The Department of Defense’s Inspector General (DoDIG) is appointed by the President or by the agency heads, who are themselves appointed by the President. The DoDIG is supposed to operate independently of the Department of Defense to prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse through audits and investigations. The DOD’s Inspector General is in charge of keeping the department head and the Congress informed about agency problems and deficiencies. The Inspector General is considered a watchdog for Congress concerning the performance within the DoD.

The Office of Inspector General is in charge of monitoring the activities of the internal audit, inspection, and investigating units of the military departments, with the goal of avoiding duplication and insuring effective coordination and cooperation. 

The Inspector General Act of 1978 was the foundation of the office of inspector general and was created to look over the entire Department of Defense. The office was actually created by the 1983 DOD Authorization Act. The DoDIG is equivalent to other cabinet level inspector general offices and provides Congress with oversight of the uniformed Services and their respective inspector general systems.

The Office of Inspector General is organized into six main offices:

• Deputy Inspector General for Auditing - Duties are acquisitions and contract management, Defense Financial Auditing Service and operations support. Also performs the primary internal audit functions of the office of Inspector General within the Secretary of Defense, joint Chief of Staff, the United and Specified Commands, Military Departments and the Defense agencies. Audit coverage involves: allegations of fraud, waste and mismanagement, DoD hotline complaints, information in alleged violations of law, rule or regulations, information on alleged danger to public health and safety, matters involving economy and efficiency in DoD operations, contracts and programs, financial audits as well as cooperative projects within the DoD and governmental audit and inspection.
• Office of Communications and Congressional Liaisons - Duties are to keep the Congress and senior DoD personnel fully and currently informed of significant problems, innovative alternatives and the status of any improvement efforts associated with programs and operations of the department. 
• Deputy Inspector General for Investigations - Includes the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Military Reprisal Investigations and the Investigations of Senior Officials.
• Deputy Inspector General for Policy and Oversight - Provides oversight and policy for audit and investigative activities within DoD. This office conducts inspections and evaluations, provides technical, statistical, and quantitative advice and support for the Office of Inspector General. Their main goal is to provide oversight and policy support to the DoD and conduct assessments to Improve DoD programs and operations.
• Deputy Inspector General for Intelligence - Duties include: auditing, evaluation, monitoring and reviewing DoD programs, policies, procedures and functions of the intelligence community, as well as special access programs and nuclear security issues within the DoD.
• Office of Administration and Management - Their duties are to promote efficiency and productivity within the programs of DoD and to provide efficient, effective and courteous administrative support and services.    

With whistleblower protection, military members now have the option of directly contacting their Military Inspector General or reporting their complaints to the DoDIG Director for military reprisal investigations through the defense hotline. The DoDIG website includes a link where

complaints

of mismanagement, fraud, waste and authority abuse can be made. DoDIG also has a defense hotline where complaints can made, (800) 424-9098 or an email complaint can be sent to

this address

.

Inspector General Claude M. Kicklighter has refused to investigate Halliburton/KBR on gang-rape allegations made by former employee Jaime Leigh Jones. Jones reported that she had been gang-raped by her co-workers at Halliburton while working in Baghdad. Kicklighter, as well as other members of the Bush Administration, has reportedly been uncooperative throughout the investigation. Lawmakers, including Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator Bill Nelson, have been pushing the administration to reveal why an earlier investigation had not led to any prosecution. When Nelson asked Kicklighter to look into the matter, Kicklighter responded that “no further investigation by this agency into the allegations made by Jones is warranted.” Some suspect that the Inspector General has not taken the initiative to look into this case because of the possibility that Jones’ assault may not be an isolated case.

Pentagon Won't Probe KBR Rape Charges: DoD IG Says the Justice Dept. Is Still Investigating the Alleged Gang-Rape

(by Justin Rood, ABC News)

Mick Kicklighter

The Fall of a Dot-Com: Blinded by Net fever, big-name investors poured millions into Craig Winn's chaotic Value America

(by John A. Byrne, Business Week)

After more than three years as Inspector General, Joseph Schmitz resigned in September 2005 to become chief operation officer and general counsel for the Prince Group, which owns the security contractor Blackwater Worldwide.