Jane Margaret Lakes Harman is the former U.S. Representative for California's 36th congressional district,serving from 1993 to 1999,and from 2001 to 2011;she is a member of the Democratic Party. Harman was the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee (2002–2006),and chaired the Homeland Security Committee's Intelligence Subcommittee (2007–2011). Resigning from Congress in February 2011,Harman became President and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. She succeeded former Congressman Lee Hamilton and was the first woman to lead the organization. She stepped down in February 2021 after a decade,and is a Distinguished Scholar and President Emerita.
Dov S. Zakheim is an American businessman,writer,and former official of the United States government. In the Reagan administration,he held various Department of Defense positions. In 2000,Zakheim was a member of "The Vulcans",a group of foreign policy advisors assisting George W. Bush's presidential campaign.
Government Accountability Office investigations of the Department of Defense (DoD) are typically audits in which the Government Accountability Office (GAO),the United States Congress' investigative arm,studies how the Department of Defense spends taxpayer dollars. Since the GAO is accountable only to the legislative branch,it is in a unique position to investigate the military;no other agency can audit Federal departments with the same degree of independence from the President. However,the GAO is still subject to influence from powerful members of Congress. As of March 2016,the DoD was the only government agency to have failed every audit since all government agencies were required to pass such audits by the Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990.
The military budget is the largest portion of the discretionary United States federal budget allocated to the Department of Defense,or more broadly,the portion of the budget that goes to any military-related expenditures. The military budget pays the salaries,training,and health care of uniformed and civilian personnel,maintains arms,equipment and facilities,funds operations,and develops and buys new items. The budget funds five branches of the U.S. military:the Army,Navy,Marine Corps,Air Force,and Space Force.
Rupert "Rudy" Frank de Leon Jr. is an American former senior Department of Defense official,military adviser,lobbyist,and foreign policy adviser. He served as the Deputy Secretary of Defense,described as the "second-highest civilian defense position",from March 31,2000 until March 16,2001,and before appointed as Deputy Secretary he had served as Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness from 1997 until 2000 and as Under Secretary of the Air Force from 1994 to 1997 in the administration of Bill Clinton.
Sharon Weinberger is an American journalist and writer on defense and security issues. She is a Carnegie/Newhouse School Legal Reporting Fellow where her "project will examine a legally murky intersection between ethics and fraud in military contracting". Starting in Autumn,2009 she became an International Reporting Project fellow at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
The United States Department of Defense is an executive branch department of the federal government of the United States charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the U.S. government directly related to national security and the United States Armed Forces. The DoD is the largest employer in the world,with over 1.34 million active-duty service members as of June 2022. The DoD also maintains over 778,000 National Guard and reservists,and over 747,000 civilians bringing the total to over 2.87 million employees. Headquartered at the Pentagon in Arlington,Virginia,just outside Washington,D.C.,the DoD's stated mission is to provide "the military forces needed to deter war and ensure our nation's security".
The under secretary of defense (comptroller)/chief financial officer,abbreviated USD(C)/CFO,is a high level civilian official in the United States Department of Defense. The Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) is the principal staff assistant and adviser to both the Secretary of Defense and the Deputy Secretary of Defense for all budgetary and fiscal matters,including the development and execution of the Defense Department's annual budget.
Charles David Metcalf served in the United States Air Force for 36 years,retiring as a major general. He went on to serve as the director of the National Museum of the United States Air Force from 1996 to 2010. He was a well-known civic leader in the Dayton,Ohio,area.
Robert F. Hale was the United States Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) from 2009 until 2014 and before that the Comptroller and Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management. Hale has over thirty years of experience as a professional financial manager serving in a wide range of national defense related roles. In addition to his most recent position as Under Secretary of Defense and his previous appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force,Hale has also served in the National Security Division of the Congressional Budget Office and as Executive Director of the American Society of Military Comptrollers. Hale is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and a former member of the Defense Business Board. He was appointed to the National Commission on the Future of the Army by Representative Adam Smith (D-WA).
Jamie Michael Morin is a former senior official in the United States Department of Defense. He was a private sector economist and research consultant before earning a Doctorate degree in political science from Yale University. He then served as a professional staff member on the United States Senate Committee on the Budget. Morin was Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation at the Department of Defense. Previously,he was Assistant Secretary of the Air Force,and served concurrently as Acting Under Secretary of the Air Force from 3 July 2012 to 28 April 2013. He joined The Aerospace Corporation in 2017 as executive director of the Center for Space Policy and Strategy and vice president of Defense Systems Operations.
Robert Orton Work is an American national security professional who served as the 32nd United States Deputy Secretary of Defense for both the Obama and Trump administrations from 2014 to 2017. Prior to that,Work was the United States Under Secretary of the Navy from 2009 to 2013,and before that served as a colonel in the United States Marine Corps;Work retired in 2001 and worked as a civilian at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) and the George Washington University in various positions relating to military and strategic study. From 2013 to 2014,he was the CEO of the Center for a New American Security (CNAS). After his time as Deputy Secretary of Defense,he went on to serve on the Board of Raytheon.
Letitia A. Long served as a civilian in the U.S. Navy and the Intelligence Community between 1978 and 2014,retiring as the fifth Director the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency,and the first woman to lead a major U.S. intelligence agency,in October 2014. She currently is the Chairman of the Board for the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA).
Lisa W. Hershman is an American government official who served as the chief management officer of the Department of Defense from December 19,2019,to January 1,2021. She previously served as the Deputy Chief Management Officer of the Department of Defense from April 13,2018,to December 19,2019. On December 1,2018,she became the acting chief management officer of the Department of Defense following the resignation of John H. Gibson. On July 22,2019,Hershman was nominated for the position of Chief Management Officer of the Department of Defense.[3] On December 19,2019,this nomination was approved by a voice vote of the U.S. Senate,making her the highest-ranking woman ever confirmed by the U.S. Senate to a Pentagon position at the time.
Mary Sally Matiella is an American government official and political candidate who served as the Assistant Secretary of the Army during the Obama Administration. After several decades of federal civil service,Matiella served as the Assistant Secretary of the Army,holding office from February 16,2010 until February 27,2014,when she resigned and was succeeded by Robert M. Speer.
Brigadier General Wilma L. Vaught,USAFR (Ret.) is an American retired military leader. She was the first woman to deploy with an Air Force bomber unit,and the first woman to reach the rank of brigadier general from the comptroller field.
Larry Oneil Spencer is a retired United States Air Force general who served in many command,comptroller,and leadership roles during the course of his career. Some of his leadership roles included being the Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force,commander of the 75th Air Base Wing at Hill AFB,commander of the 72nd Support Group at Tinker AFB,and the commander of the 4th Comptroller Squadron at Seymour Johnson AFB. He retired 1 October 2015 after more than 44 years of service. He received the Defense Distinguished Service Medal,the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal,the Defense Superior Service Medal,and the Legion of Merit.
Brian Eugene "Lex" Luther is a rear admiral in the United States Navy.
David L. Norquist is an American financial management professional and former government official who served as the 34th United States deputy secretary of defense from 2019 to 2021. In May of 2022,Norquist was selected as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA).
Michael John McCord is an American government official and Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) in the Biden administration. McCord previously served in the same role from June 27,2014 to January 20,2017.
