Inspector General's Office

LTC Heidi Baird, State Inspector General

Inspector General Crest

Mission Statement

Serve as an Extension of the Eyes, Ears, Voice, and Conscience of the Adjutant General; Focusing on the Readiness, Economy, Efficiency, Discipline, Training and Morale of the Maine National Guard.





IG Guiding Principles

  • Extension of the TAG’s eyes and ears, voice and conscience
  • Fair and impartial—does not take sides nor recommend punitive action
  • Always on the record
  • Protects confidentiality (even from 3rd parties and anonymous)
  • Cannot release IG records without the TIG’s approval
  • Cannot use IG results or records for adverse action
  • Looks at both sides of the story (including non-compliance by the complainant)
  • Attempts or recommends solution at lowest level (Chain of Cmd)

Our Goals

  • Keep the TAG, staff, and unit leadership fully apprised of significant issues and concerns affecting the MENG, especially those issues and concerns pertaining to unit readiness and the care and welfare of Soldiers, civilians, and family members.

  • Work with the commands, units and other agencies, as appropriate, to help resolve concerns brought to the IG’s attention as IG Action Requests (IGARs). Through this partnership, we want to make the Command the “Hero” and help them to get there.

  • When noncompliance with requisite standards is found, help commanders identify the “root cause[s]” of such noncompliance . . .and work to fix the same.

  • It is important to understand the IG and Commander relationship: The IG works for the Commander (Command IG for the TAG, Division IG for the Division Commander, etc...)

  • The IG must be a “problem solver”; however they cannot “fix” things by themselves. IGs must work by, through, and with Commanders, staff sections, the NCO support channel and civilian leadership.

  • IGs can recommend courses of action - they cannot “direct” any course of action.

  • Bottom line: The IG’s role is to help the Commander - we want to help the command be the hero!

Confidentiality

  • The IG will do everything possible to keep confidentiality when handling complaints; however it may be unavoidable to disclose some information to properly handle the case. In such instances we will try to contact the complainant prior to disclosure.

  • We have provided the following checklist to help you determine if you have an IG appropriate complaint:

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