An Overview of Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO)

On April 1 retired Lieutenant Colonel Roger S. Dong will share an overview of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO), a non-profit, non-partisan organization founded in 1975 to address criticism of the U.S. intelligence community from the media and Congress. The AFIO has about 5,000 members in 24 active chapters. While full membership is limited to current and former U.S. intelligence officers, it also offers an "associate" membership to the general public if an individual supports its principles and abides by its code of ethics.

The AFIO is registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charity and its primary mission is educating the public.

Retired Lieutenant Colonel Roger S. Dong has had a most unusual career with the United States Air Force. He spent 38 years in the military as an intelligence officer and China specialist, serving all over Asia, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and Singapore. 

While it is unusual for someone to serve more than 25 years in the military who is not a senior General, Lt. Colonel Dong’s skills were in high demand. He is very competent in several Chinese dialects and Japanese so immediately after his official retirement, he was called back to serve as defense attaché in Taiwan, giving up the job of CEO of a computer company to serve again. 

In recognition for his successful intelligence efforts, the Secretary of Defense, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, and Director of the Central Intelligence all awarded him the highest awards for exceptional performance.  He did not serve undercover but openly interviewed many knowledgeable sources of valuable and relevant information to prepare all his intelligence reports.

In retirement, he continues as a journalist and publishes several newsletters every week. He has previously served as the Commander of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (AFIO) and will be returning to manage the AFIO in the weeks ahead.  Roger has also been very active in the American Legion where he has been a Post Commander and once managed their monthly newsletter rated the top newsletter in the American Legion.