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Aviation
The
present DEA aviation program represents an evolutionary process started
in early 1971 when the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs acquired
its first aircraft. Over the next few years, additional aircraft were
acquired from the U.S. military, and the aviation program was made part
of the Special Projects Division. Management of the aviation resources
came under the direction of a chief pilot, who utilized experienced special
agents as pilots, which gave the program the expertise necessary to perform
a wide range of enforcement missions that would be impossible with the
use of civilian pilots.
Upon the
creation of DEA in 1973, the aviation program consisted of 24 aircraft
and 41 special agents/pilots. The program continued to grow; and in 1994,
the Aviation Section was granted field division status and renamed the
Office of Aviation Operations (OA). The chief pilot was redesignated special
agent in charge and the two deputy chief pilots became assistant special
agents in charge. Today, OA has 106 aircraft and 124 special agent pilots.
Further
evidence of the expansion and importance of the OA to the DEA's enforcement
mission is the move to new facilities at Ft. Worth, Texas, Alliance Airport
in February 1994. The new facility, known as the Aviation Operations Center,
is the primary maintenance facility for the Office of Aviation fleet of
aircraft, and headquarters to OA's supervisory and administrative personnel,
as well as contractor personnel.
OA provides aviation
support to domestic offices throughout the United States, High Intensity
Drug Trafficking Areas, Special Enforcement Operations, Mobile Enforcement
Teams, the Southwest Border Initiative and the National Marijuana Eradication
Strategy. These operations consist of air-to-ground, air-to-water, air-to-air,
electronic surveillance, and photographic reconnaissance.
OA
has Posts of Duty located in Peru, Colombia, Bolivia, Mexico, Puerto Rico,
and the Bahamas. These country offices, as well as other offices in Central
and South America, are supported in operations involving enforcement and
logistical missions to include air-to-ground surveillance, overflights,
photographic reconnaissance, diplomatic missions, rapid deployment of
personnel and equipment, expeditious removal of fugitives from foreign
countries, over-water surveillance and search for suspect vessel activity,
and medical evacuation.
The DEA's pilots
are experienced special agents, as well as highly qualified aviators.
Their dedication to law enforcement and OA's internal network of support
and cooperation provide numerous advantages to DEA. OA has evolved into
an international support entity upon which a high percentage of DEA initiatives
have become dependent.
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