Pursuant to section 901(b) of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2021 (Public Law 116-283), Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks has directed the transfer of each responsibility assigned to, and the personnel, functions, and assets of the former Chief Management Officer (CMO) of the Department of Defense to other DoD officials or organizations, effective Oct. 1, 2021. In summary:
- The authorities of the CMO will revert back to the Deputy Secretary of Defense, as the Chief Operating Officer of DoD, and the functions and responsibilities of the former CMO will transfer to Office of the Secretary of Defense Principal Staff Assistants (PSAs).
- The Director of Administration and Management (DA&M) will be designated as the Performance Improvement Officer and serve as the senior official for Defense Reform under the Deputy Secretary.
- The oversight of the Defense Business Systems will be shared by the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller) and the Chief Information Officer of the DoD.
- The Assistant to the Secretary of Defense (ATSD) for Intelligence Oversight (IO) will be combined with the Privacy Civil Liberty and Transparency (PCLT) functions under a new official called the ATSD (PCLT).
The realignments of former CMO responsibilities represent only the latest step in the ongoing efforts to improve strategic-level management and oversight at the highest levels of the department. The department will review these arrangements after one year to assess any potential need for adjustments.
More detail on the functional transfer of former CMO responsibilities can be found here.