This means that military members are no longer required to submit reprisal allegations directly with the Department of Defense Inspector General for coverage under 10 USC 1034.
The statute was broadened in 1991 to protect disclosures to auditors, criminal investigators, inspectors and other Department of Defense law enforcement officers.
The Government Accountability Project, a nonprofit public interest group, praised the legislation as the "first significant advance in military whistleblower rights since they were enacted in 1988" and summarized its provisions as follows: The bill was signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 26, 2013.
[11] In May, 2022 former Army Public Health Center Commander Lt. Mark Bashaw was convicted of violating orders to present a COVID-19 test to his superiors, to wear a mask indoors and to telework at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland.
Bashaw was subsequently joined by senior officers of all branches of the military in notifying Congress on August 15 that the Department of Defense is engaging in illegal and fraudulent acts that are endangering Service members and their families, as well as the American public whom the DOD is charged with protecting.