Failure Not an Option: A Cold War Memoir from Nuclear Crisis to Senior Federal Law Enforcement Officer by Bob Hicks, a memoir spanning 43 years of high-stakes national security service, offers readers a revealing look into the hidden world of military law enforcement. While the book charts Hicks’s extraordinary rise from a low-ranking airman managing a nuclear crisis to a Senior Federal Law Enforcement Officer, one of the most compelling chapters details his perilous, multi-year undercover assignment with the FBI to dismantle a network supplying faulty, life-threatening parts to U.S. defense programs.
The Stakes of the Investigation: Protecting the Air Force Fleet
The memoir pivots halfway through to detail Hicks’s transition to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI), the premier federal law enforcement and counterintelligence agency for the Air Force and Space Force. The agency’s mandate extends beyond traditional military police work, focusing heavily on criminal and fraud investigations that threaten the integrity and safety of the nation’s defense assets.
Hicks found himself immediately immersed in a high-priority, joint task force. The defense industry was, by the illegal profit motive, the case of unwarranted aircraft safety through the deliberate provision of inferior and defective parts. These parts, sometimes vital to the control of the aircraft, performance of the engines, and the integrity of the whole structure, created an immediate and disastrous risk to the U.S. airmen. The probe was not only a matter of recovering the public money; for pilots and ground personnel all over the world it was a question of life and death.
“When you put a uniform on, you expect to face threats from outside the wire. It’s far harder to confront those who are actively profiting from putting our service members in danger here at home,” Hicks notes in the memoir. “Every faulty bolt, every compromised sensor, could mean a father or mother doesn’t come home. My job, alongside the FBI, was to expose that corruption and shut it down before another tragedy occurred.”
Three Years Undercover: The Joint OSI-FBI Operation
Hicks discusses immense operation problems and the very severe psychological effects of assuming a false identity for three years. It was a covert operation that required total synchronization of the OSI and FBI, and it also involved Hicks’s in-depth understanding of Air Force maintenance, logistics, and supply chains which he had gained during his 23 years of active-duty service.
The joint force managed to get into the contractor network and slowly but surely collected the evidence that was absolutely necessary for federal prosecution. This lengthy investigation took a lot of time, was very difficult, and required patience and meticulous attention to detail at high levels, as well as a total commitment to the cover that was the author’s professional standard.
“The undercover preparation is very detailed. You must live the lie perfectly, every single day, for years. There’s no room for error, especially when the target is sophisticated corporate fraud,” Hicks explains. “My success was only possible because of the incredible support and training provided by both the OSI and the FBI agents I worked with. We relied on each other entirely, knowing that our actions would ultimately save lives and restore integrity to the defense contract system.”
A Career Defined by Protecting National Security
The memoir confirms that the undercover operation was one of many high-stakes missions that defined Hicks’s subsequent two decades as a Senior Federal Law Enforcement Officer.
His tenure at the OSI involved confronting threats across the operational spectrum:
- Counter-Terrorism Responses: Hicks was one of the crisis management experts who handled the international events like the tragic Ramstein bombing and the difficult administration of the Dozier kidnapping crisis in Germany, and thus his capabilities were demonstrated by these incidents.
- Major Fraud and Financial Recovery: Subsequently, as the highest-ranking civilian Special Agent in Charge, Hicks took the lead in large-scale fraud investigations which exposed huge corporate wrongdoings in relation to the B-2 Stealth Bomber and the Titan missile system among other critical assets. These cases were not only important for recovering hundreds of millions of dollars for the taxpayers but also for strengthening the government’s bond to fiscal and ethical accountability.
- The Final Call: The immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks marked the end of his career and during that time, Hicks was a central figure in the coordination of the national security ground responses which required the application of his entire forty years of experience at one of the most challenging times in the history of the nation.
Failure Not an Option delivers a compelling narrative about a man who repeatedly stepped up when failure was not an option, whether faced with a nuclear mishap or internal corruption. It is a mandatory read for those interested in the Cold War era, the mechanics of federal law enforcement, and the personal sacrifices behind national security. The book leaves no doubt why Bob Hicks’s commitment, integrity, and operational success earned him one of the highest honors in his field.
About the Author
A native Texan, Bob Hicks served forty years in national security and federal law enforcement. He began as an Airman, rising to Chief Master Sergeant in Nuclear Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Disposal during the Cold War. Transitioning to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (OSI), he became a Senior Agent overseeing major fraud cases, served undercover combating terrorism in Germany, and recovered hundreds of millions in stolen funds. His distinguished career culminated with induction into the OSI Hall of Fame in 2013. Now retired in New Braunfels, he enjoys time with his family and remains active in his church.
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