Investigation complete, clears former Air Force Acquisitions, Logistics leader Published Feb. 8, 2017 By Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- Air Force officials confirmed Richard Lombardi, the former senior acquisition official in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, was cleared of any intentional conflict of interest following a self-reported ethics matter in February 2016. The Department of Defense Inspector General recently completed an independent inquiry into the alleged ethics violations by Lombardi. The report concluded that Lombardi failed to report his spouse's Northrop Grumman retirement account on his [ethics] filings from 2009 through 2015, and failed to report his spouse's Northrop Grumman income earned between Aug 2008 and her resignation from Northrop Grumman in Oct 2008. However, he "did not knowingly and willfully fail to report [this information]." According to the report, Lombardi did not participate in matters involving Long Range Strategic Bomber proposal evaluations nor was he involved in selecting Northrop Grumman as the prime contractor. The inquiry found Lombardi learned of the potential violations in mid-January 2016 and reported to senior Air Force ethics officials Feb. 2, 2016. Lombardi followed Air Force ethics officials' guidance on Feb. 24, 2016, by filing ethics forms reporting his spouse's financial information. In February 2016, after being informed of the matter, then Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James removed Lombardi from acquisition duties and referred the issue to the DoD Inspector General. "Rich Lombardi did the right thing at the right time," said Joseph M. McDade, Acting Air Force General Counsel and the Designated Agency Ethics Official. "He promptly self-reported a potential ethics issue, and a full and comprehensive ethics investigation has concluded that there was no knowing or willful infraction." Lombardi is currently serving as the special assistant for the U.S. Air Force's Invisible Combat Wounds Initiative. His next assignment is pending.