NASA Office of Inspector General

The NASA Office of Inspector General (NASA OIG or OIG) is the inspector general office in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the space agency of the United States. The OIG's stated mission is to "prevent and detect crime, fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement and promote efficiency, effectiveness, and economy throughout NASA."

The current NASA Inspector General is Paul K. Martin.

History and mandate

The NASA Office of Inspector General was created in accordance with the Inspector General Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-452). The act created Offices of Inspector General (OIGs) to provide independent audit and investigative units at 63 federal agencies, including NASA.

NASA OIG's Computer Crimes Division (CCD) has had a number of successes with regard to investigating intrusions into NASA computer networks. CCD successes include joint investigations with U.S. and foreign counterparts that resulted in arrests, indictments and convictions of hackers located in Venezuela, Italy, Turkey, England, Portugal, Nigeria, and Romania.

NASA OIG special agent badges have a striking appearance, for at the center of each badge is the blue NASA logo. In addition to the badge each agent carries credentials which set out the agents law enforcement authority and contain a one inch by one inch head and shoulders picture of the agent. NASA OIG special agents are armed, have arrest authority and can execute search warrants. They receive their law enforcement training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia. Their hands-on training at Glynco includes hand-to-hand combat, arrest techniques, small arms and shotgun training, high speed pursuit and skid techniques, water safety, interrogation techniques, surveillance training, and search warrant execution techniques. They also have an extensive classroom program at Glynco that includes criminal law, criminal procedure, and related disciplines. The classes contain Agents from various agencies, and the top graduate is designated the class honor graduate.

Staff and offices

The OIG employs about 190 people, including auditors, analysts, specialists, investigators, attorneys, and support staff. It has offices in 11 NASA facilities: NASA Headquarters, Dryden Flight Research Center, Ames Research Center, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, John C. Stennis Space Center, Langley Research Center, Kennedy Space Center, John H. Glenn Research Center, Goddard Space Flight Center, and George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. It is divided into four offices:

• Office of Audits (OA)
• Office of Investigations (OI)

• Computer Crimes Division (CCD)

• Office of Counsel (OC)
• Office of Management and Planning (OMP)

External links

• Official website