Command Accountability and Execution Review (CAER) Program

CAER. What is it?
The Command Accountability and Execution Review (CAER) Program is the U.S. Army’s premier fiscal stewardship program. CAER provides commanders with visibility of the command fiscal health that did not exist prior to the implementation of this program. It holds leaders, at every echelon, responsible and accountable for stewardship of the tax dollars they receive and provides them with the tools to be successful.

CAER focuses on three areas of financial management:
• Operations and Management (O&M) De-obligations - O&M is only available for one year, when de-obligated, these funds are not legally available for incurring any new purchases.
• Under-execution of the O&M budget - Ensuring all funding provided by Congress is applied to top priority requirements in the fiscal year directly affects Army readiness.
• Uncollected Reimbursables - When Army provides services to other agencies, reimbursement for those services ensures Army money supports the Army priorities.

What are the current and past efforts of the Army?
In the past two decades, fiscal stewardship efforts have lacked process standardization, tools, and training required to be successful. To address this vulnerability, on Dec. 14, 2017, the Secretary of the Army directed the establishment of CAER to maximize the Army’s purchasing power, requiring active management of O&M funds by leaders and to decrease the number of de-obligations. The CAER program relies heavily on leadership involvement with detailed reviews at three echelons: Command, Headquarters, Department of the Army (HQDA), and across the DOD enterprise. After 18 months of CAER the results are concrete. We are changing the Finance and Comptroller culture from one of executing budgets to one of optimizing commander purchasing power. In FY18's first expired year, we reduced De-obligations by 68%; making significant improvements across the three problem areas of Transportation, Service Contracts, and Supply Transactions. FY19 execution achieved a disbursement rate of 60% and numerous data informed funding decisions were made throughout the year based on CAER metrics. This past FY also saw great progress working with our enterprise partners to improve our use of ERPs and the reduction of rework resulting from UMTs. FY20 will build upon this success, and lessons learned, to improve training, reduce de-obligation risk, and optimize purchasing power to build readiness and lethality.

What continued efforts does the Army have planned?
The Army is committed to optimizing the money it receives by efficiently executing its budget. It is the Army’s responsibility to make every dollar count, while continuing to increase readiness and lethality.

Why is this important to the Army?
CAER enables commanders to maximize every dollar they receive to build readiness and lethality. Prudent execution of the Army’s budget allows the Army to pursue its modernization goals. These actions enable the Army to support the National Defense Strategy, by optimizing the value of every dollar.