The Department of Defense Standards of Conduct Office (SOCO) is an element of the Defense Legal Services Agency (DLSA) under the Department of Defense Office of General Counsel. Pursuant to 5 C.F.R. § 2638.104(a), each agency head must appoint a Designated Agency Ethics Official (DAEO), who is responsible for the agency's ethics program. The DoD General Counsel is the primary DAEO within DoD and the DAEO for the DoD DAEO Agency (sometimes referred to as the “DoD Remainder Agency”), which is comprised of OSD and all DoD Components and organizations that are not designated as separate DAEO agencies. SOCO administers the responsibilities of the DAEO, which are aligned along three main lines of effort: establishing DoD-wide ethics policies and regulations, managing the DoD Remainder Agency ethics program, and providing ethics advice and counsel to OSD personnel. This includes working with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) to conduct ethics vetting of all incoming DoD Presidentially Appointed Senate confirmed (PAS) officials. 

SOCO prepares policy guidance for Department-wide application through the DoD supplemental regulations at 5 C.F.R. Part 3601, the "Standards of Conduct" Directive (DoDD 5500.07), the "Joint Ethics Regulation" (JER), SOCO Advisories, and written opinions. Through the Committee on Standards of Conduct and a monthly “Coordinating Group,” SOCO facilitates the consistent application of ethics policy by over 3,000 ethics officials throughout the Department of Defense. SOCO also provides guidance and assistance to other DoD DAEO organizations, and SOCO attorneys routinely interact with OGE, Congressional staff, the public, and industry to address a wide array of ethics matters. While SOCO does not investigate complaints regarding violations of ethics or other laws, the office provides data and interpretive guidance in support of the DoD Inspector General and other investigative services.

SOCO maintains oversight of post-Government employment and confidential financial disclosure reporting systems used by over 200,000 personnel throughout DoD and Federal Civilian agencies.  SOCO also maintains representation on OGE’s Integrity Advisory Council, providing recommendations to improve accountability and efficiency for OGE’s public financial disclosure reporting system used by over 25,000 ethics officials and filers across the Executive Branch.

SOCO attorneys provide ethics advice to personnel assigned to OSD and affiliated organizations. SOCO directly manages financial disclosure reporting, ethics training, post-Government employment advice, and other ethics compliance matters within OSD. SOCO manages the DoD Remainder Agency ethics program, with the assistance of organizational Deputy DAEOs (DDAEOs) at Defense Agency, Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Combatant Command levels. SOCO conducts periodic Program Assist Visits at DDAEO organizations to evaluate and identify best practices and areas where SOCO can provide assistance.