Office Of The Under Secretary of Defense For Personnel & Readiness

Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for
Personnel & Readiness

Personnel & Readiness

MISSION

We are on a mission to ensure a strong, adaptable, and ready force supported through exceptional policy, programs, and services.

Civilian Personnel Policy (CPP) Leadership

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Civilian Personnel Policy

Mr. Michael A Cogar

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense

Mr. Michael A. Cogar is the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Civilian Personnel Policy, a role he assumed on May 19, 2025. In this capacity, he oversees the development and implementation of civilian workforce plans, policies, and programs impacting over 945,000 Department of Defense employees worldwide. His responsibilities span the Human Capital Lifecycle—civilian compensation and benefits, labor employee relations, senior executive development, Equal Employment Opportunity and Civilian Anti-Harassment, talent acquisition, development, sustainment, performance management, strategic workforce planning, and civilian leader development—optimizing civilian capabilities to enhance operational lethality. Mr. Cogar’s skillset lends itself to the development of merit-based workforce strategies to align civilian talent with mission-critical needs and streamline Human Resources policy and procedures to increase readiness, ensuring a lean, high-performing workforce to support the Warfighter.

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Cogar served as the Strategic Communications Lead and Change Management Deputy at Booz Allen Hamilton, where he played an essential role in the U.S. Army’s Integrated Personnel and Pay System – Army (IPPS-A) deployment, a transformative human capital modernization effort for 1.1 million soldiers. He crafted and executed comprehensive communication and change management strategies to facilitate the transition to a digital human resource system, leading a cross-functional team to align workforce policies, enhance stakeholder engagement, and drive adoption across the Total Force.

As Acting Deputy Director of Communications at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), he managed communications for 2.4 million federal civil servants, shaped workforce policy messaging, and led crisis management strategies during the national “Opening up America Again” initiative. A U.S. Army veteran, Mr. Cogar served as a Non-Commissioned Officer with two tours in Iraq, earning a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star Medal with “V” device for his leadership and service.

Mr. Cogar holds a B.S. in Political Science from Old Dominion University. He is a certified Change Management Advanced Practitioner (CMAP) through Georgetown University and a Project Management Professional (PMP) through the Project Management Institute.

Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense

Mr. Zev Goldrich

Principal Director

Mr. Zev Goldrich is the Principal Director for Civilian Personnel Policy. He assumed the duties as the Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Civilian Personnel Policy on May 2, 2024. His responsibilities are to provide the development and oversight of civilian workforce plans, policies and programs that affect over 945,000 defense employees worldwide. His portfolio spans the full spectrum of the Human Capital Lifecycle, to include talent acquisition, development, and sustainment, systems evaluation and improvement, performance management, strategic workforce and succession planning, and leader development.

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Goldrich served as the Deputy Assistant Director of National Intelligence for Human Capital at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), where he was responsible for the design, development, and execution of workforce solutions for the Nation's intelligence agencies. He assumed the role of Acting Assistant Director of National Intelligence for Human Capital in September 2021.

Mr. Goldrich was appointed as a Senior Executive initially in the Intelligence Community in 2017, where he served as the Chief Intelligence Human Capital Officer for Naval Intelligence, the senior advisor to U.S. Navy and Marine Corps leadership on civilian and select military intelligence workforce matters. Mr. Goldrich has held various leadership positions, he served as the Director, Civilian Human Resources for Naval Intelligence, where he and his team developed and implemented a range of innovative human capital products and services to support and grow the Navy's intelligence workforce. Mr. Goldrich has held multiple positions at the DoD, including as the Deputy Director of Human Resources and the Director for Strategic Planning and Management at the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), as well as HR Advisor at the Defense Civilian Personnel Advisory Service.

Mr. Goldrich holds a B.A. from Rutgers University, and an M.A. from Columbia University in organizational psychology. In addition, he is a graduate of the DoD Executive Leadership Development Program, a Lean Six Sigma Blackbelt, and served as an Executive Fellow at the Brookings Institution, Executive Education Program.