United States government efforts to fight and ultimately destroy the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria have grown large enough to warrant special oversight.
Jon Rymer, the Department of Defense’s inspector general, will lead a coordinated effort with officials from the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to keep tabs on the resources all three agencies dedicated to suppressing the deadly Islamic extremist movement.
His designation by the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency marks the first time ever a lead IG has been named for an overseas contingency operation by American military and diplomatic forces.
The Defense Department launched Operation Inherent Resolve against the Islamic State in late 2014. Operations related to the fight have cost more than $1 billion since August 2014 and require an average of $8.1 million each day to sustain, according to the Pentagon.
Rymer named Steven Linick, the State Department’s IG, as his deputy in the oversight effort.
Unlike the special IG offices created to oversee the Troubled Asset Relief Program and reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Operation Inherent Resolve watchdog team will not exist as a separate agency.
The independence of special IGs give them wide oversight authority. For example, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction oversees the programs of all agencies related to the reconstruction effort, from the Department of Agriculture to USAID, said SIGAR spokesman Alexander Bronstein-Moffly.
Rymer will instead lead an inter-agency team and conduct joint or individual reviews, resolve any jurisdiction disputes among IG offices and submit joint reports to Congress twice a year, among other responsibilities. Rymer will only be concerned with Defense, State and USAID efforts.
He said in a statement that the team plans to release its first report in April.
Bridget Serchak, spokesman for the Defense Department IG, said the oversight effort is in the early stages and organizational decisions are still being made.
Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., championed the 2012 law that allowed the Defense IG to take the lead on oversight of Operation Inherent Resolve.
McCaskill’s office called that legislation “the most substantial overhaul of how the federal government contracts during wartime since World War II. As the critical mission against ISIS is executed, these reforms should help strengthen Americans’ confidence that our resources are being used effectively and efficiently.”
The law allows the lead IG to hire additional staff for the effort on a temporary basis.
