Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) was established as The Office of Program Analysis and Evaluation in 1961. The office is located within the Office of the Secretary of Defense and reports directly to the Secretary. The staff includes a combination of civilian government employees, military officers from all branches of service, and contractor support. CAPE’s civilian staff is drawn from a variety of academic disciplines, including, but not limited to, physics, economics, mathematics and engineering. The CAPE staff is recognized as among the most capable in the Pentagon. CAPE provides independent analytic advice to the Secretary of Defense on all aspects of the Defense program. CAPE has no decision authority or line responsibility and has no vested interest in any sector of the defense budget. CAPE is a reflection of the particular Secretary of Defense for whom it is working, and its actions have been tailored to their objectives, including the often unpopular but necessary task of fitting the Defense program to the budgetary limits set for the Department by the President.