Leonard Eric Patterson is currently serving as the Director of the Federal Protective Service. Patterson is also a retired

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

( Special Agent) and was the 14th Commander of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI), Andrews AFB, MD. As the AFOSI Commander, Patterson oversaw AFOSI's worldwide network of military and civilian special agents stationed at major Air Force installations and a variety of special operating locations.

Education

Patterson is a graduate of the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps at Howard University. He holds a Master of Business Administration from

Webster University Webster University is a private university with its main campus in Webster Groves, Missouri. It has multiple branch locations across the United States and countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. It offers undergraduate and graduate programs ...

. Patterson is also a graduate of

Squadron Officer School Squadron Officer School (SOS), is a 5.5-week-long Professional Military Education (PME) course for U.S. Air Force and Space Force Captains, Department of the Air Force Civilian (DAFC) equivalents and International Officers. It fulfills the U.S ...

Air Command and Staff College The Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) is located at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama and is the United States Air Force's intermediate-level Professional Military Education (PME) school. It is a subordinate command of the Air Uni ...

, Marine Corps Command and Staff College, and Air War College.

Military career

Patterson entered the

in 1975 as a missile launch officer. He became an AFOSI special agent in 1979 and commanded AFOSI units at the detachment, squadron and regional levels at numerous stateside and overseas locations. He conducted and supervised a variety of felony-level investigations common to AFOSI, with specialization in counterintelligence and protective service operations as well as oversight of special programs. Prior to his last position as Commander of AFOSI, the general was the Operations Director for AFOSI. Patterson is a native of Washington, D.C. BG L

Assignments

* September 1975 – December 1979, missile launch officer,

Little Rock AFB Little Rock Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately northeast of Little Rock, Arkansas. Little Rock AFB is the primary C-130 Hercules training base for the Department of Defense, training C-130 pilots, navigat ...

, Ark. * December 1979 – October 1980, special agent, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Langley AFB, Va. * October 1980 – October 1982, Commander, AFOSI Detachment 2101, Pope AFB, N.C. * October 1982 – October 1983, Chief of Counterintelligence, Collections and Protective Service Operations, AFOSI District 69,

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

, Turkey * October 1983 – October 1985, Chief, Counterintelligence and Protective Service Operations Policy Branch, Headquarters AFOSI, Washington, D.C. * October 1985 – May 1989, assistant for Security Plans and Programs, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Washington, D.C. * May 1989 – May 1990, Commander, Air Force Element Counterintelligence Support Activity, AFOSI, Honduras * May 1990 – June 1992, Commander, AFOSI Detachment 540, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio * June 1992 – June 1993, student, Air War College,

Maxwell AFB Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force (USAF) installation under the Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. O ...

, Ala. * June 1993 – July 1994, Vice Commander, Air Force Investigative Operations Center,

Bolling AFB Bolling Air Force Base or Bolling AFB was a United States Air Force base in Washington, D.C. In 2010, it was merged with Naval Support Facility Anacostia to form Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling. From its beginning, the installation has hosted elem ...

, Washington, D.C. * July 1994 – June 1996, Director of Security and Special Programs Oversight, Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Washington, D.C. * August 1996 – July 1997, Commander, 52nd Field Investigations Squadron, AFOSI, Ankara, Turkey * July 1997 – July 1999, Commander, 2nd Field Investigations Region, Langley AFB, Va. * July 1999 – May 2001, Director of Operations, Headquarters AFOSI, Andrews AFB, Md. * May 2001 – June 2005, Commander, Headquarters AFOSI, Andrews AFB, Md.

Major awards and decorations

Patterson is the recipient of the following:

Effective dates of promotion

Post-Military Career

After retiring from the U.S. Air Force, Patterson served in a variety of roles, such as a principal with Booz Allen Hamilton and Deputy Director of the Defense Counterintelligence and HUMINT Center at the

Defense Intelligence Agency The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is an intelligence agency and combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense, specializing in defense and military intelligence. A component of the Department of Defense (DoD) and the I ...

(DIA), where he directed and conducted counterintelligence and human intelligence activities worldwide to meet the

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philippin ...

requirements. In 2010, Patterson was appointed Director of the Federal Protective Service (FPS), which is a subcomponent of the

National Protection and Programs Directorate The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that is responsible for strengthening cybersecurity and infrastructure protection across all levels of government, ...

(NPPD), and continues to work there serving his country.

References

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, L. Eric Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Air Command and Staff College alumni Air War College alumni United States Department of Homeland Security United States Department of Homeland Security officials United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations United States Air Force generals Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States) Squadron Officer School alumni Webster University alumni