because oig's focus is on the operations and work of the state department and the bbg, its inspectors, auditors investigators and evaluators focus on u.s. government operations worldwide involving more than 72,000 employees and 280 overseas missions along with oversight of the departments and the bbg's significant domestic operations. but our office is unique from others because oig has historically, and as required by law, served as the department of states inspection arm. let me turn to priorities. first, protecting people who work in the department is our top priority. oig has inspected physical security at overseas posts for years. however, since the september 2012 attacks on u.s. diplomatic facilities and personnel in benghazi, libya oig has stepped up its oversight efforts related to security. there is no doubt the department has made progress in improving overseas security. nonetheless, challenges still remain. through our inspection and audit work, we continue to find notable security deficiencies placing at risk our posts and personnel. second, oig has enhanced its efforts to