Nelson Ford becomes 29th Under Secretary of the Army

By Mr. Paul Boyce (FORSCOM)July 30, 2008

Mr. Nelson M. Ford became the 29th Under Secretary of the Army July 24, following being appointed by President George W. Bush and his confirmation by the U.S. Senate. As the Army's number two civilian leader, Ford serves as deputy and senior advisor to the Secretary of the Army.

Ford shares responsibility with the Secretary of the Army for resourcing, training and employing the Army, and is designated the Department's chief management officer under the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008. The U.S. Army includes more than 1.3 million active duty, National Guard, Army Reserve and civilian personnel with annual funding that exceeds $250 billion.

Previously Ford served as principal deputy then as assistant secretary of the Army for financial management and comptroller. He joined the Department of Defense in 2002 as deputy assistant secretary for health budgets and financial policy.

Prior to joining the Department of Defense, Ford was president and chief executive officer of a medical products firm. He was chief operating officer for Georgetown University Medical Center in the 1990's, a partner with Coopers and Lybrand during the 1980s, and first worked in government in the Office of Management and Budget and Health Care Financing Administration in the 1970's.

Ford holds a history degree from Duke University and a master's degree in education from the University of Delaware, with substantial post-graduate work at the University of Pennsylvania. He's married with three adult children, two of whom serve in the active-duty military.

Ford has served as under secretary in an acting capacity since December 2007 and was nominated formally in January.

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For more information, call U.S. Army Public Affairs at (703) 697-2564.