Robert Baker Email & Phone Number

Tampa, Florida

United States Special Operations Command

I was the director of a 25-person Directorate responsible to the Commander and Chief Financial Officer for the development, submission, defense and execution of the USSOCOM Operations and Maintenance Budget to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congress. The USSOCOM Operations and Maintenance Budget totals over $7B annually and supports day-to-day Special Operations mission requirements.

United States Special Operations Command

I was the Director of a 13-person Directorate responsible to the Commander and Chief Financial Officer for the development, submission, defense and execution of USSOCOM’s Investment Budget to the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Congress. The USSOCOM Investment Budget totals over $3B annually and includes all Special Operations capital/multi-year appropriations which support procurement of weapons system, research and development activities, and military construction.

CENTCOM. Chief of 25-man Division responsible to the Commander and CENTCOM leadership for ensuring financial authorities and resources are available to support both headquarters' operations and broader coalition commands and organizations supporting U.S. strategic objectives in the CENTCOM AOR. Accomplishments in Position:Expanded the Comptroller's role beyond headquarters' operational budgets to focus on broader oversight and advocacy of ~$40B in annual authority and resource requirements supporting U.S. forces engaged forward. Developed a proactive process with higher headquarters/corporate resource sponsors to ensure timely strategic and operational authority and resource solutions.Developed, advocated, defended and obtained the legislative authorities and resources critical to Command operational plans; including the Commanders Emergency Response Program, the Coalition Support Fund and the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund.

. Led 8-man Directorate responsible to the USMC Service Component Commander on all financial matters supporting the Combatant Commands' (COCOM's) strategic and operational objectives.Accomplishments in Position:Managed the development and execution of the $1B annual operating budgets for fiscal years 2006/07 supporting Marine and Joint forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Djibouti. Secured resources supporting all operational objectives and then expertly coordinated with forward commands and Service Headquarters on the successful allocation and closeout of all financial resources.Established MARCENT's role/participation in the corporate USMC programming process. Developed a cross-functional MARCENT working group to represent MARCENT Commander priorities to HQMC/corporate review boards, thus ensuring MARCENT and COCOM warfighting requirements were fully supported in the USMC/Service Strategic 5-year Defense Program. Directed the development of the accounting structure necessary to capture all cost-of-war spending required by Congressional legislation - leading to precise funds status and reliable financial forecasts. Two GAO audits confirmed the efficiency, reliability and value of this process.

Commanded an 80-man unit responsible for the training, personnel administration, logistics support, and discipline of 13 Marine Security Guard (MSG) Detachments responsible for the protection of classified information, U.S. citizens, and property in U.S. Embassies and Consulates across South America. Accomplishments in Position:Conducted over 27 command inspections of Detachments and advised Ambassadors, Consular Generals, Security Officers, and other post officials on the mission readiness and proper employment of MSGs assigned to each post/mission. Coordinated with post officials the reduction of assigned MSG Battalion personnel, thus freeing MSGs for other assignments with no loss in mission performance.

Led 15-man Division responsible for the strategic and operational financial planning and management in support of Marine Air/Ground combat forces operating on/from the East Coast of the U.S. Accomplishments in Position:Managed significant process change and resource growth to successfully prepare and deploy U.S. Marine Forces in support of Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. Established and chaired the II MEF cross-functional Resource Allocation Board, which advised the Commander and Chief of Staff on critical resource requirements and prioritization within a fiscal constraints. Fully developed the significant resource requirements to man, train, and equip the 4th Marine Expeditionary Brigade (Anti-Terrorism) - a new II MEF force directed by the Marine Corps Commandant in response to the 9/11 attacks. Secured full higher headquarters/corporate support for the requirements to enable operational readiness within an extremely short timeline.

Managed ~20 financial analysts responsible for the $3B USMC O&M Appropriation/Budget.Accomplishments in Position:Compiled and defended the 2002/03 USMC O&M Appropriations translating broad program objectives into accurately priced and executable budgets. Coordinated actions to complete complex and detailed budgets that were meticulously reviewed and fully supported by DoN, OSD, OMB, and the Congress as part of a confrontational process designed to adjust budgets. Demonstrated initiative and complex problem solving by leading an effort to coordinate and gain consensus from HQMC and USMC field commands on contentious base support funding levels.

Lead Financial Analyst of a small change management team responsible to implement USMC's "Revolution in Business Affairs" Program designed to improve the management and measurement of activities on all USMC installations. Accomplishments in Position:Provided a leading role with a major non-profit cost management organization to develop the USMC's original concepts for implementing activity/performance-based resource management.Organized a working group comprised of HQMC and field installation stakeholders to develop a comparable scorekeeping methodology that measured total cost across all USMC installations. Methodology implemented cost/benefit investment decisions and the achievement of installation savings without the degradation of mission performance - program affected an investment of ~$450 million that produced nearly $1B in savings across USMC installations.

Ms, Financial Management

Graduated with distinction with GPA of 3.92 (Department of Navy award as top financial management student).

B.S, Forestry