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U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY – What is the “behind-the-scenes” power that procures bombs for jets, pens on desks, and Airmen into operational areas? Beautiful, crisp cash! If you didn’t already know, money fuels the fight, but what is the difference between home station financial operations and deployed missions?
While deployed, the financial management agency funds anything from the travel between operating locations to infrastructure that provides security to Airmen and servicemembers.
“Back home we are usually supporting more of a training mission, and we don’t get to physically see what happens with most of the things we procure,” said an Air Expeditionary Wing comptroller. “In a deployed environment, we have less personnel so we are much closer to the mission and we get to see a lot more of our impact.”
During deployments, finance is responsible for ensuring money is available for operational needs, which sometimes requires having physical cash for tasks with locals that have limited access to international banks.
“A lot of times, if things can’t be paid by electronic funds transfers, we have to use cash,” said Skok “We also pay in cash to foreign national partners and U.S. contractors, while offering the best exchange rate for members in the deployed area.”
While it's just one aspect of their mission, it's one of the most visible portions of what they offer to the base, and is recognized by high and low channels when cash dwindles. Luckily, there is a routine process to procure the cash assets needed for operational success.
Traditionally, when the cash cage runs low, finance Airmen will forward deploy to another wing within the area of responsibility that acts as a hub for United States Dollars (USD) for the region. Due to competing mission priorities, flights to the hub sometimes get re-routed. This inspired the team to brainstorm solutions in order to quickly get cash on hand.
In the midst of this brainstorming, a top priority task arose that required more cash than they had.
“We had a time sensitive mission that required cash to accomplish the mission,” said Skok. “We normally don’t keep that much U.S. currency, only local currency, but because they needed it, we had to figure out a solution quickly.”
Airmen are empowered at the tactical level and often required to think outside the box in order to accomplish the mission. This team knew what was needed and how to get there. After monitoring inbound flights from the hub to the wing, they contacted the hub’s financial management office to see if there was a courier able to board the flight and transport the vital funds quickly across the region. The support from leadership was immediate as the request for funds was necessary. By securing a courier and mission , a briefcase was packed, with tens of thousands of dollars, and was on its way to a forward location.
“Having cash on base helps to ensure the safety of U.S. personnel while still enabling mission accomplishment,” said the comptroller.
The financial management team enables safety, security and mission accomplishment while ensuring deployed Airmen are taken care of with correct pay and entitlements. Knowing the impact they have on the mission is a source of pride for this team.
“We know that a lot of the things that we buy here help keep people safe, and we know that what we do makes a difference,” said the finance lead.
U.S. Air Forces Central deployed Air Expeditionary Wings are globally postered to protect and defend freedom of coalition allies and regional partners. Through agencies like finance, this effort is able to be funded and executed, leading to an effective and lethal force. Afterall, if there are no bucks, there's no boom.
| Date Taken: | 08.06.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 08.25.2024 12:13 |
| Story ID: | 479364 |
| Location: | (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION) |
| Web Views: | 562 |
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This work, Desperate times lead to adaptable teams, by SrA David Lynn, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
