U.S. Military Criminal Investigative Organizations (MCIOs): All You Need to Know
Law enforcement in the United States can be very complex. All sorts of people commit serious crimes, and sometimes U.S. military service members are no exception. So who’s mainly in charge of investigating crimes related to the U.S. military, and why? Let’s give you an example to get you thinking. Three U.S. Army soldiers decide to go drinking downtown at Club Tinnitus in Nowhere, Kentucky. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t realize it was Navy night, and there were a bunch of drunk U.S. sailors already there. One of the sailors starts talking’ smack to the soldiers, and a brawl ends up breaking out. Throughout the chaos, one unfortunate bystander dies during the fight. Everyone leaves before the police arrive, so an investigation ensues. But who would take over this investigation? Would it be the military police? Local town police? State police? What about the FBI?
The answer might surprise you, but it’s actually none of the above. There’s a set of federal law enforcement agencies that fit perfectly in between the civilian and military law enforcement worlds, each dealing with the six branches of the United States military, and one of these would likely take over this case. These agencies, among other things, investigate criminal allegations involving U.S. military service members.
With that said, what are these federal law enforcement agencies called? What exactly do they do? Why do we even need them? And most importantly, what separates them from the rest of the numerous law enforcement agencies throughout the United States?
We’re going to answer all of those questions for you and much more. Let’s take a dive into the various Military Criminal Investigative Organizations (MCIOs).
TABLE OF CONTENTS
MCIOs: NAVAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE SERVICE (NCIS)
MCIOs: NCIS PERSONNEL AND TRAINING
MCIOs: NCIS JURISDICTION AND MISSION
MCIOs: ARMY CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DIVISION (CID)
MCIOs: CID JURISDICTION AND MISSION
MCIOs: CID PERSONNEL AND TRAINING
MCIOs: AIR FORCE OFFICE OF SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS (OSI)
MCIOs: OSI JURISDICTION AND MISSION
MCIOs: OSI PERSONNEL AND TRAINING
MCIOs: MARINE CORPS CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DIVISION (MARINE CID)
MCIOs: MARINE CID PERSONNEL AND TRAINING
MCIOs: THE COAST GUARD INVESTIGATIVE SERVICE (CGIS)
MCIOs: CGIS JURISDICTION AND MISSION
MILITARY CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE ORGANIZATIONS: CONCLUSION
MCIOs: OVERVIEW
Before we dive into the specifics of each military branch’s law enforcement agency, it’s important for you to understand what these agencies are as a whole. With the power delegated by Congress, the United States Federal Government has established various federal law enforcement agencies that specifically deal with crimes and offenses that have any connection to the U.S. military. If a house on a military installation gets burglarized, that’s in their jurisdiction. If a civilian on a military installation commits a crime, that’s also in their jurisdiction.
MCIOs: THE SPECIAL AGENTS
The military law enforcement agencies, much like other federal agencies, all have special agents who are tasked with investigating and enforcing the laws and regulations under their jurisdiction. What separates military law enforcement agencies from the rest of the agencies is that special agents can be both civilians and military personnel. Depending on the agency, military personnel can be enlisted, warrant officers, or commissioned officers serving as special agents. This means that there are military personnel who are federal special agents who can arrest civilians outside a military base, depending on the circumstances. This is unlike the power given to your standard military police, who are generally restricted by the Posse Comitatus Act. In a nutshell, the Posse Comitatus Act is a law in the United States that says the military can't be used to enforce laws or do police work inside the country.
Although these agencies are all independent from the rank-and-file military, some of them still recruit people from the military branches they oversee. Regardless of who’s in the shoes of a special agent, they all have arresting powers, conduct investigations, and work to further the purpose and mission of their respective agencies. Not only that, they can work overseas because U.S. military bases are all over the world and you never know where a crime might strike. This means that the special agents can even find themselves in combat environments, which is pretty cool. This makes them unique from other federal law enforcement agencies because most of them generally stick to domestic matters.
However, despite the similarities between each of the military law enforcement agencies, you’ll soon find out that there are a decent amount of differences that separate them all. With that all said, we’re going to cover every single military branch’s respective law enforcement agencies one by one, starting with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
MCIOs: NAVAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE SERVICE (NCIS)
The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is arguably the most well-known military law enforcement agency because of all the TV shows they have about them. NCIS has primary responsibility for investigating major criminal offenses, with exclusive investigative jurisdiction within the Department of the Navy. Because the Marine Corps is under the Department of the Navy, this means that NCIS investigates anything concerning the Navy AND the Marines.
MCIOs: NCIS PERSONNEL AND TRAINING
NCIS consists of roughly 2,000 personnel, with roughly half of them serving as special agents. Unlike the other military law enforcement agencies, all NCIS special agents are civilians, and the agency is also led by a civilian. This means that the agency is not under as much influence from the military as some of the other ones. These special agents have authorization to conduct arrests of both military members and civilians, both on and off military installations.
MCIOs: NCIS JURISDICTION AND MISSION
The crimes NCIS investigates range from suspected acts of espionage, terrorism, sabotage, assassination, or defection by naval personnel, but they also have personnel who are Intelligence Analysts, Cyber Specialists, and have careers in Forensics, Information Technology, and Administrative Support.
Not only that, but NCIS also has dedicated positions for its special agents to protect high-profile personnel in the Department of the Navy, as well as opportunities for them to deploy on ships in the Special Agent Afloat Program, which no other agency can do. When they’re on these ships, they provide professional investigative, counterintelligence, and force protection support to deployed Navy and Marine Corps commanders. Additionally, NCIS also has its own SWAT teams, known as the Regional Enforcement Action Capabilities Team, or REACT for short, that can respond to high-risk scenarios. Needless to say, there are a plethora of cool opportunities for NCIS special agents.
Since all NCIS special agents are civilians, there’s only one pathway to becoming one. Everyone must go through a lengthy and detailed hiring process, and if hired, they will be required to complete the Criminal Investigator’s Training Program and Special Agent Basic Training Program at FLETC in Glynco, GA.
With NCIS covered, let’s move on to the Army Criminal Investigation Division.
MCIOs: ARMY CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DIVISION (CID)
The U.S. Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, commonly referred to as CID, is an independent federal law enforcement agency consisting of nearly 3,000 personnel that are assigned to 124 locations worldwide. As the name suggests, this agency is tasked with investigating major offenses and crimes that concern the Department of the Army.
MCIOs: CID JURISDICTION AND MISSION
CID’s responsibilities range from felony criminal investigations and operations, war crimes and terrorism investigations, criminal intelligence collection and analysis, cybercrime investigations and operations; multi-dimensional forensic support, and protective service operations for high-profile personnel in the Army. However, unlike its other military law enforcement agency counterparts, Army CID does not have primary counterintelligence responsibilities.
Because of the worldwide breadth of the U.S. Army, it is not uncommon for CID special agents to do their work overseas in combat environments. It maintains its primary investigative responsibilities while also conducting contingency operations and battlefield missions because its mission is the same both inside and outside the battlefield.
MCIOs: CID PERSONNEL AND TRAINING
Army CID Special agents are a mix of civilians and U.S. Army soldiers. The soldiers can be either enlisted or warrant officers, but no commissioned officers are allowed to serve as special agents. However, what’s most interesting about Army CID is its current restructuring. At the time of this blog post, CID has barred all military applications and is strictly hiring civilian special agents. Their overall goal is to have CID structured similarly to NCIS, so much so that two years ago, the head of the CID was changed from an Army General to a Civilian Director. This restructuring was brought into action by recommendations in the Fort Hood Independent Review.
All new CID special agents are now trained at FLETC in Glynco, GA. Trainees will first attend the Criminal Investigator Training Program along with their fellow 1811 partners from various federal agencies and then a 2-month CID-specific training course to familiarize themselves with agency policy and procedure.
With the Army CID covered, let’s move on to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
MCIOs: AIR FORCE OFFICE OF SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS (OSI)
The Air Force Office of Special Investigations, known as OSI for short, is the Department of the Air Force’s military law enforcement agency. Because of the newly formed Space Force, which falls under the Department of the Air Force, OSI is responsible for investigating major offenses and crimes that concern both the Air Force and Space Force. But no, they do not go to space, at least not yet. In fact, its two primary responsibilities are criminal investigations and counterintelligence services.
MCIOs: OSI JURISDICTION AND MISSION
The investigations deal with major crimes that range from espionage, military desertion, terrorism, computer hacking, drug trafficking, and anything else that may undermine the Department of the Air Force. For the counterintelligence side of the house, OSI has a close connection with the Department of Defense Cyber Crime Center, also known as DC3. In a nutshell, DC3 is a specialized team of experts who focus on investigating and preventing cyber crimes and much more.
MCIOs: OSI PERSONNEL AND TRAINING
OSI, much like some of the other military law enforcement agencies, consists of a conglomerate of about 2,000 special agents who are either civilians or military. The military personnel must be in the Air Force and can be either enlisted or officers, active duty or reserve. Since there are no warrant officers in the Air Force, there are no billets for them. Whether the special agent is a civilian or in the military, they will all have the same powers as any other federal special agent.
What’s cool about this too is that enlisted, officer, and civilian agents all train together as agent trainees. After graduation and earning their badge and credentials, they all complete the additional basic education program during their probationary periods at a field unit. They will generally all begin their OSI careers focused on field investigations and general fieldwork, and after the first couple of years, they will begin to follow a more structured career progression consistent with their respective paths. One thing that separates OSI from the other agencies discussed today is the fact that they are commanded by an Air Force general, which means that the environment, culture, and missions will be more heavily influenced by the military as compared to the other agencies.
Additionally, because the Department of the Air Force’s mission extends throughout the world, OSI special agents are combat-ready and can be expected to perform their missions and duties overseas. OSI special agents can be expected to move around a lot during their career, which is why civilian special agents are required to sign a mobility agreement.
Lastly, the training all OSI special agents receive is the 11-week Criminal Investigatory Training Program over at FLETC, followed by a six-week OSI agency-specific coursework curriculum.
With OSI covered, we’re going to quickly go over an honorable mention: the Marine Corps Criminal Investigation Division.
MCIOs: MARINE CORPS CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION DIVISION (MARINE CID)
Although the main military law enforcement agency that oversees the U.S. Marine Corps is NCIS, there is a smaller agency known as the Marine Corps Criminal Investigation Division, or CID for short. Marine CID is a federal law enforcement agency that investigates crimes dealing with the U.S. Marine Corps. Unlike the NCIS, which deals with major crimes and offenses, the Marine CID generally deals with lower-level crimes and misdemeanors, as well as anything the NCIS doesn’t take over. But don’t think that Marine CID special agents don’t also investigate serious crimes; we’re just talking generalizations here.
MCIOs: MARINE CID PERSONNEL AND TRAINING
Marine CID consists of civilian special agents and active-duty Marines who have all received the requisite training to operate as federal special agents. Active duty trainees who are trying to become special agents will get sent to the U.S. Army CID Special Agent Course and receive further on-the-job training, whereas civilian trainees will attend the Criminal Investigative Training Program at FLETC to become special agents. Fun fact: The Marine Corps is known for being the U.S. military branch with the toughest physical fitness standards. Civilian special agents in Marine CID will be required to meet those standards. The more you know!
With Marine CID covered, let’s move on to the last, but certainly not least, military law enforcement agency, the Coast Guard Investigative Service.
MCIOs: THE COAST GUARD INVESTIGATIVE SERVICE (CGIS)
Yes, even the United States Coast Guard has its own military law enforcement agency. The Coast Guard Investigative Service, or CGIS, is the federal law enforcement agency that investigates major crimes that involve the U.S. Coast Guard. As an independent agency overseen by a civilian, it’s located outside the Coast Guard’s operational chain of command, which allows for consistency in investigative policy, procedure, training, and education.
MCIOs: CGIS JURISDICTION AND MISSION
What’s interesting here is that the Coast Guard is unique enough on its own because it falls under the Department of Homeland Security, and not the Department of Defense like the rest of the military branches. Thus, the overall mission of the Coast Guard differs a bit from their military counterparts. Because CGIS’s purview deals with anything in the realm of the Coast Guard, those differences will naturally flow down to them as well. This means that CGIS Special Agents will deal with work revolving around drug trafficking, human trafficking, homeland security stuff, and anything else Coast Guard-related that comes their way. Despite the breadth of the Coast Guard mission and jurisdiction, the CGIS is the smallest of the military law enforcement agencies.
The few that make up the CGIS Special Agents consist of a mixture of civilians, enlisted warrant officers, and commissioned officer Coast Guardsmen. This makes them the only military law enforcement agency that permits every type of military rank to be a special agent. Like all of the other special agents mentioned today, CGIS special agents have arresting power and conduct investigations.
All CGIS special agent trainees attend their initial training at FLETC in Glynco, Georgia before they begin their work as full-blown special agents.
MILITARY CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE ORGANIZATIONS: CONCLUSION
After learning about all of the U.S. military’s federal law enforcement agencies, it's safe to say that there’s a lot of overlap and gray areas when it comes to law enforcement. In fact, law enforcement in the United States can become extremely confusing the more you look into it.
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