WASHINGTON — The Pentagon Inspector General last week cleared former Defense Innovation Unit Director Mike Brown of engaging in “improper personnel practices” while leading the office.
The decision comes more than a year after the Pentagon’s Inspector General began investigating the allegations, and Brown, the DIU, an organization tasked with helping the Pentagon better integrate and deploy commercial technology. A few days after leaving the post of leader of In his Sept. 9 letter obtained by C4ISRNET, Pentagon Deputy Inspector General for Administrative Investigations Marguerite Garrison wrote that the office “did not substantiate the allegations.”
“Relevant documents were reviewed and interviews were conducted with persons familiar with the events in question,” the letter to Brown said. “We have concluded that you were not involved in inappropriate personnel practices.”
Bloomberg first reported IG’s decision. C4ISRNET was unable to immediately reach Brown for comment.
Brown has led DIU since 2018, expanding the organization’s portfolio of commercial technology efforts and driving change in how the Department of Defense purchases off-the-shelf technology. He was named to head the Pentagon’s Acquisition and Maintenance Division in his April 2021 but withdrew from consideration after allegations about his employment practices surfaced later that month.
The complaint came from the former DIU chief financial officer, who claimed that many employees were given special treatment through tailored job descriptions.
Brown’s last day at DIU was September 6th. Brown’s resignation follows questions about the organization’s future and his own public concerns about a lack of funding from senior Pentagon leaders. He resigned at the end of his originally scheduled term, but declined a one-year extension.
Starting next year, Brown will serve as a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution and next year will be a member of the Advisory Board of the Center for New American Security.
