At the Pentagon's heart

"The job of comptroller is so central to Defense Department operations, because the lifeblood of the Pentagon is money, and people know that you are the person responsible for pumping oxygenated blood throughout the system on a daily basis," said John Hamre, who rose from comptroller to the Pentagon's No. 2 job -- deputy secretary of Defense -- during the Clinton Administration. "The comptroller's office is also a key linchpin connecting the Pentagon and Congress, because increasingly over the last 20 years, Congress gives direction to the Defense Department by controlling how it spends money." And because the comptroller is the Pentagon's money juggler, his is a uniquely important job: It's the comptroller who has a key role in presenting choices to a new President striving to fulfill a campaign promise to strengthen, reform, and transform the military -- all while not spending much more money.

By most accounts, Zakheim is a good fit for the post, in terms of both personal temperament and experience. He was deputy defense undersecretary for planning and resources during the Reagan Administration, where he earned a reputation as an able troubleshooter. One of the toughest challenges for Zakheim -- an American Orthodox Jew -- was leading the Pentagon's campaign to kill Israel's Lavi fighter jet program, which was being funded largely with U.S. military aid. In the process, Zakheim displayed a talent for personal persuasion, knowledge of Pentagon inner workings and the defense industry, and skill in international diplomacy. Since leaving the Pentagon, Zakheim has served on a couple of Pentagon task forces, and was chief executive officer of SPC International, a defense technology firm.

"I think Dov Zakheim is extremely well suited for the comptroller job," said Loren Thompson, a longtime defense consultant and the chief operating officer of the Lexington Institute, a conservative think tank in Arlington, Va. "He has a combination of intellect and a congenial character that makes him both respected and likable, which is important in the Pentagon bureaucracy. And, perhaps from all the time he has spent in Israel, Zakheim seems to have a genuine conviction that behind all the bureaucratic processes, this business is really about America's survival."

One of Zakheim's greatest initial challenges in the Pentagon will be getting his arms around a convoluted financial management system that still cannot accurately account for billions of dollars in defense disbursements and inventory on any given day. That explains why the comptroller's job also has a downside, said Gordon Adams, director of Security Policy Studies at George Washington University, who served at the Office of Management and Budget during the Clinton Administration. "Because the comptroller is responsible for all the fiscal sinews of the Pentagon," Adams said, "he is the first person they will call when a 'waste, fraud, and abuse' story makes the news." Return to main story