About OUSD(C)

Honorable Robert F. Hale

As Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), Robert F. Hale is the principal advisor to Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta on all budgetary and fiscal matters, including the development and execution of the Defense Department's annual budget of more than $600 billion. As Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Hale also oversees the Department's financial policy, financial management systems, and business modernization efforts.

At the time of his nomination by President Barack Obama in January 2009, Robert Hale was Executive Director of the American Society of Military Comptrollers (ASMC), the professional association of Defense financial managers. For three-and-a-half years, he led the society's certification program (the Certified Defense Financial Manager program), as well as training programs, a professional journal, and other activities, including ASMC's National Professional Development Institute, an annual conference which attracts more than 3,500 participants.

From 1994 to 2001, Mr. Hale served in the Pentagon as the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management and Comptroller), where he was responsible for annual budgets of more than $70 billion, efforts to streamline Air Force financial management, and compliance with the Chief Financial Officers Act.

For the 12 years prior to his Air Force service, Mr. Hale headed the National Security Division at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), developing quantitative analyses of major defense budget issues and testifying frequently before Congressional committees.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Hale was a senior fellow and head of the acquisition and grants management group at LMI, a consulting firm specializing in service to the Federal government. He also spent three years as an active duty officer in the U.S. Navy and served as a staff analyst and study director at the Center for Naval Analyses.

Mr. Hale graduated with honors from Stanford University with a B.S. in mathematics and statistics. He also holds a Master's degree in operations research from Stanford and an MBA from the George Washington University. He is a Certified Defense Financial Manager (CDFM), a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, and a past member of the Defense Business Board.

Honorable Mike McCord

Mike McCord was appointed Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) in January, 2009. After subsequent legislation (Public Law 111-84) required Senate confirmation for this position, he was nominated by the President on March 1, 2010, and confirmed by the Senate on June 22, 2010. Mr. McCord serves as the principal staff assistant to the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)/Chief Financial Officer and provides advice and assistance to the Secretary, the Deputy Secretary, and the Under Secretary on budgetary, fiscal, and financial management matters. He also serves as DoD's Senior Accountable Official for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

He 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), where he served on the SASC staff supporting both the full committee and also 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.

During 2003, he served as the budget analyst for defense and veterans issues for the Democratic staff of the House Budget Committee. His primary focus was on the cost of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr. McCord began his career as an analyst at the Congressional Budget Office, where his primary responsibility was analysis of military personnel programs, including personnel strength levels, pay and benefits costs, and military retirement.

Mr. McCord has a B.A. in economics from the Ohio State University and a Master's degree in Public Policy from the University of Pennsylvania.