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- The Free Lance-Star, Fredericksburg, Virginia, May 11, 2011
Donald A. Bassett
Donald Allen Bassett, 72, of Warsaw died Monday, May 9, 2011, at Henrico Doctors' Hospital.
Mr. Bassett had served in the U.S. Air Force and was a retired FBI special agent. He was a member of the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI and an endowment member of the NRA. He held a master's degree in crisis management.
Survivors include his wife of 50 years, Molly Bassett; his children, Kitty Haynes and her husband, Daniel, Deborah Bassett and Sheri Cooke and her husband, Bryan; his father, Edwin B. Bassett; his sister, Linda Haggard; and four grandchildren who called him "Sir."
A memorial service will be held at 8:30 a.m., Thursday, May 12, at Covenant Funeral Service, Stafford Chapel. Interment will follow in Quantico National Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in his name to the Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation Inc., 10 Rockefeller Plaza, Suite 1007, New York, N.Y.
10020.
Online guest book is at covenantfuneralservice.com.
Don Bassett spent over twenty-three years as a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, retiring in 1988. After initial service as a criminal investigator in the field, Don was transferred to the FBI Academy at Quantico, VA as a firearms and defensive tactics instructor. While assigned to the Firearms Unit he created and managed the Law Enforcement Combat Arts Research Program and was a cofounder and deputy manager of the FBI's Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Program. He later served as manager of the FBI SWAT Program, which became part of the Special Operations and Research Staff (SOARS) in 1980. From 1983 until his retirement Don was responsible for the FBI's Crisis Management Program, which was tasked with preparing senior FBI managers and their staffs for managing critical incidents. During his FBI career Don instructed and trained with special operations and counter-terror forces from around the world. As a member of the FBI Academy's SWAT cadre, Don helped pioneer the design of modern hostage rescue and counter-skyjacking tactics, and was a key architect of the FBI Hostage Rescue Team concept. He was also a founding member of "The Free Agents" a musical group comprised of FBI Special Agents who entertained audiences at the FBI Academy for over twenty years, and who continue to perform to raise funds to benefit children who are victims of crime. Prior to his FBI career Don saw service as a U.S. Air Force pilot in Vietnam, the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Dominican Republic, attaining the rank of captain before honorable discharge in 1965.
After his retirement, Don helped found the Academy Group, a forensic behavioral science and crisis management firm located in Manassas, VA, and served as one of its associate directors. He is also a cofounder and former chairman of the Critical Incident Analysis Group (CIAG) at the University of Virginia -- an organization which has served in an advisory capacity to the FBI since 1995. Don currently serves on the executive board of the National Center for Critical Incident Analysis at the National Defense University.
Currently self-employed as a forensic and law enforcement consultant, Don holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Tennessee and a Master of Science degree in Conflict Management from George Mason University. Don and his wife, Molly, who reside in Reedville, VA, have three daughters, two granddaughters and a grandson.
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Bassett Family Association Database
Abt 1939 - 2011 (72 years)