Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation

Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation
Incumbent Susanna Blume since August 5, 2021
Reports to	Deputy Secretary of Defense
Seat	Washington D.C.
Nominator	President of the United States
First holder	Alain C. Enthoven

The Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) is a principal staff assistant and advisor to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

The postholder, as chartered under United States Department of Defense Directive 5141.1 in 1996 (subsequently superseded and canceled with the publication of United States Department of Defense Directive 5105.84, Director of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (DCAPE)),^[1] provides independent analytic advice to the Secretary of Defense on all aspects of the Department of Defense (DoD) program, including alternative weapon systems and force structures, the development and evaluation of defense program alternatives, and the cost-effectiveness of defense systems. The office also conducts analyses and offers advice in a number of related areas, such as military medical care, school systems for military dependents, information technology, and defense economics. Consistent with its advisory role, the office has no decision authority or line responsibilities.^[2]

The Director of CAPE reports directly to the Secretary of Defense and the Deputy Secretary of Defense. A political appointee, the Director of CAPE is an Executive Service Level IV official who is nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. He or she coordinates and exchanges information with other Office of the Secretary of Defense officials, the Heads of the DoD Components, and Federal officials having collateral or related functions.

CAPE has a staff of about 155 people, including government civilians and military officers, and hires contractors as well. The military officers serve in two- to three-year assignments with the organization. CAPE's civilian staff is drawn from a variety of academic disciplines, including physics, economics, engineering, mathematics, biology, and computer science. The CAPE staff is recognized as among the most capable in the Pentagon.

History

CAPE traces its history to the 1960s, when Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara created the office of Assistant Secretary of Defense (Systems Analysis).

This office was most previously known as the Office of Program Analysis & Evaluation (PA&E), made defunct by the Weapon Systems Acquisition Reform Act of 2009.

Officeholders

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

Directors of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation^[3]^[4]

Name	Tenure	SecDef(s) served under	President(s) served under
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Systems Analysis)
Alain C. Enthoven	September 10, 1965 – January 20, 1969	Robert S. McNamara Clark M. Clifford	Lyndon Johnson
Ivan Selin (Acting)	January 31, 1969 – January 30, 1970	Melvin R. Laird	Richard Nixon
Gardiner L. Tucker	January 30, 1970 – March 30, 1973	Melvin R. Laird Elliot L. Richardson	Richard Nixon
Director (Defense Program Analysis and Evaluation)
Leonard Sullivan	May 21, 1973 – February 11, 1974	Elliot L. Richardson James R. Schlesinger	Richard Nixon
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Program Analysis and Evaluation)
Leonard Sullivan	February 11, 1974 – March 13, 1976	James R. Schlesinger Donald H. Rumsfeld	Richard Nixon Gerald Ford
Director for Planning and Evaluation
Edward C. Aldridge, Jr.	May 18, 1976 – March 11, 1977	Donald H. Rumsfeld Harold Brown	Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Program Analysis and Evaluation)
Russell Murray II	April 28, 1977 – January 20, 1981	Harold Brown	Jimmy Carter
Director of Program Analysis and Evaluation
David S. C. Chu	May 19, 1981 – July 13, 1988	Caspar W. Weinberger Frank C. Carlucci III	Ronald Reagan
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Program Analysis and Evaluation)
David S. C. Chu	July 13, 1988 – January 20, 1993	Frank C. Carlucci III William H. Taft IV (Acting) Richard B. Cheney	Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush
Director of Program Analysis and Evaluation
William J. Lynn	June 25, 1993 – November 19, 1997	Leslie Aspin, Jr. William J. Perry William S. Cohen	Bill Clinton
Robert R. Soule	July 1, 1998 – April 27, 2001	William S. Cohen Donald H. Rumsfeld	Bill Clinton George W. Bush
Barry D. Watts	May 1, 2001 – July 1, 2002	Donald H. Rumsfeld	George W. Bush
Stephen A. Cambone	July 1, 2002 – March 7, 2003	Donald H. Rumsfeld	George W. Bush
Kenneth J. Krieg	July 23, 2003 – June 6, 2005	Donald H. Rumsfeld	George W. Bush
Bradley M. Berkson	June 6, 2005[5] – April 3, 2009	Donald H. Rumsfeld Robert M. Gates	George W. Bush Barack Obama
Director of Cost Assessment & Program Evaluation
Christine H. Fox	October 28, 2009 – June 2013	Robert M. Gates Leon Panetta Chuck Hagel	Barack Obama
Jamie M. Morin	June 30, 2014 – January 20, 2017	Chuck Hagel Ashton Carter	Barack Obama
Scott Comes (Acting)	January 20, 2017 - August 7, 2017	James Mattis	Donald Trump
Robert Daigle	August 7, 2017 – May 18, 2019[6]	James Mattis	Donald Trump
E. Y. (Yisroel) Brumer (Acting)	May 18, 2019 – August 16, 2019	Mark Esper	Donald Trump
John Whitley (Acting)	August 16, 2019 – March 13, 2020[7]	Mark Esper	Donald Trump
Joseph Nogueira (Acting)	May 4, 2020 – January 20, 2021	Mark Esper Lloyd Austin	Donald Trump Joe Biden
Susanna Blume (Performing the Duties of)	January 20, 2021[8] – April 26, 2021	Lloyd Austin	Joe Biden
Susanna Blume	August 5, 2021 – present	Lloyd Austin	Joe Biden

References

1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-02-15. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
2. "Home". cape.osd.mil.
3. "Department of Defense Key Officials" (PDF). Historical Office, OSD. 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2011-02-01.
4. "Department of Defense Key Officials: September 1947–May 2021" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-06-07. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
5. "DoD News: Director of Program Analysis and Evaluation Announced".
6. "Daigle to exit as CAPE head, leaving another Pentagon vacancy". 30 April 2019.
7. "Department of Defense Key Officials September 1947–December 2020" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-05-16.
8. "New Officials Sworn-In at the Department of Defense" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Defense. January 20, 2021. Retrieved April 12, 2021.