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Booz Allen Hamilton Proprietary
Meeting Today’sProfessional Military Comptroller Challenge:Making Smart Cuts
Dave PriceBrig Gen (Ret), USAF
8 May 2012
America Society of Military Comptrollers
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Booz Allen Hamilton Proprietary America Society of Military Comptrollers
Book Review …
Who’s at the pointy end of the spear today …
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Booz Allen Hamilton Proprietary America Society of Military Comptrollers
Book Review …
Who’s at the pointy end of the spear today …
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Booz Allen Hamilton Proprietary America Society of Military Comptrollers
DOD Funding Trend …
FY12 Enacted FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16 FY170
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
Baseline Defense Overseas Contingency Operations
$83B$115B
$518B(-5.6%)
$524B(1.1%)
$533B(1.8%)
$546B(2.3%)
$556B(1.9%)
$567B(2.2%)
$472B$514B
Source(s): OMB, Budget Control Act of 2011, The Heritage Foundation
Estimated DoD funding level if sequestration continues thru FYDP
$ Billions
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Booz Allen Hamilton Proprietary America Society of Military Comptrollers
FY13 Way Ahead …
FY13 budget enactment … CRA?
National election on 6 Nov
Lame-duck Congress
Sequestration required on 2 Jan
Mid-year budget cut of ~$52B for DOD
Rules of engagement are unknown
Professional comptrollers will be left to figure it out …
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Booz Allen Hamilton Proprietary America Society of Military Comptrollers
Process Challenges …
There are systemic barriers to budget decision making – Budget timeline often works against thoughtful decision making– Ad hoc process for prioritizing requirements– Weak enterprise governance process– Missing right tools to frame the alternatives– Programmatic dependencies are not well understood– No mechanism for surgically decrementing programs– Wrong incentives in place for effective decision making– Resistance to change
Many initiatives require investments to achieve savings
Focus on quick wins can distract from the long-term goals
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Booz Allen Hamilton Proprietary America Society of Military Comptrollers
Budget Toolkit …
Who’s at the pointy end of the spear today …
Cutting the Budget – Peanut butter spread
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Booz Allen Hamilton Proprietary America Society of Military Comptrollers
Budget Toolkit …
Who’s at the pointy end of the spear today …
Cutting the Budget – Peanut butter spread– Focus on administrative costs
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Booz Allen Hamilton Proprietary America Society of Military Comptrollers
Budget Toolkit …
Who’s at the pointy end of the spear today …
Cutting the Budget – Peanut butter spread– Focus on administrative costs– Reduce manpower
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Booz Allen Hamilton Proprietary America Society of Military Comptrollers
Budget Toolkit …
Who’s at the pointy end of the spear today …
Cutting the Budget – Peanut butter spread– Focus on administrative costs– Reduce manpower– Outsource tasks
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Booz Allen Hamilton Proprietary America Society of Military Comptrollers
Budget Toolkit …
Who’s at the pointy end of the spear today …
Cutting the Budget – Peanut butter spread– Focus on administrative costs– Reduce manpower– Outsource tasks– Invest in information technology
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Booz Allen Hamilton Proprietary America Society of Military Comptrollers
Budget Toolkit …
Who’s at the pointy end of the spear today …
Cutting the Budget – Peanut butter spread– Focus on administrative costs– Reduce manpower– Outsource tasks– Invest in information technology– Consolidate and centralize activities
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Booz Allen Hamilton Proprietary America Society of Military Comptrollers
Budget Toolkit …
Who’s at the pointy end of the spear today …
Cutting the Budget – Peanut butter spread– Focus on administrative costs– Reduce manpower– Outsource tasks– Invest in information technology– Consolidate and centralize activities– Process re-engineering
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Booz Allen Hamilton Proprietary America Society of Military Comptrollers
Budget Toolkit …
Who’s at the pointy end of the spear today …
Cutting the Budget – Peanut butter spread– Focus on administrative costs– Reduce manpower– Outsource tasks– Invest in information technology– Consolidate and centralize activities– Process re-engineering– Programmatic cuts
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Booz Allen Hamilton Proprietary America Society of Military Comptrollers
Making Smart Cuts …
Carefully assess the budget environment
Prepare for budget cuts now by updating strategic plans and make leadership priorities clear to everyone
Measurable goals provide mechanism for budget accountability
Establish a transparent decision making process
Leaders need to consider alternative ways of performing functions
Understand the links and dependencies between programs
Substantial across-the-board cuts can be severe and penalize the most efficient operations
Allow field to determine the best way to meet reduction targets based on strategic plans, performance measures, and leadership priorities
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Booz Allen Hamilton Proprietary America Society of Military Comptrollers
Bottom Line …
Comptrollers have a new high profile role …
Understand how to use the budget toolkit …
Know the real-world constraints …
Think and plan ahead …
Be flexible …
Remember you are doing important work for our Nation …
Contact me at: [email protected]
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Booz Allen Hamilton Proprietary America Society of Military Comptrollers
Questions …
Contact me at: [email protected] being loaded on F-22 in preparation for vibration test at Eglin Air Force Base