Has been earned through the service and sacrifice of millions of brave men and women. One byproduct of this reputation is that the military and its leaders are held to a much higher standard than almost any other institution. Standard than almost any other institution. I know that you would never have it any other way. Consequently, the misconduct of a few can greatly impact the reputation of the military. The negative effects are greater. These incidences of senior misconduct, even though relatively rare, not only hurt the victims but can have a Lasting Impact on the readiness of a unit. Of seniorincident leader misconduct is too many, it is important to acknowledge that the vast majority of Senior Leaders serve with distinction. It is also important to a knowledge that some of the acts that the military , would not be investigated or punished in the civilian world. We need to ensure that our Senior Leaders uphold the highest standard of ethical conduct. We will hear from two panels today. The first panel consists of the department of defense and Services Inspector general. They will discuss the reporting and investigation of Senior Leader misconduct in addition to the types of cases they investigate. For the second panel, we are honored to have the vice chiefs of the army, navy, and air force along with the assistant, ron of the marine corps. They will discuss what happens to those investigations if they are substantiated, how they hold accountability, and divide an overview. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses about ethics and mentorship programs in place to prevent misconduct. I am also interested in hearing how the organization holds wrongdoers accountable. Lastly, i would like to know in regards developed to the issues that are being reported and investigated. Hearing i look for to what additional actions can be taken to further reduce incidences of leader misconduct. I would like to make two other points. First, the department of defenses common definition of a Senior Leader includes anybody 07 and above. For the purposes of todays hearing, inconsistent with the jurisdiction of this subcommittee, the witnesses have been asked to focus on misconduct by senior military officers in the rank of 07 sele ct and above. I would also like to remind the members that the Witnesses Today may not be able to answer certain questions regarding specific cases if the answer would compromise an ongoing investigation. Before i introduce our first panel, let me offer the Ranking Member an opportunity to make her opening remarks. Thank you mr. Chairman. Thank you all for being here today and for your service to our country. One of the core tenets of the Armed Services and of our country is that no one is above the law. Recruits to the Senior Officers, they are all subject to the same laws and same as the goal code of conduct. Code ethical code of conduct. Saysthere is a saying that different spanks for different ranks. Areveryday troops courtmartialed for what a general marshall is given a slap on the wrist. It is with great sorrow and anger that i have read countless reports of misconduct from Senior Leaders including general officers and admirals. This is borne out from the data. Paged on page 66 of an 88 report on, management challenges. 13 e is a finding of increase of complaints filed to Senior Leaders misconduct. Acrease in substantiated increase. The most common allegations include improper relationships, and proper personnel actions, misuse of governmental resources , and trouble violations. In my time, ive heard the importance of command. Many Senior Leaders who should be the essential core of the chain of command, are not being held by the same standard as the rank and file. This corrupts fairness, justice, and. To demonstrate the severity, i want to highlight my cases of Senior Leader misconduct from the last two years. As you will see, the Senior Leaders committed serious crimes and received only light administrative not judicial punishments. Most got no public scrutiny until journalists inquired of other cases. Had anor general inappropriate relationship with a woman. He lied to investigators about it. Dempseyr him, general removed the substantiated account of an inappropriate relationship from custards record. How do you do that . The review board could only consider lesser charges. Andard retired at a rank kept his pension. He retired at rank and kept his pension. The public only knows about this incident because a whistleblower told usa today. Second, air force general arthur was alleged to have coor state sex from eight so bored and it coerced sex from a 20082009. From demotedthe victim was but not for command rate. It was for an inappropriate sexual relationship. Another major assaulted a woman at an offbase event. For this he received a letter. The public learned about this nine months after it happened following a request. Another generals exploits earned him the nickname, swinging general. Yeareen 11 your affair. As punishment, he was reprimanded and retired as Lieutenant General. Make no mistake, not all misconduct is sexual. At west point, super intended general plan to make his staff othert it dinners and events. The ig report was kept secret for more than a year. Hewas only released as neared retirement. These are just five stories out of an estimated 500 since 2013. They do not even include criminal misconduct. 60 current admirals are under investigation for accepting bribes and gifts. An 18,000m included dinner. Others included a 60,000 state in a hotel. Sometimes, these bribes and gives were given in exchange for revealing classified information. Substandard. Based on the dod Inspector Generals own data, it is clear that the Current System of deterrence is not working. In todays hearing, i want to hear from all of our panels. In the case of the Inspector General, how are they working to increase accountability . In the case of the chiefs, what are they doing to combat criminal behavior and corruption . I look for to hearing from our witnesses. We will give each witness the opportunity to present his or her testimony. Each member has an opportunity to question for five minutes. Your written comments and statements will be made in part of the hearing record. Let me welcome our first panel. General. T admiral. General harriss. Eneral david thank you for inviting me to regarding testified senior official misconduct. In my written statement, i dodribed have how the investigates seniorlevel misconduct. In addition, i provide theistics and trends on number of misconduct complaints, the types of misconduct, the number of investigations, the timeliness of investigations, and substantiation rates. I also provide additional statistics for particular types of misconduct. Allegations of retaliation and reprisal by senior officials against whistleblowers. I would like to highlight a few key points from that statement. First, i believe it is important to recognize that the best geordie of senior officials best majority of senior officials perform their jobs with integrity. From my experience from over two years performing the duties of the Inspector General, only every small percentage fail to uphold their positions. However, some do commit misconduct. When they do, they need to be held accountable. We seek to investigate allegations of misconduct in a thorough, fair, and professional way. Shows, the data i present that there was a significant increase in the number of complaint. Since then, the number of complaints has been steady. During the state same. Overall the number of senior official cases with any findings of substantiation substantiated misconduct rose from 40 to 85 but has declined since then. However, i want to make clear that any misconduct by a senior official is unacceptable. What a types of allegations involve a broad range of misconduct, the allegations primarily felt within five main data gores. Categories. Within these categories, there are several areas of particular concern. There are a number of allegations about inappropriate relationships. Fourth, the dod also has a investigative arm criminal investigative arm to handle those allegations. Investigative armcurrently, the francis. Leonard to navyided services ships in the pacific. France has orchestrated a scheme to defraud the army. France has accomplished this criminal conduct by systematically grooming and bribing civilian employees. Today, 17 former navy members have pleaded guilty. In addition, in 2017, nine former officials were indicted for conspiracy, bribery, and false. Statements that case is ongoing. My written statement discusses measures that have been implemented to further improve investigations of misconduct. To standardize investigations, we are working to implement a standardized Case Management database. To ensure compliance with laws and regulations, and to share best practices, we have begun conducting Quality Assessment reviews of the service igs. Dodromote fairness, the provides subjects the opportunity to comment on the accuracy of our findings. Transparency, the dod considers proactive public release of our substantiated reports, particularly with those involving misconduct and highlevel officials. We have also reallocated resources to increase the number of investigators working on misconduct and whistleblower. However, handling the increasing complexity, requires adequate resources. In conclusion, the dod has a challenging but critically Important Mission to investigate allegations of misconduct thoroughly. Towill continue to seek fulfill that important responsibility. Thank you. Thank you the opportunity to testify on Senior Leader misconduct. Thank you for your support of our soldiers and veterans. The army holds its Senior Leaders to the highest standards. Is trust and confidence rooted in our character and credibility. We do acknowledge that part problems exist. Decade, the agency substantiated allegations against only 3 of the general officer population. While recent headlines give the appearance of widespread misbehavior, the truth is most transgressions are technical violations committed by a very small minority. The most common involves misuse of Government Resources. Substantiated allegations for inappropriate inappropriate relationships or misconduct involved less than 1 of general officers. The small fraction of Senior Leaders does not represent the Honorable Service and character of the general officer corps. Whistleblower reprisal remains the number one allegation. Rate is 4 . Iation thegnificant factor is misuse of the missile lower whistleblower reprisal process. This occurs when a soldier is held accountable or misconduct or poor performance. Following a protective communication. The resulting claim of reprisal creates challenges for senior commanders who hold people accountable. In the last three years, whistleblower reprisal has basically had a sixfold increase and is out of control. The vast majority of the 685 officers are doing the right thing. Pastositive trend over the five years has been a 51 reduction in the number of general officer substantiating to 15 inm 32 in 2015 2018. An appropriate political activities, nonfederal entities involvement, conflicts of interest and improper those who do not are held accountable. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee thank you for the continued support of our soldiers and veterans. Thank you general for your testimony. Admiral, you are now recognized. You for having us here today to discuss Senior Leader misconduct and the opportunity to explain our process. Inthe navy, we take pride living up to our values. Levels ofthe highest conduct from our leaders. We will hold our people accountable when they do not meet our high standards. To be clear, there must be a violation. There is a process in place in many offices that handle this range of violations. Our role is to conduct administrative investigations, not criminal. , we we receive complaints will open investigations on credible investigate allegations of misconduct. The investigation process is clear, deliberate and fair. Our investigators are highly play trained professionals. Strive to produce ever more timely reports without sacrificing professional due diligence. Our investigators received lots of oversight from our directors to our reviews. At the end of our investigation, all reports go to the secretary of the navy. If any allegation is substantiated, we submit a request that the appropriate action be taken. Recordsl remain in the for the entirety of their career. [inaudible] conclusion, our process helps in creating ethical behavior in our department. Thank you vice admiral. Lieutenant general your now recognized. Thank you for your invitation to testify before you today. As the air force invested Inspector General, i am responsible to inspect, investigate, and report to the secretary of the air force on the readiness, economy, efficiency, and discipline of our force. With the air force core values of integrity first, i take special pride in ensuring our airmen live up to those. Values misconduct euros the trust in our service and the trust of our country. Your air force is committed to the development of ethical airmen leaders and we are equally determined to provide accountability when standards are violated. The top three categories of violation we have seen in the past five years navy generally characterized as ethics violations, and proper handling of personal matters, and professional relationships, in that order. Every complaint against a senior officer is diligently acted upon. Our cases are investigated by an independent team, augmented by embedded attorneys. An air force senior officer investigation is independent, thorough, impartial, objective, and we are careful to meet all legal requirements. This important work of ensuring accountability in our most Senior Leaders promotes the discipline, efficiency, and economy of our force. Process in conducting senior officer investigation includes multiple layers of internal review, with every investigation receiving a separate and independent legal review signed by the administrator of law or the air force. Upon completion of each investigation, the department of defense provides an oversight reveal, as was mentioned. Investigations with substantiated allegations are preferred to the appropriate command authority to determine what disciplinary action is warranted. My debbie and i use a variety of venues and products my deputy and i use a variety of venues and products. It is vital that we not only investigate complaints against officers, but reduce incidents of misconduct by officers. I very much appreciate the committees continuing support of our air force, and to prevent from our Senior Officers. I look forward to your questions. From our Senior Officers. You are now recognized. How do you say it . I was close. The opportunity to testify about this important topic. My office provides an impartial and incredible means to investigate or inquire into allegations of misconduct, impropriety or violation of law. I oversee a group of 25 dedicated professionals committed to upholding the laws that govern the service. In the past 10 years, 15 marine corps generals were substantiated by a thorough investigation process led by an Inspector General. Most of these cases were violations of administrative processes. None of them were criminal in nature. I have complete confidence in the investigatory process with each investigation brought forward. Each officer investigation is reviewed for legal sufficiency, and requires department of defense oversight. The seriousness of which the marine corps approaches character and ethics is of parent, and is apparent, and demanding standards we expect all leaders to uphold. My office has traveled the globe conducting training with generals across the corps, and thorough inspections to ensure that the application of our standards are consistent with our core values of courage and commitment. We thank congress and this subcommittee for the opportunity to discuss such an important issue with you this morning, and our continued support for the marine corps and its families. I look forward to answering your questions. Thank you for your testimony. We will limit to five minutes, but do a second round if for the first panel. You mentioned there is a wide scope of misconduct you investigate. Could you please give some additional examples of the types of cases you investigate, and if you see any misconduct trends emerging. Looking at the last year we had 15 substantiations. Onework we do is late officer basically lied on his pt test, height and weight type stuff. One inappropriately approved a flyover, so misuse of Government Resources. Dignity and respect, how they treated subordinates. Improperly using an ig investigation for adverse action at the junior levels was substantiated. Misuse of subordinate times. We had made a huge effort in trying to get after certain cases where general officers make technical type of mistakes with subordinates, primarily. We all have staff. A lot of times our staffs try to do good things for us. Wewe all have beat the hell oute last couple years. We have an exportable training package. When i sit down with officers going into command, i encourages 75 slidet down powerpoint, basically vignettes what has gone officers into trouble. Rental cars, all those things for trouble. Ks p what publicly humiliating someone is the genesis of dignity and respect. That exportable training package down toe had officers for 15 that we have in this last year. A lot of the technical violations have been weeded out. We continue to work this pieacce hard, not to mention the Senior Leadership. S over the last