(CNN) 鈥� The US Air Force has disciplined 15 people connected to the intelligence leaks from , the service said Monday, after an investigation found that individuals 鈥渋ntentionally failed鈥� to report documented concerns about Teixeira鈥檚 behavior preceding the leaks.
According to an Air Force release on Monday, 15 individuals from the ranks of staff sergeant to colonel received punishments ranging from being relieved from their positions to non-judicial punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
The commander of Teixeira鈥檚 unit, Col. Sean Riley of the the 102nd聽Intelligence Wing, was relieved of command, the Air Force said. Commanders of the 102nd聽Intelligence Support Squadron who had been suspended were 鈥減ermanently removed.鈥�
While the investigation did not find that supervisory members were aware of Teixeira leaking the information on the popular social media platform Discord, the Air Force said individuals in his unit 鈥渇ailed to take proper action after becoming aware of his intelligence-seeking activities.鈥�
Teixeira, who served as a cyber systems journeyman with the Massachusetts Air National Guard鈥檚 102nd聽Intelligence Wing,聽聽on six counts of willful retention and transmission of classified information related to national defense.聽He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Lawyers representing Teixeira have not responded to a request for comment from CNN.
The Air Force鈥檚 investigation found that commanders failed to adequately inspect areas under their command, had 鈥渋nconsistent guidance for reporting security incidents鈥� and 鈥渋nconsistent definitions of the 鈥楴eed to Know鈥� concept,鈥� a lack of supervision of night shift operations, an 鈥渋nefficient and ineffective鈥� process for carrying out disciplinary actions, and 鈥渁 failure to provide security clearance field investigation results.鈥�
CNN has previously reported revealed Teixeira had received a direct order from superiors to stop taking notes on intelligence, and was observed two more times accessing intelligence unrelated to his job.
A 鈥渟mall number鈥� of individuals failed to report Teixeira to the appropriate security officials, the Air Force investigation says, 鈥渇earing security officials might 鈥榦verreact.鈥欌�
鈥淗ad any of these members come forward, security officials would likely have facilitated restricting systems/facility access and alerted the appropriate authorities, reducing the length and depth of the unauthorized and unlawful disclosures by several months,鈥� the report said.
Three leaders 鈥榠ntentionally failed鈥� to report concerns
According to the Air Force investigation report, Teixeira began posting classified intelligence as early as February 2022, after receiving his Top Secret-Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS-SCI) clearance in June 2021.
As a computer specialist, Teixeira 鈥渉ad access to numerous classified systems, including the Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communication System (JWICS), a TS-SCI platform, to perform system maintenance,鈥� the report says.
In February 2022, Teixeira began allegedly posting 鈥渞ewritten 鈥榩aragraphs of text鈥欌� to the Discord channel he belonged to. Then, in January 2023, he allegedly began posting photos of intelligence with top secret classification markings that 鈥渄escribed the status of a current military conflict, including troop locations.鈥�
He allegedly began taking intelligence home to photograph and post online after expressing concerns that he 鈥渨ould be discovered making the transcriptions in the secure work center鈥� at Otis Air National Guard Base.
While the investigation puts the blame solely on Teixeira as the cause of the leaks, it does say that there were direct and indirect factors that contributed to his ability to leak that information.
Teixeira and other IT specialists in his squadron, for example, were 鈥渆ncouraged to receive weekly intelligence briefings to better understand the mission and the importance of keeping the classified networks operations.鈥�
鈥淭his 鈥榢now your why鈥� effort was improper in that it provided high level classified intelligence information than was necessary to understand the unit鈥檚 mission and created ambiguity with respect to questioning an individual鈥檚 need to know,鈥� the report said.
The report then describes four documented instances of Teixeira鈥檚 leadership becoming aware of his accessing intelligence he did not need to know for his role in the unit. Around July or August 2022, Teixeira was seen viewing intelligence, and while his supervisor was informed, the report says, the incident 鈥渨as not documented in writing.鈥�
In September 2022, a unit member again saw Teixeira viewing intelligence and 鈥渨riting information on a post-it note.鈥� While he was directed to shred what he was writing, the report says it 鈥渨as never verified鈥� what he鈥檇 written down or if he had in fact shredded it as directed. Neither incident was reported to the appropriate security official, the report says.
A month later in October 2022, Teixeira 鈥渁sked very detailed questions and even attempted to answer questions鈥� regarding intelligence that was outside of the scope of what he needed to know for his job. He was questioned about the intelligence level of the information he was speaking about, but told leaders it was available from open sources. His supervisor was made aware, and he was ordered to 鈥溾檆ease and desist鈥� intelligence 鈥榙eep dives.鈥欌�
In a fourth incident in January 2023, he was again observed viewing intelligence and ordered to stop. The incident was documented, but the report says that after 鈥渟ome internal discussion, a substantially minimized version of the concerns was provided to security officials.鈥� Those security officials were not provided copies of the previous memos outlining security incidents.
鈥淎fter interviewing higher levels of the supervisory chain, it appears knowledge of these security incidents was not fully disclosed above the squadron level,鈥� the Air Force investigation report says. 鈥淏ased on the preponderance of the evidence gathered during the investigation, three individuals in the unit who understood their duty to report specific information regarding A1C Teixeira鈥檚 intelligence-seeking and insider threat indicators to security officials, intentionally failed to do so.鈥�
鈥極ur national security demands leaders at every level protect critical assets鈥�
Outside of the failure to properly report concerns, the investigation outlines a number of other contributing factors to the leaks 鈥斅燼mong them a 鈥渓ack of supervision鈥� of personnel during night shift operations.
According to the report, members of a three-person crew like the one Teixeira belonged to were sometimes the only personnel in the TS-SCI facility, primarily to answer phones and ensure that the Heating, Ventilation and Air Condition (HVAC) unit was operating properly.
While there, however, the report says that any night shift member had 鈥渁mple opportunity鈥� to access classified intelligence networks and 鈥減rint a high volume of products without supervision or detection.鈥�
Other contributing factors included a misunderstanding of the military鈥檚 鈥渘eed to know鈥� policies. Some personnel, the report said, believed that having the TS-SCI clearance 鈥渕eant users had approval to examine any information they could find on JWICS.鈥� Investigators also found a misunderstanding in Teixeira鈥檚 intelligence wing about how to report security infractions; some people 鈥渕istakenly believed鈥� that security violations could be reported to supervisors, instead of mandated security officials.
Since news of Teixeira鈥檚 leak broke earlier this year, the Pentagon of security policies and procedures, which found some areas where the military could 鈥渋mprove accountability measures to prevent the compromise鈥� of national security information.
The Air Force鈥檚 release on Monday also identified 鈥渟everal reforms鈥� that were implemented in the wake of the leaks to improve security procedures, including clarifying reporting guidelines, increasing emphasis on 鈥渃yber hygiene,鈥� improving security training and improving need-to-know enforcement for classified information.
鈥淓very Airman and Guardian is entrusted with the solemn duty to safeguard our nation鈥檚 classified defense information,鈥� Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said Monday. 鈥淲hen there is a breach of that sacred trust, for any reason, we will act in accordance with our laws and policies to hold responsible individuals accountable.鈥�
鈥淥ur national security demands leaders at every level protect critical assets, ensuring they do not fall into the hands of those who would do the United States or our allies and partners harm,鈥� Kendall said.
This story has been updated with additional details.
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