BALTIMORE -- BALTIMORE, Md. – Members of the Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation participated in a base tour June 1, 2017, at Warfield Air National Guard Base, Middle River, Maryland.
The CAPE mission is to provide the Department of Defense with timely, insightful and unbiased analysis on resource allocation and cost estimation problems to deliver the optimum portfolio of military capabilities through efficient and effective use of each taxpayer dollar.
CAPE helps to shape the Department of Defense’s budget on an annual basis, said Col. Nashid Salahuddin, commander of the 175th Mission Support Group. We have approximately 16 CAPE analysts, who are primarily GS employees, and have had very limited exposure to the National Guard.
“The National Guard Bureau arranged for them to come and visit us today,” said Salahuddin. “The 175th Wing is representing the entire National Guard, not just the Air National Guard. This gives them an opportunity to get exposure to an actual ANG wing.”
The visiting CAPE members were given a tour of wing facilities and listened to various speakers talk about mission sets, said Salahuddin. The Maryland Army National Guard was present to talk about their missions, as well.
“The analysts here are making billion dollar decisions and they spend most of their time in the Pentagon,” said Salahuddin. “We hope to get them exposed to the National Guard so they can put a face to the missions we have. So as they are thinking about where defense money is going to go, they can think about their tour here, the missions we have, and the amazing people we have.
As they perform their analytical work, their exposure to the Maryland National Guard will help them shape their decisions, said Salahuddin.