Mike Child
Former Deputy Inspector General for Overseas Contingency Operations
Management and Governance
Contact Information
Mike Child
Former Deputy Inspector General for Overseas Contingency Operations
Management and Governance
Contact Information
Michael S. Child, Sr.
Former Deputy Inspector General for Overseas Contingency Operations, DOD Office of Inspector General
Mr. Michael S. Child, Sr., served as the Deputy Inspector General for Overseas Contingency Operations (DIG OCO), supporting the Inspector General, designated the Lead Inspector General (Lead IG) for six overseas contingency operations, including Operations Inherent Resolve (Iraq/ Syria); Freedom’s Sentinel (Afghanistan); Pacific Eagle (Philippines); East Africa; and North and West Africa.
Under new Section 8L, Inspector General Act, Mr. Child executed the duties required of the Lead Inspector General. Those duties included developing and carrying out Joint Strategic Oversight Plans (JSOPs) for each OCO, and issuing Lead IG quarterly reports to Congress.
The JSOPs and Lead IG quarterly reports were the combined work of the IGs for the Department of Defense, Department of State, and the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Prior to serving as the DIG OCO, Mr. Child served as the Deputy Inspector General for Southwest Asia (DIG SWA), from October 2012 through December 2014. In that capacity, he deployed to Afghanistan for 20 months, and concurrently served as Chair of the Southwest Asia Joint Planning Group (SWA-JPG). As Chair, he conducted quarterly meetings of the Federal and Service oversight agencies completing work in SWA, identifying duplicative projects and gaps in oversight coverage.
Mr. Child entered the Senior Executive Service on August 30, 2008, serving as Assistant Inspector General for Administrative Investigations, (Senior Official and Whistleblower Reprisal investigations). In May 2009, he was selected to serve in the new position of DOD IG Chief of Staff, and served as Chief of Staff until deploying to Afghanistan as the DIG SWA.
Prior to joining the DOD OIG, Mr. Child served as an Army Judge Advocate, retiring at the rank of Colonel. Significant Army assignments included: Chief, Criminal Law Division, Office of the Judge Advocate General; Staff Judge Advocate, U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command; Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, U.S. Army Military District of Washington; and Chief, Army Judge Advocate Recruiting. Mr. Child was also detailed to the U.S. Department of Justice for six years, prosecuting and litigating DOD procurement fraud cases. He first served as a criminal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona, and later as a trial attorney at Main Justice, Commercial Litigation Branch (Fraud).
Mr. Child earned his B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of San Diego, and his Master of Laws degree from the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School in Charlottesville, Virginia. He also earned two master’s degrees in national security studies and public policy management from Georgetown University.