Hon. Gordon S. Heddell
Inspector General Department of Defense
Gordon S. Heddell was sworn in as the seventh Inspector General for the Department of Defense on July 14,
2009, one year after being appointed as acting Inspector General.
Mr. Heddell has over ten years experience as a Presidentially appointed, Senate confirmed Inspector General, and has led Inspector General offices of two cabinet level departments within the Executive Branch. Mr. Heddell has also served as one of the top executives of the United States Secret Service rising to the level of Assistant Director.
As Inspector General at the Department of Defense, Mr. Heddell is responsible for directing audits, investigations, and inspections, and for developing audit and investigative policy in the largest Federal office of Inspector General, with a workforce of over 1,600 and an annual budget exceeding $300 million. In this capacity, Mr. Heddell provides oversight of all the programs and operations of the Department of Defense and military services, including ongoing military operations in Southwest Asia.
In 2010, Mr. Heddell directed and led the Department of Defense oversight efforts that achieved $6.4 billion in monetary benefits and investigative recoveries, and conducted criminal investigations resulting in 281 indictments and 245 convictions.
As Inspector General, Mr. Heddell serves on the executive committee of the Federal Council of Inspectors General for Integrity and Efficiency, and is chair of the Information Technology Committee and the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Public Inquiry. Mr. Heddell is also the chair of the Defense Council on Integrity and Efficiency and serves as the Chair of the Interagency Coordination Group of Inspectors General for Guam Realignment.
From 2001 to 2008, Mr. Heddell served as Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Labor, where he led efforts to combat labor racketeering and organized crime in the workplace; fraud against the Foreign Labor Certification Program; and weaknesses in the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Mr. Heddell served as a special agent in the United States Secret Service for 28 years. In this capacity, Mr. Heddell held a number of key executive positions to include:
- Assistant Director (Inspections), serving as a key advisor to the director, providing advice and counsel
on all facets of Secret Service leadership and operations; and
- Special Agent in Charge of the Vice Presidential Protective Division, leading and managing the physical
protection of the Vice President of the United States.
Mr. Heddell began his Government service as an Army chief warrant officer, and helicopter pilot, serving in
both Korea and Taiwan during the Vietnam-era conflict.
Mr. Heddell is a recipient of the prestigious Meritorious Presidential Rank Award for outstanding government
service. He was also selected by the University of Illinois as its recipient of the 2009 alumni achievement
award. One of Mr. Heddell's proudest achievements is the creation of a major partnership between the
Secret Service and two inner city Washington D.C. public schools.
Mr. Heddell received his bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri, his master's degree from the
University of Illinois (formerly Sangamon State University), and was a Woodrow Wilson public service fellow
from 1994-2000. Mr. Heddell graduated at the top of his Treasury Federal Law Enforcement Academy
class.