A now-retired two-star general misused a government-owned vehicle when she traveled between home and work at the National Reconnaissance Office dozens of times between September 2011 and February 2013, a Defense Department Inspector General report found.

Maj. Gen. Susan Mashiko, who was deputy director of the office in Chantilly, Virginia, also inappropriately used a government vehicle for trips to and from airports in and around Washington, D.C., according to the 23-page report released Monday.

Mashiko would use a shuttered U.S. Post Office one block from her home as a pickup and drop-off point, it said.

"We found that Maj. Gen. Mashiko was the senior passenger in a [government-owned vehicle] on 196 occasions; of these, 89 trips had an official purpose. Vehicle logs, testimony, and Maj Gen Mashiko's weekly calendars did not identify an official purpose for the remaining 107 trips," a summary of the investigation stated.

Her use of a government vehicle for trips between the Pentagon and the National Reconnaissance Headquarters in Chantilly, which made use of both the vehicle and an executive driver, also "could be characterized as a personal limousine service," the report found.

The Defense Department prohibits using government vehicles for travel between home and work and to airports except in emergency situations, for security reasons and in other "unusual circumstances," the report said.

Mashiko's use of a government vehicle reduced her 28-mile trip between work and home. The exact distance saved was redacted from the report.

The DoD inspector general began investigating the complaint in January 2013 after the IG for the National Reconnaissance Office forwarded an anonymous complaint alleging she was often picked up at the Pentagon when she had no official business there and driven to her office in Chantilly. The complaint also accused her of using a government vehicle and driver to take her from the Pentagon to a dental appointment.

The IG completed its investigation on Nov. 7, 2013, and recommended the Secretary of the Air Force "consider appropriate action," the report said.

In a response submitted to investigators a year ago, Mashiko said that her office had no written guidance on the use of government-owned vehicles and drivers until March 2013. At that point, she said she "immediately modified her use" of the vehicle. Several former and current NRO employees submitted statements that supported the general's claims.

The general "assumed full responsibility for the circumstances leading to the allegation," the report said. "Maj. Gen. Mashiko wrote that she should not have relied on precedent for scheduling the use of the [government-owned vehicle] and regretted not personally consulting with the NRO Office of General Counsel concerning the use of the GOV and driver."

Mashiko retired July 1 after more than 30 years of decorated service, according to her Air Force biography. In 2003, she was named unit director of the year by the Air Force Association.

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