# Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management & Comptroller)

The Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller (SAF/FM) is a civilian official in the United States Department of the Air Force.

## Responsibilities

According to U.S. law, there are five civilian Assistant Secretaries of the Air Force appointed by the President of the United States upon the advice and consent of the United States Senate. They assist the United States Secretary of the Air Force and the United States Under Secretary of the Air Force. One of the five assistant secretaries is the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management & Comptroller), who is responsible for "the exercise of the comptroller functions of the Department of the Air Force, including financial management functions." The duties expressly given to the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management & Comptroller) include determining the Department of the Air Force's budget estimates (in conjunction with the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)), supervising the department's financial management system, and overseeing the department's asset management system. The assistant secretary is also responsible for developing a five-year plan for improving the department's financial management, which plan must be updated annually. The Assistant Secretary also must submit an annual report to the Secretary of the Air Force detailing the state of the department's financial management.

## Subordinates

The Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management and Comptroller) is supported by a principal deputy as well as senior leaders responsible for budget, cost and economics, and financial operations. The following are the key positions on the assistant secretary's staff.
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller (SAF/FM), a civilian member of the Senior Executive Service
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Budget (SAF/FMB), a major general
   * Director for Budget Operations and Personnel (SAF/FMBO), a brigadier general
   * Director for Budget Investment (SAF/FMBI), a civilian member of the Senior Executive Service
   * Director for Budget Management and Execution (SAF/FMBM), a civilian member of the Senior Executive Service
   * Director for Budget Programs (SAF/FMBP), a colonel
   * Director for Budget and Appropriations Liaison (SAF/FMBL), a colonel
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cost and Economics (SAF/FMC), a civilian member of the Senior Executive Service
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Operations (SAF/FMP), a civilian member of the Senior Executive Service
   * Chief Information Officer, a civilian member of the Senior Executive Service
The Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management and Comptroller) also oversees the Air Force Financial Services Center, the Air Force Cost Analysis Agency, and the Financial Management Center of Expertise.

## List of Assistant Secretaries of the Air Force (Financial Management & Comptroller)

The first three appointees served as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Management). That office was re-designated as Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management and Comptroller) on 1 August 1954. The office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management and Comptroller) was disbanded on 27 March 1987. At that time, all Air Force financial management functions were consolidated under the Air Force Comptroller (a military position filled by a lieutenant general). The office of the Air Force Comptroller was disbanded on 1 July 1989 when the position of Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management and Comptroller) was re-established. Since that date, all Air Force financial management and comptroller functions have been directed by a presidentially appointed assistant secretary.
| Appointee | Assumed office | Left office | President appointed by | Secretary served under |
| Eugene M. Zuckert | 26 September 1947 | 2 July 1952 | Harry S. Truman | W. Stuart Symington; Thomas K. Finletter |
| James T. Hill, Jr. | 5 July 1952 | 20 January 1953 | Harry S. Truman | Thomas K. Finletter |
| H. Lee White | 16 February 1953 | 2 July 1954 | Dwight D. Eisenhower | Harold E. Talbott |
| Lyle S. Garlock | 23 August 1954 | 15 October 1961 | Dwight D. Eisenhower; John F. Kennedy | Donald A. Quarles; Dudley C. Sharp; Eugene M. Zuckert |
| Neil E. Harlan | 3 January 1962 | 15 April 1964 | John F. Kennedy; Lyndon Johnson | Eugene M. Zuckert |
| Leonard Marks, Jr. | 26 June 1964 | 31 December 1967 | Lyndon Johnson | Eugene M. Zuckert; Harold Brown |
| Thomas H. Nielsen | 1 January 1968 | 23 June 1969 | Lyndon Johnson | Harold Brown; Robert C. Seamans, Jr. |
| Spencer J. Schedler | 24 June 1969 | 1 April 1973 | Richard Nixon | Robert C. Seamans, Jr. |
| William W. Woodruff | 2 April 1973 | 31 July 1975 | Richard Nixon | Robert C. Seamans, Jr.; John L. McLucas |
| W. Francis Hughes | 17 March 1976 | 14 September 1976 | Gerald Ford | Thomas C. Reed |
| Everett T. Keech | 15 September 1976 | 31 August 1977 | Gerald Ford | Thomas Reed; John C. Stetson |
| John A. Hewitt, Jr. | 27 February 1978 | 4 November 1979 | Jimmy Carter | John C. Stetson; Hans Mark |
| Charles W. Snodgrass | 18 June 1980 | 20 January 1981 | Jimmy Carter | Hans Mark |
| Russell D. Hale | 18 June 1981 | 29 February 1984 | Ronald Reagan | Verne Orr |
| Richard E. Carver | 3 October 1984 | 26 March 1987 | Ronald Reagan | Verne Orr; Russell A. Rourke; Edward C. Aldridge, Jr. |
| Michael B. Donley | 1 December 1989 | 19 January 1993 | George H. W. Bush | Donald Rice |
| Robert F. Hale | 30 March 1994 | 20 January 2001 | Bill Clinton | Sheila Widnall; F. Whitten Peters |
| Michael Montelongo | 6 August 2001 | 24 March 2005 | George W. Bush | James G. Roche |
| John H. Gibson | 19 December 2008 | 20 January 2009 | George W. Bush | Michael Wynne; Michael B. Donley |
| Jamie M. Morin | 19 June 2009 | 25 June 2014 | Barack Obama | Michael B. Donley; Deborah Lee James |
| Lisa S. Disbrow | 31 July 2014 | 20 January 2016 | Barack Obama | Deborah Lee James |
| Ricardo A. Aguilera (acting) | 1 February 2016 | April 2017 | Barack Obama | Deborah Lee James |
| John P. Roth | 2 January 2018 | 20 January 2021 | Donald Trump | Heather Wilson Matthew Donovan (acting) Barbara Barrett |
| Stephen Herrara (acting) | 20 January 2021 | 4 May 2022 | Joe Biden | John P. Roth (acting) Frank Kendall III |
| Kristyn E. Jones | 4 May 2022 | 10 July 2024 | Joe Biden | Frank Kendall III |
| Carlos Rodgers (acting) | 10 July 2024 | Incumbent | Joe Biden | Frank Kendall III |