AOIMSG WILL Remain Within The OUSD(I&S), An Oversight Office
From our understanding, AOIMSG will remain within the OUSD(I&S).
“There are no plans to move AOIMSG to any other organization within the DoD or both the DoD and Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).”
The above statement was provided by myself to Gough, who did not answer my question directly when asked if AOIMSG will be situated within the OUSD(I&S).
Gough simply referred me to Avril Haines’ (the DNI) November 2021 memo regarding the Group’s establishment.
Now, that is not a direct response. A simple “yes”, or “yes, and this will remain the case as per the November memo”, would have been better and easier. This suggests Gough didn’t want to confirm anything directly in writing.
So, instead, I simply inferred what my understanding was, reading between the lines. I added: “correct me if wrong, but that’s what I am reading.”
As of now, my own statement has not been corrected by Gough. Admittedly, it can not be certified 100% if this is the DoD or ODNI’s intention. Gough has simply not directly commented on this matter or corrected my statement yet.
Just how the OUSD(I&S), an oversight office, can comply with the NDAA, which lends itself better to an operational office, is unclear.
Former Director of the Advanced Aerospace Threat Identification Program (AATIP), Lue Elizondo, has previously criticized the involvement of OUSD(I&S), stating:
“Please, please, please contact your representatives and let them know this is unacceptable and not in the best interest of the American people. The USDI is the one single office that has continuously lied about this topic and persecuted whistleblowers.”
In an open letter published in November, Christopher Mellon was scathing of OUSD(I&S), writing:
“As a former OSD staffer myself, I’m shocked that the DepSecDef would assign the UAP function to an oversight staff with no UAP funding, line authority, contracting, command, or technical capabilities. Indeed, the inability of USDI to engage effectively on the UAP issue is why so little has changed or been accomplished since 2004.”