An up close and personal interview with Air Force Veteran and Togetherweserved.com Member:
Col Michael (Mike) Angley USAF (Ret) (1981-2007)
WHAT PERSUADED YOU TO JOIN THE AIR FORCE?
 I came from a mostly non-military family. Only my oldest brother, James, had any military affiliation. He served in the USAF during the Vietnam era. Coming from that background, it seemed odd – even to me – that I would pursue a military career, but life had other plans.
I was determined while I was in college to pursue a career as an FBI Special Agent. I studied Criminal Justice at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, PA toward that goal. Unfortunately, in the late 1970s/early 1980s, the FBI only recruited people with either law or accounting degrees. All others required a four year degree and a minimum of three years experience conducing complex investigations. Lacking the latter, I started to explore ways to gain the experience I needed to join the Bureau. My brother Jim suggested I look into the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, also known as the OSI or AFOSI. He recommended I visit the Air Force ROTC office that supported King’s College and talk with the staff about an OSI career. I did, and came back with grim news. Apparently the OSI did not accept many new officers fresh from college; in fact, OSI selected fewer than six per year. But I was determined to make it happen and crafted a strategy to get me there, one that involved maximizing my ROTC experience and networking with the OSI community. It worked. In 1981, when I was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, I had a training date in hand for the OSI Academy in Washington, DC.
But the story doesn’t end there. I joined with the intention of staying for my initial commitment of about four years, and then leaving the service to join the FBI – my original plan. However, I quickly fell in love with the USAF and could not bring myself to leave. I enjoyed serving my country, being a part of the wonderful Air Force enterprise, and belonging to a special community known as the OSI. Twenty-five plus years sped by in a blur, and I found myself giving a retirement speech before I realized what hit me, but what wonderful memories.
BRIEFLY, WHAT WAS YOUR CAREER PATH IN THE SERVICE?
I carried the OSI Air Force Specialty Code my entire career from 2nd Lieutenant to Colonel, and I had mostly OSI. assignments with the exception of some career broadening tours and schools. I held five commands during my tenure, to include two OSI squadrons and a wing (also known as an OSI Region). I have had assignments at the unit, theater, national, joint, and HQs Air Force levels. I had four overseas permanent change of station assignments (two long tours, two short tours), and a ton of deployment time. I was also blessed to have been selected to attend all my professional military education in residence (and I also completed the same via correspondence). The highlight for me was selection as a National Defense Fellow for my Senior Developmental Education (SDE) program. I served in this capacity at Florida International University in Miami where I was also an Adjunct Professor of International Relations.
My career closed out with arguably the most fun assignment I ever received, as Commander of OSI Region 8, Air Force Space Command, Peterson AFB, CO. Among other duties, I was the chief architect of counterintelligence programs impacting space, so my attention was always on the Earth’s atmosphere and anything coming or going. It was an esoteric experience, to say the least.
DID YOU PARTICIPATE IN COMBAT OPERATIONS?
 Technically, I suppose I did, but I did not see “combat” the way most people understand it. I certainly do not want to overstate my participation. During Operation Southern Watch I commanded all OSI units in the Middle East (23 countries under my belt), so I deployed often throughout the region with a focus on counterterrorism operations. I took command one week after the June 1996 terrorist attack at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, an attack that took the lives of 19 of America’s finest airmen. My job was to make sure no further terrorist attacks took place in the region, so my main mission was oriented toward this. It was the most operational command I ever held, and arguably the most dangerous assignment I ever had. By the grace of God, we were successful in keeping people safe.
FROM YOUR ENTIRE SERVICE CAREER, WHAT PARTICULAR MEMORY STANDS OUT AS BEING THE ONE WHICH HAS HAD THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON YOU?
My operational time in Southwest Asia (SWA) was a career and life changing event for me. It was the toughest job I’ve ever held. I was handed the most operational command in OSI a week after a watershed Khobar Towers terrorist attack on the USAF, and I was only a Major at the time. All other OSI squadron commanders were Colonels or very senior Lieutenant Colonels, but my selection for the job came months before the attack, so I was allowed to proceed with many eyes on me.
Little in life is more sobering than the realization that lives are at stake and that the decisions one makes have real impact. We took risks. We pushed limits. I provided top cover for my guys while slaying dragons in the beltway, and when I deployed with them, I grabbed a gun and we conducted operations that put us in direct contact with the enemy. We had to break a lot of rice bowls to move OSI from a defensive anti-terrorism mission to an offensive counter-terrorism mission, but in the end we prevailed. That was the most satisfying aspect of the job.
WHICH INDIVIDUAL PERSON FROM YOUR SERVICE STANDS OUT AS THE ONE WHO HAD THE BIGGEST IMPACT ON YOU...AND WHY?
There have been so many, but one leader that stands out the most is Colonel Richard Weaver who commanded OSI Region 2 when I was in charge of SWA. He was my immediate commander, and he helped provide me with the cover I needed to change operational direction in the desert. He was also a hands-on type boss, unafraid to strap on a gun and go operational with me and my troops within the Area Of Responsibility. I recall we had a run in with one of the U.S. Ambassadors in the region who was upset that OSI agents carried concealed weapons off the installation. He felt it insulted the royal family and sent a signal that the United States felt the host government could not protect Americans. Colonel Weaver called the Ambassador and told him that we would continue to carry weapons unless and until the State Department assigned teams of its “combat trained warriors” to protect us. Of course, there are no such people in the State Department. That was the last we heard from the Ambassador, and the issue just died.
DO YOU HAVE A PARTICULARLY FUNNY STORY FROM YOUR SERVICE THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE?
 Shortly after I arrived at my first duty location, Travis AFB, CA, I was the on-call “duty agent.” One of my first cases was a simple assault incident that occurred in the family housing area, so I started out going door-to-door to see if anyone had witnessed anything. I knocked on one door, and a young airman answered, his eyes big as saucers when I identified myself. When I told him why I was there, he cast a skeptical glance and told me, “Right. know all about OSI. You people lie about everything.”
I was confused, but I assured him I only needed to ask about an alleged assault. He rolled his eyes and said, “I know why you’re really here. It’s because of the drugs.”
At that point I produced a "consent to search and seize" form (standard part of a duty agent kit) and asked his permission to search his house. He signed it and said, “Why not, you’re going to search it anyway.” When I entered the house and headed for the kitchen, he said, “Come on, it’s down the hall.” He led me to an unused bedroom where he had a hydroponic marijuana farm where he was growing a few dozen mature plants.
It was a sizeable bust, and when we finished up in the interrogation room later that day (he signed a full confession), my boss walked in and said they had found a witness to the assault. The look on this airman’s face was priceless. I knew at that moment I was going to love this line of work.
WHAT PROFESSION DID YOU FOLLOW AFTER THE SERVICE AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW?
 I’m pursuing two endeavors – one in the higher education industry, and the other in professional writing, specifically thriller novels.
I am the Senior Military Advisor for Henley-Putnam University, San Jose, CA. Henley-Putnam is a premiere online university that specializes in Strategic Security (Intelligence Management, Terrorism & Counterterrorism Studies, and Protection Management). It has programs that include professional certificates, BS and MS degrees, and a Doctorate in Strategic Security, the first of its kind in the United States. I enjoy my affiliation with Henley-Putnam because it is a niche-type school focused on the things I enjoyed doing during my active duty career. Because the vast majority of its instructors come from the law enforcement and intelligence communities (with an average of 22 years experience each), I am among the same people I served with. I would encourage anyone interested in a great program taught by real experts to visit the school’s website: www.henley-putnam.edu.
I have always enjoyed writing, and I finally pursued my dream to write thriller novels in retirement. I am blessed to have a three-book contract to produce a trilogy, called the “Child Finder Trilogy.” The series is about an Air Force OSI Special Agent, Patrick S. O’Donnell, who discovers he has a psychic gift that enables him to find missing children. When Uncle Sam learns about his special skills, he gets pulled into a TOP SECRET black world community that leverages his talents for other purposes. The stories are political/military thrillers with a lot of plot twists and turns, webs of intrigue, and double crosses. The first two books are currently published, and they’ve each won book awards, so I am delighted by the success they’ve enjoyed.
The final installment, “Child Finder: Revelation”, is going through the editing process right now. The publisher estimates a release sometime next spring. My professional website has much more information about each of the books: www.mikeangley.com.
ARE YOU A MEMBER OF ANY MILITARY ASSOCIATIONS?
I am a member of a few associations, but I must confess I’m not terribly active in any of them, mainly because I keep very busy with my work for Henley-Putnam University and with writing my thriller novels. I suspect that will all change when I slow down and really retire some day, but probably not any time soon!
I have been a member of the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) for the past several years, and when I retired, I joined the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) association. My longest membership claim is with the Association of Former OSI Special Agents (AFOSISA) which I joined back when I was a Captain, somewhere around 1987.
HOW HAS SERVING THE ARMED FORCES INFLUENCED THE WAY YOU HAVE APPROACHED YOUR LIFE AND CAREER?
For as long as I can remember, even back when I was a little boy, I’ve felt a strong sense of patriotism and national pride. And although I didn’t come from a military family, or even  understand the military all that well when I began to consider joining, serving my country only strengthened that sense of patriotism I grew up with. I took my oath to protect and defend the Constitution seriously, so much so, that I never minded at all the dangers I faced, particularly when conducting counterterrorism operations. To me, it was a part of the package I signed up for, and something I willingly put on the line.
Serving in the military strengthened my sense of pride and love of country, and it has influenced how my wife (also an Air Force veteran) and I raise our children and how I pursue my new, civilian life. My kids have a greater understanding of, and appreciation for, the United States than most of their peers (and in many cases, even their teachers). Our children appreciate the US more than their peers because of their travels overseas (Korea, Japan, China) and because of being in a military family. By visiting foreign countries and seeing how other people live (quality of life, lower standards of freedom than the US, etc) my children appreciate what they have as Americans. They understand how easily they could lose the things they cherish as Americans. By being military “brats” and seeing me travel on deployments and other missions, they understand current events in a real context because of the fact that I was often involved in things in the news. Our dinner chat often has been about current events and how the US government makes decisions and why.
My work for Henley-Putnam University is an extension of what I had been doing, and it keeps me around those who have also served, and continue to serve in many cases. Even my thriller novels reflect this sense of pride and patriotism. My protagonist is a man of deep faith, and one who has inculcated the same sense of service that I have held (I find myself living through his fictional eyes).
 WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU HAVE FOR THOSE THAT ARE STILL CURRENTLY SERVING?
Stick with it! No matter how tough times get, serving in the military is a calling that you cannot replicate anywhere in the civilian community. Pursue a career with this service before self perspective always uppermost in your mind, and never view what you do as just a job or a paycheck.
Don’t make snap career decisions based on political winds. In my almost 26 years on active duty, I have seen many political leaders come and go. Some were military friendly, others not so much. Sometimes money flowed into the defense coffers, and at other times it dried up. The point is, the political landscape ebbs and flows, so stick it out no matter how unfriendly or difficult things may seem at any given time. Never forget, the military is an institution that has its own DNA and personality…and it always outlives politics.
HOW HAS TOGETHERWESERVED.COM HELPED YOU TO MAINTAIN A BOND WITH THE SERVICE AND THOSE YOU SERVED WITH?
I love the robust nature of TWS, everything from the tremendous depth it allows its members to capture on their profiles, to the at-a-glance shadow box feature. I like the way all the data in members’ profiles cross-network in a way that you can easily find people who served at the same places as you have, attended the same schools, or earned the same awards. I enjoy receiving messages from other members and interacting with them. I’ve located people I thought had long ago fallen off the planet, and reestablished contact with old friends and former bosses. I want to thank TWS for all it does to help integrate this vastly dispersed community.
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Col. Mike Angley USAF (Ret)
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I came from a mostly non-military family. Only my oldest brother, James, had any military affiliation. He served in the USAF during the Vietnam era. Coming from that background, it seemed odd – even to me – that I would pursue a military career, but life had other plans.
assignments with the exception of some career broadening tours and schools.
Technically, I suppose I did, but I did not see “combat” the way most people understand it. I certainly do not want to overstate my participation. During Operation Southern Watch I commanded all OSI units in the Middle East (23 countries under my belt), so I deployed often throughout the region with a focus on counterterrorism operations. I took command one week after the June 1996 terrorist attack at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, an attack that took the lives of 19 of America’s finest airmen. My job was to make sure no further terrorist attacks took place in the region, so my main mission was oriented toward this. It was the most operational command I ever held, and arguably the most dangerous assignment I ever had. By the grace of God, we were successful in keeping people safe.
Shortly after I arrived at my first duty location, Travis AFB, CA, I was the on-call “duty agent.” One of my first cases was a simple assault incident that occurred in the family housing area, so I started out going door-to-door to see if anyone had witnessed anything. I knocked on one door, and a young airman answered, his eyes big as saucers when I identified myself. When I told him why I was there, he cast a skeptical glance and told me, “Right. know all about OSI. You people lie about everything.”
I’m pursuing two endeavors – one in the higher education industry, and the other in professional writing, specifically thriller novels.
understand the military all that well when I began to consider joining, serving my country only strengthened that sense of patriotism I grew up with. I took my oath to protect and defend the Constitution seriously, so much so, that I never minded at all the dangers I faced, particularly when conducting counterterrorism operations. To me, it was a part of the package I signed up for, and something I willingly put on the line.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU HAVE FOR THOSE THAT ARE STILL CURRENTLY SERVING?
