Top 3 for 2013 - Winslow Wheeler on DoD financial management

Friday - 1/4/2013, 6:10pm EST

Winslow Wheeler, director of the Straus Military Reform Project

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Financial management at the Defense Department has, at times, seemed an oxymoron.

Winslow Wheeler, director of the Straus Military Reform Project at the Center for Defense Information (part of the Project on Government Oversight), says the Pentagon needs to get serious about about tracking spending in 2013.

Winslow Wheeler's Top 3 for 2013
  1. Appoint a tough minded downsizer or Pentagon insider who knows all the bureaucratic games to be secretary of defense. Sadly, none of the people on Obama's reported short list, including former Senator Chuck Hagel, can cut the mustard.

  2. Insist that the Pentagon learn what happens to the money it spends: current plans to achieve financial management integrity are way too timid and incomplete. How can you cut a budget if you don't know how the money is actually spent?

  3. Stop doing things that make our forces smaller, older and less trained.

Tags: In Depth, Top 3 for 2013, Francis Rose, Winslow Wheeler, DoD, financial management