The Standards of Conduct Office (SOCO) is an element of the Defense Legal Services Agency (DLSA) under the 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 DoW General Counsel is the primary DAEO within DoW and the DAEO for the DoW DAEO Agency (sometimes referred to as the “DoW Remainder Agency”), which is comprised of OSW and all DoW 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: implementing DoW-wide ethics policies and regulations, managing the DoW Remainder Agency ethics program, and providing ethics advice and counsel to OSW personnel. This includes working with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) to conduct ethics vetting of all incoming DoW civilian Presidentially Appointed Senate confirmed (PAS) officials. 

SOCO implements policy guidance for Department-wide application through the DoW 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 law and policy by over 3,000 attorneys designated as ethics officials throughout the Department. SOCO also provides guidance and assistance to other DoW 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 DoW 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 OSW and affiliated organizations. SOCO directly manages financial disclosure reporting, ethics training, post-Government employment advice, and other ethics compliance matters within OSW. SOCO manages the DoW 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.