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The Department of Defense Whistleblower Program in the United States is a whistleblower protection program within the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) whereby DoD personnel are trained on whistleblower rights. The Inspector General's commitment fulfills, in part, the federal mandate to protect whistleblowers. It also administers the Defense Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Program (DICWP), as a sub-mission for the intelligence community.〔Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Defense, Semiannual Report to the Congress (2009).〕 The Inspector General's Defense Criminal Investigative Service also conducts criminal investigations which rely, in part, on Qui Tam relators. ==Recent history== Whistleblowers disclose acts of illegality, fraud, waste, and abuse This can prevent government failure in the future.〔Marie Gilbert, "(Hagerstown man one of 34 finalists for the 2011 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals )", ''The Herald-Mail'' (Hagerstown, Maryland), 27 August 2011.〕 But whistleblowers can then be targeted for retaliation, "smeared as traitors, turncoats and liars by their superiors and suffer harassment, punishment or firing".〔 The Department of Defense Whistleblower Program is increasingly focused on disclosures which will aid in resolving the United States' national security threat due to fiscal failure: In 2009, the Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Defense targeted the Whistleblower Protection Program as a top priority. For more than 20 years, the DoD IG has investigated whistleblower reprisal allegations involving the Department’s military members, civilian employees, and Defense contractor employees. Through informational articles, posters, and briefings, the DoD IG significantly increased public awareness of whistleblower programs. It also provided information to Members of Congress regarding legislation able to strengthen whistleblower protections. Amendments to the statutes have broadened their application and expanded the protections for whistleblowers. Although multiple laws cover employees in different categories, there is a common thread running through each federal whistleblower statute enforced by the Inspector General. Congress entrusted the DoD IG with either conducting or overseeing inquiries and investigations into whistleblower reprisal allegations.〔Office of the Inspector General, U.S. Department of Defense (April 1, 2009 - September 1, 2009) at (13 ).〕 The DoD IG commits itself to ensuring that whistleblower protection programs succeed in training DoD personnel regarding whistleblower rights. This offers a deterrent to potential reprisors by ensuring prompt and thorough investigation into alleged violations. It also provides a remedy to those who have been reprised against. Timeliness of investigations is a continuing challenge because of the complexity of reprisal situations, but the DoD IG states it is determined to become the benchmark for timely, high-quality investigations while fostering an environment within the DoD where employees are encouraged to come forward to “blow the whistle” on fraud, waste, and abuse. During the first half of FY 2010, DoD IG closed 432 cases involving whistleblower reprisal and senior official misconduct. The case substantiation rate for full investigations of reprisal allegations was 20 percent and 15 percent for investigations of senior official misconduct. Highlights include the following: * A 54 percent increase in staffing (authorized in May 2009) is producing results with respect to reduced investigation cycle time and is also providing for surge capability in high-profile cases requiring quick resolution; * Nearly 40 percent of senior official cases and 33 percent of civilian reprisal cases were of interest to the Congress and the Secretary of Defense; the majority of military reprisal cases involving congressional interest were answered by the service IGs; * Investigators received training in policy and procedures governing newly granted IG authorization to issue testimonial subpoenas; * The Military Reprisal Investigations Directorate is in the process of implementing 12 recommendations made by the DoJ OIG, in its July 2009 report entitled “A Review of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General’s Process for Handling Military Whistleblower Reprisal Allegations”, including additional staffing, improved policies and procedures, communications with complainants and service IGs, and obtaining authorizations for dedicated training staff; * A RAND study was recently completed that was co-sponsored with the Office of Under Secretary of Defense (Personnel and Readiness) that reviewed processes for reporting adverse information in support of the OSD senior uniformed officer nomination process.〔Inspector General of the United States, Semiannual Report to the Congress (Oct. 1, 2009 - March 31, 2010) at (37 ).〕 The DoD IG is committed to the objective and timely resolution of each (reprisal complaint ). During 2011, DCIS reviewed 138 qui tam referrals that resulted in 56 investigations. Highlights include: * On March 23, 2012, it was announced that Lifewatch Services would resolve allegations of fraud against the company by paying an $18.5 million civil settlement. * American Grocers, Inc. case resulting in a $13.2 million return. * Boeing case resulting in a $25 million return. * Northrop Grumman case resulting in a $325 million return to the federal government. On February 25, 2011, the inspector general released its most recent report of investigation involving defense intelligence community employees. The report was the ninth case in a series of oversight actions beginning in 2004. This line of investigations was a cooperative effort with the inspectors general of the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency to provide whistleblower protection to members of the intelligence and counterintelligence communities. DoD IG currently has five cases of alleged reprisal against civilian employees of the intelligence community engaged in national intelligence work and ten cases of alleged reprisal against civilians engaged in military intelligence work. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Department of Defense Whistleblower Program」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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