The Insider

DISA Industry Forecast
By John Liang
June 23, 2014 at 2:56 PM

The Defense Information Systems Agency plans to conduct a "2014 Forecast to Industry" at the agency's Headquarters Conference Center on Aug. 23, according to a DISA announcement issued this morning.

"The event will provide our industry partners with in-depth information about DISA's acquisition and procurement plans," the announcement states, adding:

DISA's senior leaders will present briefings on business opportunities, acquisition topics and planned procurements for the 2015/2016 fiscal years. Attendees will have the opportunity to interact with senior leaders, program managers, and acquisition representatives during question and answer sessions and on an individual basis.

One of the topics of conversation during the August meeting could be an innovative satellite communications contract the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center awarded earlier this month. As Inside the Air Force reported June 13:

The service awarded the $8.2 million contract to satellite operator SES Government Solutions. Through the agreement, the government purchased two transponders on an already operational SES satellite. SES President Tip Osterhaler told Inside the Air Force in a June 11 interview that the bulk of the contract, about $8 million, pays for the transponders and the remaining funds will purchase up to five years of satellite communication (SATCOM) services from the company. According to an award synopsis posted to the Federal Business Opportunities website on June 6, two companies bid for the contract.

Satellite transponders collect and transmit signals to ground stations. For this particular contract, the transponders are housed on an SES satellite -- Osterhaler would not identify it -- and will transmit signals to a ground station at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

The contract dictates that SATCOM services be available within 60 days of the June 6 award, but Osterhaler said the company is already in talks with the government about turning over the capability sooner than that. Before that can be done, though, there is some standard testing and configuring of signals that has to happen, he said.

"Whenever you start a new service on a satellite, you test the end-to-end connectivity to make sure you're getting the throughput," he said. "It's what we call 'closing the links' between the terminal and the satellite and then back down to the receiving end."

The Defense Department initiated the commercial satellite communications (COMSATCOM) contract as the first in a series of pathfinder contracts designed to test new ways of acquiring SATCOM services. The department -- through the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) -- has traditionally used overseas contingency operations money to purchase commercial bandwidth on an as-needed basis using one-year, spot-buy contracts. Last year's bill for the entire department was upwards of $1 billion.

Industry has long argued that such a model is not sustainable and, in recent years, the cost of doing business in this way has driven the department, at SMC's lead, to work with industry to explore other options.

A Successful Hit
By Jen Judson
June 23, 2014 at 1:58 PM

The Missile Defense Agency had its first successful intercept using a second-generation Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle when a long-range Ground-Based Interceptor took out an intermediate-range ballistic missile target over the Pacific on Sunday, according to a June 22 Pentagon statement.

“Initial indications are that all components performed as designed,” the statement reads.

A successful intercept of the GBI armed with the Capability Enhancement-II EKV is considered critical to the Pentagon's decision-making on the system, which failed in two intercept attempts (FTG-06 and FTG-06a) in 2010. The first failed due to a quality-control issue and the second because of a design issue. In July 2013, the Pentagon tested a CE-I version of the GBI and the kill vehicle failed to separate from the rocket booster. The effort to demonstrate a working CE-II warhead is seven years behind schedule and more than $1 billion over cost.

During the June 22 test, “a threat-representative, intermediate-range ballistic missile target was launched from the Reagan Test Site” in Kwajalein Atoll, according to the statement. A Navy destroyer with an Aegis weapon system detected and tracked the target with its AN/SPY-1 radar and sent data to the GMD fire control system using the Command, Control, Battle Management and Communication system.

“About six minutes after target launch,” the statement notes, the GBI was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base. An operational crew from the 100th Missile Defense Brigade remotely launched the interceptor from Schriever Air Force Base, CO.

“A three-stage booster rocket system propelled the interceptors [CE-II] EKV into the target missile's projected trajectory in space,” the statement reads. “The kill vehicle maneuvered to the target, performed discrimination, and intercepted the threat warhead with 'hit-to-kill' technology, using only the force of the direct collision between the interceptor and the target to destroy the target warhead.”

Program officials will spending “the next several months” conducting “an extensive” evaluation of the performance “based upon telemetry and other data obtained during the test,” the statement notes.

Stay tuned for more coverage.

SpaceX vs. ULA
By James Drew
June 20, 2014 at 7:45 PM

SpaceX has reacted angrily to the launch of a publicity campaign and lobbying effort by United Launch Alliance, the sole supplier of Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles for the Air Force.

In a June 20 statement, sent to InsideDefense.com by SpaceX spokesman John Taylor, the company said the campaign, launched this week, is aimed at distracting lawmakers from the benefits of competition.

"ULA doesn't believe in competition. Monopolists never do," the statement said. "In ULA's case, it would rather call a press conference to announce an inside-the-beltway lobbying campaign aimed at distracting lawmakers from the benefits competition brings to the marketplace: better technology, improved reliability and affordable prices."

The statement follows ULA CEO Michael Gass' June 18 conference call with reporters, during which he addressed two contentious issues: SpaceX's legal dispute with the Air Force and ULA's use of Russian-built RD-180 first-stage rocket engines on the Atlas V EELV.

Those issues relate to the Air Force's award of a sole-source contract to ULA for 36 rocket cores, including Atlas Vs, and the continuing crisis in Ukraine, which is at the center of a geopolitical dispute between the U.S. and Russia.

"The truth is, ULA is wholly reliant upon its Russian business partner, and in doing so, it has cost the U.S. taxpayers billions [of dollars] and jeopardized the country's national security," SpaceX's statement said. "Faced with those facts, ULA is now seeking to convince Congress to bailout the company's bad business decision and it's criticizing a competitor for pressing the only real solution to the mess they have created -- fair and open competition to national security launches."

During the conference call, Gass defended the use of the RD-180 and said the engines could be domestically produced. He also said ULA is the only company certified to provide national security launches through the EELV program.

SpaceX is in the process of certifying its Falcon 9 launch vehicle to compete for those missions. The Falcon 9 has performed the three flights necessary to achieve certification, and the success of those launches are being verified by the Air Force as part of the certification process.

ULA is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

In a June 20 letter to Pentagon acquisition chief Frank Kendall, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) asked whether the price the Air Force is paying for the RD-180 through its contracts with ULA for Altas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles is "fair and reasonable." As InsideDefense.com reports:

McCain contends there is very little public information about the cost of the RD-180 and, in particular, the costs added at the points of transaction between the Russian manufacturer, the supplier, ULA and the Air Force.

According to ULA, which is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin, the engine supplier is the U.S.-based company RD Amross, which itself is a joint venture between United Technologies and the Russian manufacturer, NPO Energomash. The RD-180 is a core component of ULA's Atlas V rocket, which the Air Force buys for national security space launches.

McCain's letter cites accusations that those engines are being sold to the United States at "highly inflated prices," and calls on Kendall to supply information on how much RD Amross pays for the RD-180, how much ULA pays and how much the Air Force pays.

House Passes Appropriations Bill
By John Liang
June 20, 2014 at 5:00 PM

The House just passed a $491 billion fiscal year 2015 defense appropriations bill by a 340-73 vote.

The bill provides $4.1 billion above the fiscal year 2014 enacted level and $200 million more than the Obama administration's request. Additionally, the bill includes $79.4 billion in Overseas Contingency Operations funding, the same level assumed in the administration's budget request and in the House-passed defense authorization bill, according to an appropriations committee statement.

Acquisition-related amendments approved by the full House include:

Lamborn (R-CO) – The amendment increases funding for the Army National Guard Operation and Maintenance account by $5 million, offset by a reduction in the Defense-Wide Operation and Maintenance account. The intent of the amendment is to support the Army National Guard Southwest Border Mission. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.

Lowenthal (D-CA) – The amendment cuts, then adds back, $5 million from the Defense-Wide Operation and Maintenance account. The intent of the amendment is to support DoD’s STARBASE program. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.

Nugent (R-FL) – The amendment cuts, then adds back, $10 million within the Air Force RDT&E account. The intent of the amendment is to support the Counter-Electronics High Power Microwave Missile Project. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.

Holt (D-NJ) – The amendment cuts, then adds back, $2 million within the Intelligence Community Management Account. The intent of the amendment is to provide additional resources for the Inspector General to manage a whistleblower and source protection program. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.

Daines (R-MT) – The amendment strikes language in the bill that sunsets a provision prohibiting DoD from reducing or decommissioning Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) silos. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.

Grayson (D-FL) –The amendment prohibits funding to award a contract to a company that has been convicted of, or is currently indicted/civilly charged for a range of crimes, or has delinquent taxes of more than $3,000 within a three-year period of the offered contract. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.

Miller (R-MI) – The amendment prohibits funding in the bill to divest, retire, transfer, or place into storage any A-10 aircraft, to prepare for such activities, or to dissolve any A-10 units. The amendment was adopted on a vote of 300-114.

Runyan (R-NJ) – The amendment prohibits funding to retire, divest, or transfer the entire KC-10 aircraft fleet during fiscal year 2015. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.

Walberg (R-MI) – The amendment prohibits funding to promulgate Directive 293 issued by the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.

DeLauro (D-CT) – The amendment prohibits funding to award contracts to corporations incorporated or chartered in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, or Ireland that were previously incorporated in the United States. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.

Flores (R-TX) –The amendment prohibits funding to implement, administer, or enforce section 526 of the Energy Independence and Security Act, which prohibits federal agencies from procuring certain fuels unless the greenhouse gas emissions are less than conventional petroleum sources. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.

Conyers (D-MI) – The amendment prohibits funding to transfer man-portable air defense systems to any entity in Syria. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.

McClintock (R-CA) – The amendment prohibits funding for green energy programs. The amendment was adopted on a voice vote.

The Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee will take up its version of the bill in July.

CRS On CTR
By John Liang
June 20, 2014 at 4:23 PM

The Congressional Research Service recently issued a report on the history of U.S. cooperative threat reduction efforts.

The June 13 report, originally obtained by Secrecy News, states:

This report summarizes cooperative activities conducted during the full 20 years of U.S. threat reduction and nonproliferation assistance. Many older programs have concluded their work, while more recent programs continue to expand their scope and their geographic reach.

CRS notes that the Defense, State, Energy and Homeland Security departments together "sought nearly $1.65 billion" for CTR programs in fiscal year 2014.

Inside Missile Defense reported last month on the Senate Armed Services Committee's FY-15 defense policy bill:

On nonproliferation programs, the senators' bill "addresses the threats from nuclear weapons and materials by strengthening nonproliferation programs, maintaining a credible nuclear deterrent, reducing the size of the nuclear weapons stockpile, and ensuring the safety, security and reliability of the stockpile, the delivery systems, and the nuclear infrastructure."

The proposed legislation would authorize the Pentagon's $365 million request for the Cooperative Threat Reduction program, and recommends a $145 million plus-up to the mixed oxide fuel program "to continue construction of the mixed oxide fuel facility which would increase from $201 million to $346 million," according to the summary.

The National Nuclear Security Administration would get a $140 million increase for other nuclear nonproliferation programs to "support deployment of additional mobile and border radiation detector systems in the Middle East and former Soviet states; provide additional resources to collect overseas highly enriched uranium to return to the U.S.; and collect additional radiation sources in the U.S. and around the world, which can pose a 'dirty bomb' threat," the summary reads.

Wormuth Confirmed
By John Liang
June 19, 2014 at 6:50 PM

The Senate Periodical Press Gallery just tweeted that the full Senate had confirmed Christine Wormuth via voice vote to become the next head of the Pentagon's policy shop.

Wormuth is the top author of the most recent Quadrennial Defense Review. Wormuth, until now the Pentagon's deputy under secretary for strategy, plans and force development, said at an April 3 House Armed Services Committee hearing that the document was cast in a way that allows the U.S. military to deal with Russia's annexation of Crimea and other recent events in Eastern Europe. As InsideDefense.com reported:

"While we probably would have added some additional sentences to talk more pointedly about the situation with Russia, fundamentally I don't think we would have changed the strategy," she said.

Committee Chairman Buck McKeon (R-CA) and Vice Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX) brought up Wormuth's comments at an April 8 hearing on Russian military developments, InsideDefense.com reported in the same story:

[Derek Chollet, assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs,] and Joint Staff Director for Strategic Plans and Policy Vice Adm. Frank Pandolfe concurred with her assessment that there is little to change about the QDR. Neither said the QDR should be rewritten.

"We adjust as we go, but I think fundamentally the strategy, as prescribed in the QDR, is correct and that they have done a very nice job of looking around the world at the contending interests and values," Pandolfe said.

Russia is mentioned several times in the QDR, with most references relating to its obligations under the New START treaty. On the topic of European security, the QDR states that America is willing to undertake security cooperation with Russia, both in a bilateral context and in addressing regional challenges -- especially on the challenges posed by Syria and Iran.

MDA Wants University Help
By John Liang
June 19, 2014 at 4:05 PM

The Missile Defense Agency this week issued a broad agency announcement seeking universities interested in doing advanced research for MDA:

The Missile Defense Agency Science and Technology Advanced Research (MSTAR) program funds relevant Advanced Technology research and demonstration work at qualified accredited domestic colleges, universities or institutions of higher learning and to support training of future scientists and engineers in the field of missile defense. Proposals must be for Advanced Research. This Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) is a recurring, competitive solicitation and contract vehicle enabling MDA to identify and acquire emerging technologies, innovative concepts, and advanced algorithms for improving BMDS capability and filling technology gaps.

Not Happy
By John Liang
June 18, 2014 at 2:38 PM

While the Obama administration doesn't much like the House Appropriations Committee's version of the fiscal year 2015 defense spending bill, the White House doesn't go so far as to threaten to veto the bill.

In a statement of administration policy submitted yesterday, the White House states:

The Administration strongly opposes House passage of H.R. 4870, making appropriations for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2015, and for other purposes. The Administration appreciates the bill's continued support for providing funding that assists the warfighter in operating in unconventional and irregular warfare and countering unconventional threats, supports capacity-building efforts with foreign military forces, and supports on-going operations, as well as the support for programs that would improve the health and well-being of the force, including sexual assault prevention. While there are a number of areas of agreement with the bill, the Administration has serious concerns with provisions that would constrain the ability of the Department of Defense (DOD) to align military capabilities and force structure with the President's defense strategy and to reduce unneeded costs.

. . . In the Administration's view, the risk to the Nation will grow significantly should the Congress not accept reforms proposed in the FY 2015 Budget. Without congressional support for meaningful compensation reforms and other cost saving measures, force structure changes, and flexibility to manage weapon systems and infrastructure, there is an increased risk to the Department's ability to implement the President's defense strategy, which will contribute to a military that will be less capable of responding effectively to future challenges.

CRH DAB Meeting
By John Liang
June 18, 2014 at 12:00 PM

The Pentagon's top acquisition official is scheduled to review the Air Force's Combat Rescue Helicopter program today -- a meeting that could determine whether the service can push the program forward into the engineering and manufacturing development phase.

Inside the Pentagon last week previewed the meeting:

A Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) review of CRH is slated for June 18, according to a schedule obtained by InsideDefense.com, and could pave the way for a milestone B decision. Three previous DABs planned for July, October and December of last year were postponed, caught in the budget limbo created by sequestration.

The CRH program would replace the service's current search-and-rescue helicopter fleet, which is composed of Sikorsky HH-60Gs. The new helicopter's design will be modeled after the UH-60M and will feature composite rotor blades and other more modernized systems like an improved gearbox. But the primary discriminator between CRH and the older-model Black Hawks will be the unique avionics required for the rescue mission. The Air Force plans to buy 112 of the new airframes.

The service did not request funding for CRH in fiscal year 2015, but announced in early March that it plans to use $334 million in FY-14 funds to move forward on the program. A contract is expected this summer -- it could come as soon as this month -- and will kick off what the service says will be a relatively slow development phase in order to stretch those funds across two fiscal years. The program is expected to cost another $430 million between FY-14 and FY-19.

Foreign Military Aid
By John Liang
June 17, 2014 at 9:04 PM

The Senate Appropriations state, foreign operations, and related programs subcommittee has marked up a fiscal year 2015 spending bill that provides nearly $48.3 billion for the State Department, according to a panel statement issued this afternoon:

Of this amount, $8.625 billion is for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) in the frontline states (Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq) and other areas in political transition (including in the Middle East and North Africa) and to respond to humanitarian emergencies (e.g. Syria, Somalia, South Sudan). The bill is $285 million below the President's fiscal year 2015 budget request and $716 million below the fiscal year 2014 enacted level.

Subcommittee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) said in the statement:

This was a difficult bill to draft because of the rapidly worsening humanitarian crises in Syria, Iraq, and Africa, and the dramatic surge in migration of unaccompanied minors from Central America. The bill includes additional funds to help Ukraine and other former Soviet republics counter Russian aggression. I am gratified that the bill includes full funding for diplomatic security, global health, U.N. peacekeeping, educational and cultural exchanges, and to support key allies. It also makes a number of reforms that will strengthen oversight and reduce waste. Ranking Member Lindsey Graham was, as usual, an able partner who provided essential input to produce a bill that is comprehensive in scope and balanced in approach.

A bill summary included in the subcommittee statement outlines FY-15 foreign military assistance funding, including:

* Israel. As in past years, the bill provides the President's request of $3.1 billion for military assistance for Israel;

* Jordan. The bill provides a total of $1 billion in economic and military assistance for Jordan, in addition to humanitarian assistance for Syrian refugees in Jordan;

* Egypt. The bill provides a total of $1 billion in military assistance, subject to democracy and human rights conditions, with exceptions for counter-terrorism and border security, and $150 million in economic assistance; and

* Ukraine and other former Soviet Republics. The bill provides up to an additional $100 million for economic and security assistance to counter Russian aggression in these countries.

GAO On DOD Furloughs
By John Liang
June 17, 2014 at 7:59 PM

The Defense Department should have a better plan if it ever decides to furlough its workforce again, according to a new Government Accountability Office report.

The June 17 report looked at DOD's "implementation of its administrative furlough." Specifically:

This report (1) examined how DOD implemented its furloughs and any reported cost savings, (2) examined the extent to which DOD utilized up-to-date cost-savings information in the planning and implementation of furloughs, and (3) identified any reported examples of impacts that resulted from the furloughs. GAO reviewed DOD furlough guidance, interviewed officials, and conducted visits at selected sites that were selected to represent different categories of furlough exceptions and potential sequestration impacts, among other things.

As for GAO's recommendations:

GAO recommends that DOD update and utilize its furlough cost-savings information as it becomes available in the event that it decides to implement another administrative furlough in the future. DOD partially concurred. GAO continues to believe the findings and recommendation are valid, as discussed in the report.

Global Network Services
By John Liang
June 16, 2014 at 8:06 PM

The Defense Information Systems Agency will hold a industry day next month for prospective companies interested in bidding for a leased telecommunications services contract:

The Global Network Services (GNS) Industry Day will take place on July 15, 2015 from 8:00 am to noon (EDT). It will be held at the Fort George G. Meade Post Theater in Ft. Meade, MD.

DISA plans to award GNS as a multiple-award, Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, with a 5-year base, plus 5, one-year option periods. GNS will provide DISA with a vehicle to procure leased telecommunications services in support of the Defense Information Systems Network (DISN) and DoD Information Network (DoDIN) worldwide.

The event is intended to provide prospective Prime Offerors an overview of GNS and for DISA representatives to understand industry's ability to meet GNS requirements with new technologies and solutions. Prospective Prime Offerors will have the opportunity to ask questions pertaining to GNS requirements.

The registration deadline is June 30, according to a DISA announcement on Federal Business Opportunities:

Following [the] Industry Day, individual vendor/government one-on-one sessions will be held on July 16 and July 17, 2014. Vendors must submit their request for a one-on-one session when registering for [the] Industry Day.

'Mindful' Money
By John Liang
June 16, 2014 at 3:46 PM

The Pentagon recently issued a memo calling on acquisition officials to be "mindful" of how much money the department pays to other U.S. government agencies when executing transactions through those agencies.

The June 11 memo, signed by Defense Procurement and Acquisition Policy Director Richard Ginman, notes that a recent Defense Department inspector general report found that DOD management may have been unaware that every once in a while the Interior Department executes contract actions on DOD's behalf "utilizing other agencies' contract vehicles for which a fee is required." The memo also cites a NASA contracting vehicle as one DOD sometimes uses when buying information technology services, where DOD pays NASA a fee.

Ginman's memo continues:

We share the DoDIG's concern with regard to ensuring that the fees we are paying for assisted acquisition are reasonable and appropriate. We understand that in some instances, requirements sent to DOI, General Services Administration or other agencies providing assisted acquisition support maybe broad enough or sufficiently complex that a portion of the requirement can best be met by using a vehicle other than that of the assisting agency. Although these circumstances may be minimal in the overall total of annual procurement actions, contracting officers and requiring activities should be mindful of the total fees paid to assisting agencies for their services and the use of non-DoD contract vehicles to meet DoD requirements.

Consequently, acquisition officials should do the following, according to the memo:

Effective immediately, ensure full awareness of the total costs of all fees associated with use of a non-DoD contracting vehicle by requiring the assisting agency to notify you if its acquisition approach envisions the use of another agency's contract vehicle. The decision to continue with the proposed acquisition given the total fees involved must be part of the documentation supporting the business decision to use the assistance of another agency.

IG On Foreign Eligibility
By John Liang
June 13, 2014 at 12:00 PM

The Defense Department's inspector general issued a report this week that looks at how DOD determines the eligibility of foreign contractors to win U.S. military contracts.

Specifically, the IG's report "assessed the process for determining and relaying relevant threat information and recommendations to the [Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States], the strength of [foreign ownership, control or influence] mitigation within cleared defense industry, and the effectiveness of existing tools to help FOCI mitigations and CFIUS determinations."

Among the IG's findings:

We found that existing policies clearly define requirements to support National Interest Determinations, but they do not effectively delineate roles and responsibilities to support the Services, agencies, and the acquisition community resulting in a significant backlog of decisions.

We also found that a need exists for a centralized, accessible database to process and store DD Form 254s -- a document that specifies security requirements for classified contracts -- as part of an enterprise system that manages the flow of contract information to support industrial security within cleared defense industry.

As for the IG's recommendations:

We recommend that the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence (USD(I)), in coordination with the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (USD(AT&L)), issue guidance that defines ownership of information, delineates responsibility for coordination within respective Service and agency organizations, and outlines a consistent process flow for National Interest Determinations to further a synchronized, integrated approach to support CFIUS determinations and foreign ownership, control, or influence mitigation. We further recommend that the USD(I), in coordination with the USD(AT&L), direct the creation of a centralized repository for cleared defense contracts, to maintain DD Form 254s and other contract security requirements for classified contracts, and designate the Defense Security Service as executive agent in its role as the National Industrial Security Program Cognizant Security Office for DoD, 26 non-DoD agencies, and approximately 13,500 cleared contractors.

DOD management "concurred with the two main recommendations and its comments were responsive," according to the report, but did not concur "with designating at this time an executive agent for the DD Form 254 central repository."

DOD's New Comptroller
By Tony Bertuca
June 12, 2014 at 4:29 PM

The Senate has confirmed Michael McCord as the next Defense Department comptroller by a 52-41 vote, succeeding Robert Hale, who has held the position for the past five years.

McCord has served as DOD's deputy comptroller since 2009.

According to his official biography:

Mr. McCord joined the Department of Defense (DoD) with 24 years of experience in national security issues in the legislative branch, including 21 years as a Professional Staff Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) for former Senator Sam Nunn and the current Chairman Senator Carl Levin. He served on the SASC full committee staff beginning in 1987 and also, starting in 1995, as the minority or majority staff lead on the Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support.

On the SASC Readiness Subcommittee, Mr. McCord was responsible for installation and global basing matters including construction or leasing of new military facilities, maintenance of existing facilities, base closure and base reuse matters, land and property disposal and exchange issues, DoD use of public lands, and privatization of DoD housing and utilities. He was also responsible for oversight of over $100 billion in annual DoD operation and maintenance funding and military readiness policy matters including training, supplies, operating tempo, contingency operations funding, equipment maintenance, and the operations of the working capital funds.

At the full committee level he had oversight of defense budget matters, including the defense topline; oversight of DoD’s Quadrennial Defense Review; supplemental funding for contingency operations and natural disasters; resource allocation among subcommittees; ensuring compliance with discretionary and mandatory spending targets; and advising the Committee on fiscal and budget policy issues. He also managed the Committee’s review of the reprogramming of defense funds and coordination with the Appropriations and Budget Committees.

Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Ranking Member Tom Coburn (R-OK) has expressed concern about McCord, as InsideDefense.com reported in May:

"I'm concerned that who replaces you should have the management experience, the educational experience, the financial auditing experience to actually lead this organization," Coburn said. "We have a good nominee but he doesn't have any of those qualifications."

When asked by Coburn what qualifications Hale wants his replacement to have, the comptroller threw his support behind McCord.

"First and foremost, I would want somebody who's a leader. I think Mike McCord will do that," Hale said. "I'd want somebody who knows the defense financial management and federal financial management. And it's not just audit. We've got to worry about budget too. I mean, that is part of the job of the under secretary of defense comptroller. I think Mike knows that well."