- Home
- National Guard
- Inspector General
- Inspections - Army
Inspections - Army
Inspect What You Expect
All inspections have one purpose: to provide feedback to commanders so they can make decisions that will improve the Army. The focus must remain on measuring compliance against established standards to ensure that the Army, as a whole, can function effectively in its combat role. Inspections must provide practical and accurate feedback that allows the commander to make informed decisions in a timely manner.
For an inspection to be purposeful an inspection must be:
- Related to mission accomplishment.
- Tailored to meet the commander's needs while remaining relevant and responsive. Inspections must provide practical and accurate feedback that allows the commander to make informed decisions in a timely manner.
- Performance oriented and start with an evaluation against a recognized standard to identify compliance with that standard.
- Capable of identifying and analyzing process improvement opportunities that will increase performance, support transformation, and reduce risks.
The proper coordination of inspections precludes inspection redundancies, complements other inspection activities, and minimizes the inspection burden on subordinate organizations.
Inspections are critical because they provide the commander/adjutant general with accurate and timely feedback and a written record of the results. Inspection results include:
- The identification of root causes.
- The identification of strengths and weaknesses.
- The implementation of corrective actions.
- The sharing of inspection results.
Teaching and training is an essential element of all inspections (aka instructive). No inspection is complete if the units or agencies inspected have not learned about goals and standards and how to achieve them.
Inspections expend valuable resources and are not complete unless the inspecting unit or agency develops and executes a follow-up inspection or plan to ensure the implementation of corrective actions.