Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)

The Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) is the Chief Financial Officer of the United States Department of Defense. The responsibilities of the Department of Defense's Chief Financial Officer include developing and implementing Department of Defense-wide financial policy, financial management systems, and business modernization. The Under Secretary oversees Department of Defense financial management activities, including a budget of over $600 billion.^[1]

The Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) is appointed by the President and confirmed by the United States Senate.^[2] 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.^[3] The Comptroller is also a member of the Defense Business System Management Committee.^[4]

Throughout the United States Code, the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) was originally simply referred to as the Comptroller, before a 1994 law substituted the new title for that of the old wherever it appeared.^[5] The noun comptroller is a variant of controller, in this context financial controller.

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. ^ "Robert F. Hale, Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and Chief Financial Officer", Official Biography, Officer of the Secretary of Defense, United States Department of Defense, Washington, D.C., 25 April 2009.
2. ^ "US CODE: Title 10,135. Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)". http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode10/usc_sec_10_00000135----000-.html. Retrieved September 23, 2007. 
3. ^ "US CODE: Title 10,185. Financial Management Modernization Executive Committee". http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/search/display.html?terms=military%20or%20cum%20or%20martial&url=/uscode/html/uscode10/usc_sec_10_00000185----000-.html. Retrieved September 23, 2007. 
4. ^ "US CODE: Title 10,186. Defense Business System Management Committee". http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/10/usc_sec_10_00000186----000-.html. Retrieved September 23, 2007. 
5. ^ "Search Results - THOMAS (Library of Congress)". http://www.law.cornell.edu/usc-cgi/get_external.cgi?type=pubL&target=103-337. Retrieved September 23, 2007. 
6. ^ "Department of Defense Key Officials". Historical Office, OSD. 2004. http://osdhistory.defense.gov/docs/DOD%20Key%20Officials%201947-2004.pdf. Retrieved 2011-02-01. 
7. ^ http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/1008/100208bb2.htm
8. ^ The Washington Post. http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2009/federal-appointments/agency/defense-department/.