Du Quoin Man Air Force's Top Special Agent
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ For headline purposes, the word "agent" simply fits the space.
Yet, for one of Du Quoin's favorite sons--OSI investigations and counterintelligence special agent Jeffrey Williams--how he has lived his life fits the American dream.
The United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) is honoring Jeffrey Williams--son of the late Burt and Gwen Williams and brother to Patty James and Jerry Williams--by inducting him into its Hall of Fame at OSI's annual dinner April 16th.
The OSI shares the nation's security responsibilities with the nation's top military and armed services agencies like the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Williams gave his all to a country he loved during his 23 years as a career officer in the United State Air Force, serving 17 of them as a special agent for the OSI.
OSI has the highest reverence for Williams, who grew up in Du Quoin sacking groceries and stocking shelves at the old Kroger store flourished alongside the old Duncan & Fry Furniture Co. building--now city hall.
His parents lived with son Jeffrey's constant cadence-- "I'm going to be a spy."
You will remember that it was Williams and brother-in-law Lonnie James in recent years (2005) who were credited with solving the Pinckneyville family kidnapping case of Taylor Hill.
Hill was only one-year-old when she was abducted by her non-custodial father, Arlen Hill,
Williams' keen intuition turned what on any other day would have been a chance game of billiards in a Manila pool hall into Taylor's return to her birth mother and the arrest and prosecution of her father. Arlen Hill had gone so far as to tell his four-year-old daughter--now eight--that her mother was dead.
It's a story that all began with Williams, 60, who says growing up playing pool at one of his favorite haunts--a pool hall at the corner of West Main and North Walnut Street--provided the common hobby which allowed the two men to meet in a Manila pool hall.
Who would have thought that Williams would ever have met Hill in a Manila pool hall or that Williams' brother-in-law, Lonnie James, would have connected the dots for Williams and Perry County authorities?
Even before the Taylor Hill affair, Jeff's service as a special agent in the United States Air Force and later security manager for 14 Pinkerton Security USA offices in Asia made his brother Jerry and sister Patty James very proud.
In retirement, Williams is now president and managing director of Orion Support Incorporated (OSI)--borrowing from his heritage of acronyms-- a commercial investigative and security consulting firm established in Manila in 2001. In 1992, Jeff retired from the U.S. Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI) after a 23-year career as a special agent, conducting hundreds of criminal, fraud and counterintelligence investigations, worldwide; as well as serving as a counterespionage case officer in various worldwide locations that included Berlin, Germany. In 1984, he was assigned to the Philippines as the Commander, OSI, U.S. Embassy. He specialized in working joint investigative and security matters, Philippines-wide, with the Philippine National Police (PNP), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP,) Philippine Customs, Immigration and other investigative agencies. He was recognized for thwarting a number of hostile threat attempts on life and property in high risk areas of the Philippines and in 1991, was awarded the Bronze Cross Medal from the Philippine National Police for bravery in joint activities in Northern Luzon. His main area of expertise while with OSI in the Philippines was as a counterterrorism officer at the U.S. Embassy focused on joint operations with the Philippine government against the Islamic Jihad, New People's Army, Communist Party of the Philippines, Moro National and Islamic Liberation Fronts.
Additionally, he was cited for commanding the Outstanding Worldwide OSI Office of the Year in 1986 at the U.S. Embassy in Manila during the Philippines' "Peoples Power" revolution and was also recognized as the Worldwide Counterintelligence Collector / Liaison Officer of the Year in 1987 for the entire U.S. Department of Defense.
These are the words of United States Air Force Brig. General Dana Simmons.
"It is my distinct pleasure to announced our Hall of Fame inductee for 2008--special agent Jeffrey Williams. During his 23 years with the Air Force, 17 of which were spent with OSI, he clearly distinguished himself through superior service. During the 17 years Williams spent with OSI, he excelled as a counterespionage case officer. He developed plans, programs and strategies designed to neutralize offensive efforts by hostile intelligence agencies to target USAF personnel, resources and operations. Special agent Williams also developed significant liaison resources and operations among allied police and intelligence agencies where he collected timely information regarding the terrorist threat to the USAF and the Department of Defense. Please join me in congratulating special agent Jeff Williams."