From the National President.

It is my pleasure to introduce the winter edition of Armed Forces Comptroller. And what a powerhouse edition it is!

We begin with an overview of the guidance of General Peter Pace, USMC, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In his article, David Berg outlines applying the guidance and priorities of the Chairman in the resource and financial management communities. He makes the point that while we as practitioners of finance in the Department of Defense help establish and interpret the resource parameters within which our military leaders operate, they in turn provide us the input in establishing priorities and meaningful ways to transform.

"Transforming the military is not an event; it is an ongoing process," Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said in 2002, setting the tone for his tenure and beyond. Transformation is not about changing organizational charts but about changing organizational culture. The Honorable Dov Zakheim, the former Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), makes this point in his article, reflecting upon the enormous positive changes in the state of financial management from when he first arrived at the Department with Secretary Rumsfeld until his recent retirement.

Paul Brinkley, the co-director of the Business Transformation Agency, makes the same point and identifies some working tools of transformation that the Department presented to Congress just a few months ago. Mark Easton, director of Financial Operations at the Navy, continues Mr. Brinkley's discussion with a focus on the Navy Enterprise Resource Planning Program as the cornerstone for financial management transformation in his service. To the skeptic who might say that he has seen change proposed in the past but with few results, Mr. Easton points to increased interest from senior congressional and departmental leaders, including myself, who are interested in and dedicated to these efforts.

Captain John Field, USN, and Brian Flynn of the Naval Cost Analysis Division present another instrument of transformation-portfolio analysis. Adapted from the private sector where it is still being developed and applied in complex settings, this tool will allow the simultaneous analysis of program capability and affordability, potentially shortening the Planning, Programming, Budgeting and Execution System cycle, improving the inputs into it, and optimizing resources. Indeed, portfolio analysis has gained even further attention in the wider Department of Defense with the release of the Quadrennial Defense Review.

Optimizing resources is the theme introduced by Denise Bar, Joseph Russell, and Loretta Finamore of the Navy, who focus their discussion on the tool of Lean Six Sigma and some of the transformational results it has borne. Kathy Cohen and Lauren Firer take the Lean Six Sigma tool and in their article show how they transformed the Antideficiency Act process. And from NATO's Chief of Resources Bill Thomas, we have a perspective on how the Department of Defense's emphasis on transformation has meaningfully made its way all the way to Brussels.

Finally, we have the winning essays for 2005, "What are the three highest hurdles in your organization's race for fiscal fitness and how would you overcome them?" I encourage all to read these insightful contributions, judged to be excellent examples of best practices throughout the services.

And congratulations to Lisa Rue, who earned the three thousandth CDFM designation. Congratulations to all of you who have achieved this designation in the recent period. By your certification you strengthen our financial management community.

Happy reading!

Richard Greco, Jr.

National President