Managing Adverse and Reportable Information Regarding General and Flag Officers

Title 10 of the U.S. Code requires consideration of adverse information by all general and flag officer boards. Also, adverse information is considered within the services and by the Secretary of Defense when nominating senior officers for assignment. The Secretary of Defense must issue certifications to the President and the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) regarding this information. However, there is a diversity of sources and terminology used to describe events of concern and individuals involved in such events, and recent individual cases have suggested possible gaps in the processes overall. This study is intended to describe and evaluate the reporting practices of the Department of Defense (DoD) and thus ensure that consistent, reliable information supports decisions regarding the management of general and flag officers. The processes described within are complicated and there exists no single authority. Multiple representatives from each service have reviewed the descriptions of the service processes.