FORT LEE, Va. –
Defense Contract Management Agency’s Financial and Business Operations Executive Directorate held an Audit Stand Down here June 23.
The stand down paused routine operations and focused on the agency’s internal controls, compliance posture and audit readiness. These efforts support a recent secretary of defense memorandum, “Achieving a 2028 Unmodified Financial Statement Audit Opinion” (DCMA login required), which reinforced the Defense Department’s wholesale preparation for audit readiness and mission compliance.
For DCMA leadership, the event provided a strategic opportunity to reinforce accountability, transparence and a culture of continuous improvement across all levels of the organization.
Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Gregory Masiello, DCMA director, discussed the scope of the agency’s mission and how audits represent a significant opportunity to highlight his organization’s warfighter support and fiscal responsibility.
“Audits matter — it’s an ‘every person’ job,” he said. “The tone at the top goes down to the entire organization and has been set by the secretary of defense. We are stewards of taxpayer dollars … as of today we manage over 300,000 contracts. That’s about $8 trillion dollars’ worth. So, do we play an important part as an agency? Yes. But it’s not just for ourselves, it’s the entire DOD and the nations treasury.”
Masiello emphasized attention to detail as audit preparation moves forward.
“It’s not just my job … it’s the job of every individual throughout DCMA,” he said. “If you see something, say something. That’s the mentality we should have. I don’t look at audits as a scary, punitive term. I look at it as the way we do business. If we’re doing business correctly then people can come in and give us a clean bill of health, and we move on.”
Cherry Wilcoxon, Financial and Business Operations executive director, said the stand down empowered leaders to take deliberate action in shaping an organization that is resilient, transparent and always audit-ready.
“We all have a responsibility to make sure we’re doing things in accordance with compliance,” Wilcoxon said. “We’re supposed to make sure we have internal controls in place that will prevent fraud, waste and abuse that’s going on. We need to get these internal controls in place, set policies, have standard operating procedures and make certain that we’re following them.”
This concept includes a clear priority: addressing risk management as a driver of audit readiness, accountability and public trust, while supporting the shift toward a proactive, audit-ready environment that integrates compliance into daily operations, the FB executive director said. Audit Stand Down Day is not a one-time event, but a milestone in DCMA’s ongoing journey toward operational excellence and fiscal responsibility.