News>AFOSI helps those traveling abroad via AF Portal
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The Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) has streamlined the foreign travel briefing program to better serve active-duty Air Force members and Department of the Air Force civilian employees within ACC. Members are required to complete a foreign travel pre-brief survey any time they travel abroad.
by Special Agent Michael White
Air Force Office of Special Investigations
11/16/2012 - LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AFNS) -- Air Force Office of Special Investigations has streamlined the foreign travel briefing program to better serve active-duty Air Force members and Department of the Air Force civilian employees before, during and after their trips abroad.
Improvements have been made to the foreign travel pre-brief and de-brief surveys, the process of reporting foreign travel and obtaining an AFOSI foreign travel briefing. Personnel who travel overseas should receive foreign intelligence threat briefings and anti-terrorism briefings from AFOSI prior to departure.
"Previously, organizations at individual installations would monitor, report and produce internal guidance on foreign travel and complete briefings for those personnel traveling abroad," said Special Agent Peter Van Damme. "As we communicated with those units, it was apparent the process was not designed to deal with the amount of foreign travel conducted by base personnel. Since AFOSI is chartered to provide foreign travel pre/de-brief services to protect service members, Air Force technology and DOD assets, we decided to develop a better process."
AFOSI collaborated with Headquarters Air Force to develop a web-based interface accessible through the Air Force Portal. Joint efforts resulted in an unclassified foreign travel pre-brief slide presentation; unclassified pre-brief survey; unclassified de-brief survey and the AFOSI Foreign Travel Guide accessible through the Air Force Portal. It also provides access to important websites to support travelers.
Members are required to complete a foreign travel pre-brief survey before they travel abroad and identify each country they intend to visit. Threats to USAF personnel are ever-changing and the pre-brief and debrief survey allows AFOSI to review the data and determine the most appropriate forum for a briefing given current threat postures regarding specific travel destinations.
"The surveys are vital in protecting Air Force personnel and resources and it is extremely important that these surveys are completed each time you travel abroad," Van Damme said. "Exceptions may apply. An example would be if you have multiple overseas travels in a short time frame, then you could include all locations into one pre- and debrief survey."
The program was developed with the safety of Air Force members in mind, military and civilian, and to protect Air Force technology and resources. The first step in successfully defending against a threat is to understand the threat. These surveys are a first step to enable AFOSI to effectively and efficiently ensure personnel are briefed based upon current threat postures.
Foreign travel increases the risk of foreign intelligence targeting on Air Force personnel and it's important to understand the foreign environment before, during and after a visit to another country.
Contact your local AFOSI office with any questions/concerns you may have concerning the foreign travel briefing program. The new foreign travel program can be found on the Air Force Portal by searching for "foreign travel."
