A 28-year veteran of the United States Air Force, the retired Colonel Gene Jordan has some stories. Some of them can’t get into too much thanks to his extensive work with the OSI (Office of Special Investigations). The agency, founded in 1948, is a federal law enforcement division that works to recognize, investigate, and defuse criminal, terrorist, and intelligence threats to the Air Force and Department of Defense.
Jordan says he spent most of his career in the counterintelligence world. In that time, Jordan saw Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh up close and also worked a case that would later be made into a TV movie involving Air Force cadets David Graham and Diane Zamora. He also was subject to an annual polygraph and got tossed from Russia as part of a tit-for-tat during one of his several deployments.
I was leaving Russia and I was detained. I was accused of collecting intelligence on behalf of the U.S. government. I wasn’t. I was on a mission over there running the counterintelligence program with DTRA (Defense Threat Reduction Agency). I knew it would be my only chance to see Russia. As I was leaving Moscow, I was detained at the train station, declared persona non grata, and therefore basically expelled from Russia. I didn’t realize that [President] Clinton had expelled a Russian diplomat in December. I was one of those tit-for-tat expulsions.
Jordan’s military career spanned from the end of the Vietnam conflict to the beginning of the war on terrorism. Other stops included Iceland, Honduras, and Korea. Jordan also spent time working forensics and detailed some of his experiences in the field.
Asked what he’d tell an 18-year-old that’s enlisted with the U.S. Air Force (CWCHS Senior Chloe Veatch was in attendance with the Key Club), Jordan’s pride in his service showed through.
Go for it. It was the smartest thing I ever did. I would choose the Air Force over the other services. We’re four services separated by a common language. You tell a soldier to secure that building, he’ll lob artillery shells on it until that building’s gone. You tell a Marine, he’ll assault it and hold it until the last man. You tell a sailor, he’ll turn off the lights and lock the door. You tell an airman to secure the building, he’ll take out a 3-year lease with an option to buy. The Air Force is a much more intellectual service. I’m not knocking the others, but it’s a higher proficiency of people in the Air Force.
These days, Jordan stays active with the local VFW and the funeral honors team. He enjoys playing golf and helping as needed at his son Jeremy Jordan’s family funeral home. Jordan also did a series of interviews with ten World War II veterans that’s been submitted to the Smithsonian.