The Office of the Executive Director for Special Programs serves under the authority and direction of both the Deputy Secretary of Defense (DepSecDef) and the USD(A&S), directly reporting to the DepSecDef as the Director of the DoD Special Access Program (SAP) Central Office (SAPCO) and functionally reporting to USD(A&S) as the Director for Special Programs.
The Executive Director for Special Access Program Central Office facilitates and maintains MOAs and memorandums of understanding for foreign involvement with DoD SAPs and coordinates with appropriate oversight authorities. The Office prepares the Department’s SAP report to Congress for DepSecDef approval, provides administrative and management support to SAP congressional hearings, and prepares and coordinates responses to congressional inquiries. Serves as the cognizant authority for SAP studies, portfolios, and associated billet structures involving DoD SAPs, exclusive of service-initiated study efforts internal to the Military Departments. Provides administrative support to OSD-level Executive Committees (EXCOMs). Participates in DoD efforts to resolve security, technology transfer, and export issues; supports the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), and the foreign ownership, control, and influence certification process. In coordination with the DoD Chief Information Officer, establishes and administers governance and risk management policies to develop enterprise SAP IT strategy, telecommunications infrastructure policy, SAP network IT requirements, and network and system funding oversight policy.
After several years of conducting pilots, the Department, through the hard work of the Office of Special Programs, established the Special Access Program Corporate Portfolio Program (CPP). As we see a return to great power competition, DoD must strengthen its engagement with the DIB in order to respond to the national security challenges facing the United States in a more responsive and cost efficient manner. This program serves four purposes: increase technology development and cost efficiency by leveraging corporate technologies and capabilities in support of DoD requirements and architectures; enable informed Independent Research and Development, proposals for innovative solutions to capability gaps, better integration of products with existing capabilities, and better alignment of DIB planning with the DoD; better protect the SAP information the DIB is charged with safeguarding; and enable corporate officers and the corporations to fulfill their fiduciary responsibilities. The establishment of the CPP will better posture the DIB to support the Department and our nation to meet the challenges of this new era.