While there may not have been a red carpet, nine current and former employees of the National Security Agency Office of Inspector General (OIG) were recently honored during an award ceremony that the Inspector General community considers as prestigious as the Oscars.
The employees were recognized for their outstanding accomplishments in audits or evaluations at the annual ceremony of the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency (CIGIE) at the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington, D.C. on 15 October 2019.
CIGIE is an independent entity established under the Inspector General Act of 1978 to serve as a coordinating body for the IG Community. It works to promote the integrity and efficiency of programs and operations across the federal government and to aid in the development of a professional, well-trained, and highly skilled workforce in the Offices of the Inspectors General.
The IG Community comprises nearly 13,000 government oversight professionals who perform thousands of audits, investigations, inspections, evaluations, and reviews each year that help detect and deter waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct and promote the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of government operations, resulting in the realization of billions of dollars in savings.
The following NSA OIG personnel were recognized during the ceremony this year:
Two members of the Intelligence Oversight Division: Excellence in Evaluations – Special Study of NSA Controls to Comply with Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) Retention Requirements. These two team members were recognized for their exemplary accomplishments as part of the NSA OIG’s SIGINT retention requirements evaluation team, charged with assessing NSA’s internal controls to comply with requirements for aging off SIGINT data collected pursuant to EO 12333, United States Intelligence Activities, as amended, and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978, including the FISA Amendments Act (FAA) of 2008.
Three members of the Audits Division: Excellence in Audit - Award Fee Contracts Audit. These team members were recognized for extraordinary efforts in performing an audit that questioned $636M in award fees associated with 54 Agency contracts and resulted in recommendations to assist the Agency to ensure that it was properly documenting and evaluating the use of this contracting method in the future.
One member of the Audits Division: Excellence in Audit – Systems Security Plan Critical Roles Review. This auditor was recognized for her outstanding accomplishments while conducting a detailed analysis of NSA’s application of security controls to better protect national security systems. This review was initiated based on information provided by an Agency employee indicating that there were concerns as to whether critical security positions were being filled.
Three members of the Audits Division: Excellence in Multiple Disciplines – Government Purchase Card Audit. These team members were recognized for extraordinary efforts across the CIGIE community and multiple disciplines to identify the highest risk purchase card transactions and recommend controls over improper purchases government-wide.
We are extremely proud of the accomplishments our team of professionals achieved over the past year. The collective efforts of the above recipients helped ensure the American people are best served, as their dedication and commitment to excellence enabled the OIG to promote positive change in these important Agency programs and operations. We congratulate them all for a job well done!