Photo By Nicholas Rau | Tech. Sgt. Wesley Stakely, 455th Air Expeditionary Wing finance office customer...... read more read more
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BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan - War costs money.
This idea has been reiterated throughout the decade and a half of conflict America has been engaged in Afghanistan. Making it critically important that the Air Force have a unit dedicated to making sure every taxpayer dollar is being used responsibly to support the warfighter.
Airmen of the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing finance office do exactly that. They are tasked with customer support for all service members and civilians, as well as budget management of the $75 million Air Force allotment.
“Our financial management mission is two-fold in Afghanistan. We have a financial customer service mission and a budget management mission,” said 1st Lt. Blair Roberts, 455th AEW budget officer. “We are tasked with squaring away the warfighter’s pay and entitlements so he or she can focus on getting the job done. On the budget side, we have a responsibility to make sure the wing has the tools to accomplish the mission while ensuring the taxpayer dollar is being spent appropriately.”
The finance office provides a multitude of customer services to members at Bagram. Some of the services offered include Eagle Cash card issue, verification and explanation of entitlements while serving in the area of responsibility, assistance with the Savings Deposit Program, and accrual travel voucher assistance.
In addition to customer service, the finance office is tasked with providing funding for goods and services crucial to mission success throughout Afghanistan.
“Money is a weapons system and nothing we do in this country happens for free,” explained Tech. Sgt. Robert Shearer, 455th AEW finance office noncommissioned officer in charge and paying agent. “We are the only Air Force finance office providing organic Air Force support in Afghanistan. We have a responsibility to support our Airmen on the ground while ensuring sufficient return on investment to the American taxpayer.”
In an expeditionary environment, the mission is not without challenges. Each individual, whether coming back from the field or just arriving from home station, has unique circumstances and situations. No matter the scenario, the finance office finds ways to take care of Airmen.
“A lot of the problems we see are with members arriving and needing help with something from their home station,” said Tech. Sgt. Wesley Stakely, 455th AEW finance office customer service technician. “We have created systems that are plug-and-play for efficiency and we network with their units back home to solve the problem. All of this is to make it easier for the member to focus on the mission.”
Another issue that the finance office works to solve is that often times Airmen don’t speak DoD finance. Budgets are intricate and complicated and the responsibility of getting everyone on the same page falls to a few financially adept Airmen.
“Not everyone here is a finance person and they don’t always understand the requirements of planning and executing an Air Force budget,” said Senior Airman Paige Peltenon, 455th AEW finance office budget technician. “I go out and directly interact with the additional duty resource advisors and provide them with whatever assistance that they need. It’s all to make sure we are getting the right-sized requirements correct for the unit.”
While the four-member team is small, the workload is anything but. Since October 2015 they have assisted in 538 savings deposit programs - totaling more than $2 million contributed - managed $619,000 in construction projects for future forces and served 3,244 individual customers.
The hard work of the 455 AEW Finance Office is done to make sure Airmen are taken care of both in their pay and their mission needs. At the end of the day, the most crucial Air Force assets to the successful mission in Afghanistan are Airmen.
| Date Taken: | 02.18.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 02.17.2016 23:56 |
| Story ID: | 189101 |
| Location: | BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 1,359 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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