre’s senior leadership and education staff.