The Business of National Security
While serving in the United States Air Force, L. Eric Patterson was introduced to the world of intelligence. “It intrigued me,†the 59-year-old says of the work he did with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, which conducts criminal investigations and counterintelligence inquiries. “You’re always chasing bad guys.†Patterson retired from the Air Force as a brigadier general in 2005 and took a job with consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, providing support to the Department of Defense. Three years later he received a call about an opening at the Defense Intelligence Agency. “I loved Booz Allen, but as a contractor, I just wasn’t part of the fight,†Patterson says.