Sam Warman (’28)

This summer I worked at Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) in the Office of the Secretary of War at the Pentagon. CAPE serves as an independent analytical office within the Department of War, providing senior leadership with non-advocate, data-driven analysis on some of the Department’s most consequential decisions involving military capabilities, force structure, resource allocation, and the defense budget.

My primary focus during the internship was supporting analysis of U.S. military posture, infrastructure investment, and logistics, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. I developed quantitative models to evaluate and prioritize tens of billions of dollars in proposed investments, including an optimization model for sustainment and modernization of critical infrastructure and a risk-assessment framework for military posture proposals. I also contributed to work on overseas logistics, force structure, and broader program policy that ultimately informed decisions at the Department’s senior leadership level.

Beyond my day-to-day work at the Pentagon, I had the opportunity to see other parts of the national security enterprise firsthand. I visited the Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division, where I learned about and saw cutting-edge weapons and defense technologies under development. Because CAPE also works closely with the White House Office of Management and Budget on defense resource and budget issues, I had the opportunity to visit the West Wing of the White House.