James R. Ives
Assistant Inspector General for Investigations
James R. Ives currently serves as Assistant Inspector General for Investigative Operations at the U.S. Department of Defense, Office of Inspector General. In this capacity, he oversees investigative operations conducted by the Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS).
Jim began his career with DCIS in 1994 as a special agent at the DCIS Boston Resident Agency, Northeast Field Office, where he worked a wide variety of complex criminal investigations involving acquisition and procurement fraud, bribery and kickbacks, anti-trust violations, public corruption, environmental crimes, health care fraud, export violations, significant thefts of government property, computer crimes, and other issues impacting the Department of Defense. From 1997 through 1998, he was co-case agent on a multifaceted fraud investigation involving a health care provider that defrauded numerous government health care programs, to include the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services. At the time, the investigation resulted in the largest monetary recovery in the history of the Department of Justice. Upon completion of the investigation, Jim and other agents received several awards for investigative excellence, to include the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency (PCIE) Award for Excellence, the Department of Health and Human Services' Award for Cooperative Achievement, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Award for Investigative Excellence.
From 1999 through 2001, Jim served as Computer Crimes Coordinator and Lead Computer Forensics Specialist at the DCIS Northeast Field Office. He was the field office’s first coordinator for high technology crimes. He coordinated all activities related to computer crime investigations impacting the DoD, including investigations of intrusions into computer systems, potential cyber terrorism and network defense related issues, and child pornography investigations involving DoD personnel. He also conducted forensic examinations of computer systems relating to a wide variety of criminal investigations.
Subsequent to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Jim was assigned to the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in Boston, MA, where he served through 2004. While serving on the JTTF, he played a significant role in several extremely high-profile counterterrorism investigations, to include one of the FBI's highest priority terrorism investigations, which was prominently featured on the television program America’s Most Wanted in December 2002; and an investigation of a DoD contractor who was convicted of removing extremely sensitive classified information from computer systems at DoD detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
In March 2004, Jim was promoted to the position of Criminal Intelligence Program Manager within the Investigative Operations Directorate, DCIS Headquarters. In May 2005, he was promoted to the position of Assistant Deputy Director for National Security. In April 2007, he was promoted to the position of Deputy Director, Investigative Operations Directorate. Jim was named DCIS’s Manager of the Year in 2007 as a result of his efforts within the Investigative Operations Directorate. He was promoted to Special Agent-in-Charge of the Mid-Atlantic Field Office in June 2008. He was promoted to Deputy Director of DCIS in July 2009. Shortly thereafter, the Deputy Director position was re-designated as Assistant Inspector General for Investigative Operations.
From 1992 to 1994, Jim served with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service. He served as a special agent with the U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service, from 1998 through 1999. He also served as a special agent with the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve from 1999 through 2006, when he received an honorable discharge.
Jim is a 2005 graduate of Georgetown University, where he earned a Master of Public Policy degree. He is a 1992 graduate of the State University of New York, Brockport, NY, where he graduated summa cum laude, ranked number one in his graduating class, with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and a minor in Psychology. He is also currently a part-time associate professor at University of Maryland University College where he teaches Criminal Justice classes.