Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)

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.

The Under Secretary is appointed by the president and confirmed by the United States Senate to serve at the pleasure of the president.^[2]

The position of Defense Department Comptroller was originally at the rank of Assistant Secretary until the National Defense Authorization Act of 1995 upgraded the position to its current rank of Under Secretary.^[3]

Overview

The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/CFO is the principal staff office for the Defense Department on all budgetary and fiscal matters, including the development and execution of the Defense Department's annual budget of more than $850 billion. As chief financial officer, the Under Secretary's Office also oversees the Department's financial policy, financial management systems, and business modernization efforts.^[4]

The Under Secretary is chair of the Financial Management Modernization Executive Committee, which has the goal of making sure that each of the Department of Defense's critical accounting, financial, and data feeder systems are compliant with applicable federal financial management and reporting requirements.^[5] The Comptroller is also a member of the Defense Business System Management Committee.^[6]

With the rank of Under Secretary, the USD(C) is a Level III position within the Executive Schedule. Since January 2019, the annual rate of pay for Level III is $176,900.

Reporting officials

Officials reporting to the USD(C) include:

• Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)
• Director, Defense Contract Audit Agency
• Director, Defense Finance and Accounting Service
• Deputy Comptroller (Program/Budget)
• Deputy Chief Financial Officer
• Deputy Comptroller (Enterprise Financial Transformation)
• Deputy Comptroller (Budget and Appropriation Affairs)
• Director, Human Capital and Resource Management

The Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), abbreviated DUSD(C), is the USD(C)'s chief deputy and assumes the duties of the USD(C) in his or her absence. Pursuant to Public Law 111-84, the DUSD(C) is appointed from civilian life by the president of the United States with the consent of the Senate.

Budget

Budget totals

The annual budget for the USD(C) is contained in the Office of the Secretary of Defense's (OSD) budget, under the Defense-Wide Operation and Maintenance (O&M) account.

Budget features

• Comptroller Initiatives - Support for producing and providing senior Department leadership with authoritative, accurate, and timely financial statements and support Department-wide business transformation efforts by improving financial management processes, systems, and financial reporting. This funding appears to support the programs of the Defense Contract Audit Agency and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.
• Future Years Defense Program (FYDP) Improvement - Maintain the FYDP information system used to collect, transform, disseminate, build reports, and provide analytical displays for planning, programming, budgeting, and execution activities
• Administrative Support - Funds services including general office support, data administration, records management, workflow and correspondence tracking, and other administrative tasks
• Capabilities Portfolio Management (CPM) - Funds OSD and Joint programs used to advise senior Department leadership and support strategic decision making to optimize investments and minimize risks in providing capabilities to the Warfighter. CPM includes programs such as Command & Control, Joint Logistics, Net Centric Operations, Corporate Management Support, and Battlespace Awareness
• Next Generation Resource Management System (NGRMS) - Maintain IT system used to formulate, justify, present, and defend the DoD budget, including equipment maintenance support, software upgrades, and software licenses
• Enterprise Funds Distribution System Support (EFDSS) - Maintain IT system used for controlling and distributing funds, including equipment maintenance support, software upgrades, and software licenses
• Travel - Funds employee travel in support of the OUSD(C) mission

Office holders

The table below includes both the various titles of this post over time, as well as all the holders of those offices.

References

1. 5 U.S.C. § 5314
2. "US CODE: Title 10,135. Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)". Retrieved 23 September 2007.
3. "Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress)". Retrieved 23 September 2007.
4. "Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) > About OUSD(C) > OUSD(C) Top Leaders". comptroller.defense.gov. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
5. "US CODE: Title 10,185. Financial Management Modernization Executive Committee". Retrieved 23 September 2007.
6. "US CODE: Title 10,186. Defense Business System Management Committee". Retrieved 23 September 2007.
7. "Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Budget Estimates, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD)" (PDF). Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), OSD. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 October 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
8. Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Budget Estimates, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), p.664
9. Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Budget Estimates, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), p.688-90
10. Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 Budget Estimates, Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), p.714
11. "Department of Defense Key Officials September 1947–February 2019" (PDF). history.defense.gov. Historical Office Office of the Secretary of Defense. 30 January 2019. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
12. "Department of Defense Key Officials (September 1947 – July 2021)" (PDF). Historical Office, Office of the Secretary of Defense. 20 July 2021.
13. "Defense comptroller leaves for industry job". Retrieved 21 September 2016.
14. "Head Count | Tracking Obama's Appointments | The Washington Post". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 23 March 2010.
15. "Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) > About OUSD(C) > comptroller_Bio". comptroller.defense.gov. Retrieved 21 September 2016.
16. Mehta, Aaron (6 July 2020). "Harker takes over as acting Pentagon comptroller". defensenews.com. Defense News.

External links

• comptroller.defense.gov