Office of Special Investigations - antiterrorism efforts

TIG Brief: The Inspector General, Sept-Oct, 2003

Eagle Eyes and its companion reporting vehicle, TALON, have become the most recognized antiterrorism tools in the Department of Defense. TALON stands for Threat and Local Observation Notice.

The program aims to prevent terrorism by encouraging and enabling Air Force members and local citizens to report possible terrorist planning activities they observe. The program also features processes for rapid follow-up investigations and information sharing with other echelons of command and other law enforcement agencies.

TALON has proven so successful that last year Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz designated it as the DoD standard for reporting suspicious activity. The Department of Homeland Security uses TALON as a template within the emerging Protect America homeland defense information sharing system.

OSI initiated TALON in October 2001 and quickly followed up with Eagle Eyes to reach as many people as possible. Eagle Eyes elicits support not just from blue suiters but the entire community associated with an Air Force installation--civilian workers, family members, contractors, off-base merchants, community organizations and neighborhoods.

Centered on the premise that OSI agents and security forces personnel can't be everywhere, Eagle Eyes enlists the eyes and ears of everyone for terrorism detection.

Designed around seven basic categories, agents educate their target community on how to recognize and report suspicious incidents, which may then be reported in a TALON. As of this writing, nearly 4,400 TALONs have been published.

These suspicious incident categories are designed to cover the primary steps of a terrorist operation, to include surveillance, elicitation, tests of security, acquiring supplies, suspicious persons out of place, dry runs and deployment of assets.

From Eagle Eyes' inception in April 2002, OSI units conducted more than 5,000 briefings for on-base and off-base audiences, placed more than 250 articles in base newspapers, and landed coverage in over 275 civilian news outlets. These promotions and others led to a trove of referrals--more than 1,200.

The program is ongoing and is expected to serve the Air Force well into the future.

Why is your support crucial to DoD force protection efforts?

* Terrorism is often disguised as criminal activity.

* Terrorists are operating in our back-yard, as evidenced by publicized arrests in New York and Washington state.

* Al Qa'ida continues to recruit Americans to conduct attacks.

* Al Qa'ida continues to use subversive-type attacks.

* Terrorist attacks develop over time, providing an opportunity to detect and deter.

* U.S. and DoD infrastructure are key targets.

The continued success of Eagle Eyes and the TALON program depends on the combined involvement of community, law enforcement, and DoD people and resources.

It's hard to determine how many terrorist attacks may have been disrupted through Eagle Eyes and TALON, but as of press time, the Air Force had surpassed nearly two years in a heightened threat condition with no significant attack against Air Force people or resources.

Examples of Eagle Eyes success are evident. At a joint news conference March 25, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Baltimore Field Office, along with the Maryland State Police, unveiled the Baltimore Joint Terrorism Task Force's version of Eagle Eyes while crediting OSI.

Additionally, Brig. Gen. Tim White, Secretary of the Air Force, Public Affairs, distributed an e-mail April I in which he asked all public offices to make a big difference in abating terrorist threats by working with the local OSI detachment and helping them promote Eagle Eyes' antiterrorism program via civilian news media. To see TALON reports, individuals with SIPRNET access can go to the OSI SIPRNET home page under Eagle Vision. TIG Brief thanks Master Sgt. Carolyn "CeCe" Collins of OSI Public Affairs for her contributions to this edition's OSI page.

The Air Force Office of Special Investigations:

* Detects and provides early warning of worldwide threats to the Air Force.

* Combats threats to information systems and technologies.

* Identifies and resolves crime that threatens Air Force readiness or good order and discipline.

* Detects and deters fraud in the acquisition of Air Force prioritized weapons systems.