Clifton Consulting Group LLC is an independent advisory firm specializing in audit sustainment, financial integrity, logistics modernization, and enterprise process improvement for defense and federal organizations. The firm is led by Dave Clifton, a retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel and former Senior Executive with more than fifty years of combined leadership in military operations, resource management, audit readiness, and organizational transformation.

A Career Shaped by Service, Discipline, and Results

Dave’s approach to solving business problems was forged across a career of leading at the intersection of warfighting and enterprise business management.

 Marine Corps Leadership (28 Years Active Duty)

Dave served in senior logistics, programming, financial management, and policy roles across the Marine Corps and the Department of Defense. He led enterprise cost-management reforms, represented the Corps before Congress, coordinated DoD-wide program reviews, and advanced Lean Continuous Process Improvement across major commands. Through these roles, he learned a critical truth: disciplined management is not an administrative function — it is a readiness function.

Senior Executive Leader (18 Years Federal Civil Service)

After retiring from active duty, Dave became one of the Marine Corps’ long serving Senior Executives. His accomplishments include:

– First Deputy Commander, Marine Corps Installations Command: oversaw 25 installations and a $4B portfolio.

– Executive Deputy, Marine Corps Logistics Command: led three ERP implementations, improved inventory accuracy from ~40% to 98% across 30M+ items, strengthened DLA integration, accelerated civilian hiring timelines, and improved repair-cycle readiness.

– Transformation leadership across audit readiness, Lean/CPI, supply chain modernization, and global prepositioning. He has recently published four peer-reviewed articles on sustainment of a clean audit opinion in the leading professional defense financial management journal.

Leadership Story: Transforming Under Pressure

Dave’s impactful work included the Iraq and Afghanistan wars — a period when warfighter needs consumed senior leaders’ attention. In this environment, he successfully delivered business reforms that improved readiness, accelerated battlefield equipment requests, and strengthened the Corps’ financial credibility. Modernizing before and during crisis — not after it — remains a signature of his leadership.

Clifton Consulting Today

Dave now helps clients solve their most persistent business challenges:

– Sustaining a clean audit opinion

– Improving financial accuracy and internal controls

– Modernizing logistics and supply-chain operations

– Integrating AI and robotic process automation (RPA)

– Reducing cost and cycle time through Lean methods and continuous process improvement

– Building accountable, high-performing teams

 Strategic Partnerships

Clifton Consulting collaborates with Lean Werx LLC and GayleForce Consulting, two woman-owned firms known for leadership in Lean transformation, organizational development, and operational excellence. Together, they deliver thousands of hours of training, hands-on Lean coaching, and enterprise transformation.

 Guiding Philosophy

Dave’s work is rooted in three principles:

1. Service — mission first, people always

2. Stewardship — accountable and transparent use of resources

3. Continuous Improvement — processes and systems that grow stronger over time

His goal is simple: strengthen the business systems that strengthen the warfighter.

 Personal Note

Dave lives on 25 wooded acres in rural South Carolina with his spouse of 40 years, two Labradors, five chickens, and a quarter-million honeybees.