Aerospace Daily June 20, 2002
Cambone to become DOD director of program analysis and evaluation
By Jefferson Morris
At the request of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Stephen Cambone, the current deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, soon will take up a new position as director of program analysis and evaluation (PA&E), Cambone told a group of defense reporters June 19.
Describing the office as the "connective tissue" between defense guidance and budgeting, Cambone said the leadership change is part of an effort to change the way PA&E operates.
"As the guidance has become clearer ... in [Rumsfeld's] mind and the mind of others, the role for PA&E will shift a bit as well," he said. "And so in shifting its role and its focus, it's sometimes easier to do that by bringing in some different leadership to do that." He said his office would be analyzing programs with more of an eye toward joint operations than has been the case in the past.
Figure of controversy
"The current arrangement [is] you have the land forces group and an air group, and we're talking at this point more about joint," he said. "It's an office that sits squarely between the planning side and the budgeting side in evaluating the programs, and we want to be able to evaluate those programs in a joint context."
Unlike his current job, the new position will not require Senate confirmation, Cambone said.
Cambone has been a figure of controversy in the Pentagon, having acted as the "point person" for the most recent quadrennial defense review (QDR), according to GlobalSecurity.org President John Pike.
The QDR "basically had a mandate to break iron rice bowls, and people didn't like that too much," Pike told The DAILY. He felt that the job change would diminish Cambone's status.
"Normally one would not think of that as being a promotion, because as undersecretary of defense for policy, you basically would have your fingers in everything," Pike said. "It would certainly give him a much narrower portfolio that would be much more focused on acquisition policy issues, as opposed to everything under the sun."
Frank Gaffney, president of the Center for Security Policy, said he felt the job change is a "lateral move" that probably would not diminish Cambone's influence.
"My own feeling about it is the source of Cambone's power and stature in the building is his relationship with Rumsfeld, not the title that he has," Gaffney said. "And while nominally a Senate confirmation position ... is considered to be more exalted than the PA&E job ... to the extent that Rumsfeld continues to give him access and responsibilities, he will continue to be a significant player in the Pentagon."
Copyright 2002 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
