{"id":32054,"date":"2019-06-10T20:00:43","date_gmt":"2019-06-10T20:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/06\/10\/two-star-fired-from-running-top-secret-program-office-under-multiple-ig-investigations\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:10:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:10:43","slug":"two-star-fired-from-running-top-secret-program-office-under-multiple-ig-investigations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2019\/06\/10\/two-star-fired-from-running-top-secret-program-office-under-multiple-ig-investigations\/","title":{"rendered":"Two-star fired from running top secret program office; under multiple IG investigations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A groundbreaking female fighter pilot was fired from her current job<\/a> as director of the Defense Department\u2019s Special Access Programs Central Office \u2014 which manages and oversees some of the military\u2019s most secretive classified programs \u2014 and is under several inspector general investigations<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maj. Gen. Dawn Dunlop is no longer running SAPCO, and is now serving as a special assistant to Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Seve Wilson, DoD spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Andrews confirmed in an emailed statement to Air Force Times, .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Air Force Times has also learned from a knowledgeable source that multiple ongoing IG investigations<\/a> convinced Pentagon leadership that Dunlop needed to be removed. Dunlop also may be considering retirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not apparent exactly what Dunlop is being investigated for, and she was not available for comment by press time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But another source with knowledge of the office, who asked not to be identified, said Dunlop fostered a toxic work environment. Dunlop would call senior leaders from the services \u201cidiots,\u201d he said, and would directly call people from the Army and Air Force and scream at them on the phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The source said that things reached a boiling point May 31, when Dunlop lost her temper in a meeting with senior Air Force civilians. An Air Force civilian immediately told Ellen Lord, the Pentagon\u2019s top acquisition official, about the situation in the office, the source said, and Lord walked over to the SAPCO office and removed Dunlop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Maj. Gen. Dawn Dunlop has been relieved of command.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In a May 31 email obtained by Air Force Times, Lord told top Pentagon, Air Force and Army leaders \u2014 including Deputy Secretary of Defense David Norquist and Gen. Wilson \u2014 that she had made a change in the office. Air Force Col. Bruce Monroe is now taking on leadership roles in the office on a temporary basis, according to the email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Special access programs are among the military\u2019s most closely guarded secrets, and are classified at some of the highest levels of the U.S. government. The office Dunlop directed until recently managed and oversaw those programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\t