Yesterday, the Senate confirmed Mike McCord to be the next DoD Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and Chief Financial Officer.

McCord succeeds Bob Hale (DoD Comptroller since 2009) who has served three Secretaries of Defense—Bob Gates, Leon Panetta, and Chuck Hagel—during his tenure.

McCord brings almost 30 years of experience in defense budgetary matters to the job of Comptroller. He has been Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) since 2009. Prior to that, he served as a professional staff member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC) for 21 years. His areas of expertise on the SASC were installations and global basing matters, readiness accounts, and defense budget matters.

During his confirmation hearing, SASC chairman Sen. Carl Levin said of McCord, “many of us remember his great expertise, his work ethic, his commitment. And they qualify him well for this job.”

He also was a budget analyst on defense and veterans issues for the House Budget Committee. At the Budget Committee he specialized in military personnel programs, including personnel strength levels, pay and benefits costs, and military retirement.

McCord began his career as a military personnel analyst for the Congressional Budget Office, specializing in military personnel issues.