The DOD inspector general’s office has made 20 recommendations to ensure efficient flow of information and transfer of authority when a secretary of Defense is temporarily unable to perform.
The office conducted the review after incidents in 2023 and 2024 when Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin delayed revealing hospitalizations.
“Although we found no adverse consequences to DOD operations arising from how the hospitalizations we reviewed were handled, the risks to our national defense, including the command and control of the DOD’s critical national security operations, were increased unnecessarily,” Inspector General Robert Storch said in a press release.
The release said Austin concurred with all of the report’s recommended procedure updates.
DOD photo by Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Alexander Kubitza
