Army Service Day.

Evangeline (Helen) Lorio

Dr.Craig College

Deputy Director of Army Program

Analysis and Evaluation

The Honorable Paul J. Hoeper

Assistant Secretary for Acquisition

Logistics and Technology

The Honorable Mahlon Apgar

Assistant Secretary for Installations and

Logistics

Mr. Robert Bartholomew III

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Manpower and Reserve Affairs

Over 900 Army civilians and military members attended this year's Army Service Day on May 31 at the Convention Center in Philadelphia. The morning general session and ten afternoon workshops were held in conjunction with the annual Professional Development Institute (PDI) of the American Society of Military Comptrollers (ASMC).

In the two-hour general session of all Army attendees, the Honorable Helen T. McCoy, Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller), welcomed ASMC members. She presented the Army's top annual resource management awards to Linda Crouch and Bill Guillaume of Training and Doctrine Command and to LTC Douglas Shipp of the Office of the ASA (FM&C). In recognizing these and other award recipients, Assistant Secretary McCoy underscored support for the Army's new vision and transformation plan and shared the platform with several other senior Army officials.

Dr. Craig College confirmed that today's Army remains trained and ready to support the national military strategy. The Army will be more heavily engaged in peacetime shaping than ever before, and in ten to fifteen years, Army transformation aims to achieve a land force that is responsive, deployable, agile, versatile, and lethal.

The Honorable Paul J. Hoeper discussed Army transformation from the materiel perspective. He touched on the need for and flow of action in recapitalizing and rebuilding equipment and on the future fielding of initial and interim rapidly deployable brigades.

The Honorable Mahlon Apgar stressed differences between competitive sourcing and privatization. Competitive sourcing is contracting out under provisions of Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-76. This process may or may not shift work from government to contractor performance. Privatization shifts all of the work and mission requirements for an activity and transfers the assets to do it. Mr. Apgar also noted we couldn't afford to continue maintaining vastly underutilized capital resources.

Mr. Robert Bartholomew III focused on transforming concepts, doctrines, the military force, and the institutional Army civilian workforce. Average age of the civilian workforce, now 47, continues to climb. The indication is that we must maintain or boost intern intake (950 more scheduled for next fiscal year) and fully execute annual manpower programs.

In response to a question about more base realignments and closures (BRAC), the answer was, "We hope so, but don't know when, and maybe we should also pursue other things besides BRAC."

Presentations of the following ten afternoon Army Day workshops are accessible by visiting the ASA (FM&C) Web site at http://www. asafm.army.mil.

Stored Value Card (SVC), Mr. Juan A. De Jesus (FO). Overview of the OASA (FM&C) SVC programs being used in Army basic training and in Bosnia; partnership, history, rationale for using SVC as a cash management tool, and lessons learned.

Army Defense Travel System, Ms. Barbara Jefferson, DTS Program Manager, and Mr. Bill Stefan, DTS staff Defense Travel System (DTS) is envisioned as a "seamless, paperless temporary duty travel system that meets the needs of travelers and commanders, reduces costs, supports mission requirements, and provides superior customer service."

To realize that vision, DTS has developed a training and deployment schedule to field the system. Fort Campbell, KY last May and June tested the electronic end-to-end process from creating travel orders to filing after-trip claim vouchers. DTS is the full-up system interfacing with all relevant accounting systems. DTS-Limited assists in transitioning to the new culture of travel and adjusting to process changes required for full DTS use. DTS-L gives late scheduled sites some advance preparation time to get used to full DTS so that the switchover can occur more easily.

Problem Disbursement Panel, Mr. Ronald H. Jones, Lead (FO). ASA (FM&C) and Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) representatives answered questions and discussed disbursement problems, issues, and concerns expressed by the Army's major commands.

On-Line Report Viewing (OLRV), Ms. Andrea White (DFAS). OLRV, the DFAS standard paperless initiative, takes data reports out of a system and generates an electronic copy (softcopy) of the report.

Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreements (ACSA), Mr. Richard Van Beest and Ms. Debra Gold (USAREUR). Purpose and intent of the ACSA program, general requirements and conditions for its use, and parties responsible for executing and administering ACSAs.

Defense Finance and Accounting Update, Mr. Steve Bonta and Mr. Michael Dugan (DFAS). Obligation matrix, problem disbursements, the single stock fund, and the impact of all on DFAS operating locations.

Activity-Based Costing Panel, Mr. Stephen T. Bagby (USACEAC). Insight into Army's current cost management initiative featuring activity-based costing (ABC), being implemented Army-wide in eleven business areas. Highlighted the ABC software, reviewed newly available training courses, and answered audience questions.

Multi-Disciplined Financial Analyst, Ms. Mary L. Beal (PO). The comptroller careerist of the future must be multi-functional, multi-dimensional, and capable of handling various situations with confidence and skill. The multi-disciplined financial analyst initiative is designed to achieve these objectives with well-defined training and development plans.

Accreditation is a systematic approach to validating credentials of Army financial management personnel. Its objective is to systematically achieve a quality level of professional development through mandatory and recommended courses and training for all financial management personnel. There are four levels of accreditation. To determine one's level of accreditation, check the requirements specified at each level.

The employee completes a comptroller accreditation evaluation form (AEF) and a comptroller three-year individual development plan (3yIDP). The supervisor then completes an accreditation evaluation worksheet. Check the Web site for more information and forms that are available online: http://www.asafm.army.mill and dick on Proponency.

Proper Use of Elements of Resource (EORs), Ms. Cindy Custer, Ms. Ilse Kleiman, and Mr. Samuel Brown (ABO). Appropriate use of elements of resource, access to OMB and Defense guidance on object classification, concern in contract obligations, anticipated future changes, and use of functional cost accounts to further identify items. Congress reviews object class trends when making appropriation decisions. High-visibility object classes include advisory and assistant services, other service contracts, and purchases from revolving funds.

In the 1999 Defense authorization bill, Congress mandated that for each appropriation during that year and this, Object Class 25.2, Other Services, would not exceed 30 percent of Object Class 25, Contract Services. Starting October 1 the limitation drops to 15 percent, and we can soon expect General Accounting Office compliance audits. To be ready for such audits and to pass them, consider these helpful hints:

* In determining which EOR to use, classify the resource according to what is bought and not how it is bought or purchased.

* Perform monthly or quarterly review of obligations, citing EORs in the contracting ([25.sup.**]) series.

* Consult DFAS Manual 37-100-xx and any changes to ensure correct use of EORs.

* Train budget analysts in the proper use of EORs.

* Review the EORs of object classes [26.sup.**], Supplies and Material Purchases, and [31.sup.**], Equipment Purchases. The DFAS manual for FY 2002 will have a new section on these elements of resource.

A functional cost account (FCA) is a five digit code identifying specific functions within a project oran Army management structure code (AMSCO). FCAs help retain identity of designated high-visibility cost items. They also help to cut down the number of EORs and can thereby reduce the percentage of "other services" in Object Class 25.2 below the statutory percentage limitations. FCAs are valid only during the year of execution and are not used to program or budget funds. The following ten functional cost account categories are more fully described in DFAS-IN Manual 37-100-00:

B Medical Research, Development and Operations

C Costing of Commercial Activities

D Base Closure/Reductions in Force

E Intelligence Command Program

F Contingency Functional Cost Accounts

F9 Miscellaneous Functional Cost Accounts

P Productivity Capital Investment Program

R Morale, Welfare and Recreation 

T Panama Canal Treaty

Y Counter Narcotics Program

Cost of Doing Business, Ms. Donna Rovere, Corps of Engineers Huntsville Center (CEHC). How CEHC sets and keeps an organizational standard of excellence that it challenges all Army activities to achieve. CEHC people see themselves as a customer-oriented, knowledge- and service-based organization that operates like a business. They earn their operating funds from customers' funded orders and establish a buyer-seller relationship that must produce quality products on time and at the least possible cost.

Since 1996, CEHC has earned eighteen DoD and Army awards. In 1998 and 1999 they earned the President's Quality Award for their "systematic approach," described as "a repeatable method that is aligned with organizational strategy; executed by enabled and empowered employees; focused on needs and requirements of the customer; measured to evaluate performance and to establish trends; compare themselves to competitors, and to continuously improve." The center manages its operations through eight phases, from inputs to results. Their own metrics for cost trends and productivity aid in managing human, technical, and customer resources.

CEHC uses Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award principles to continually improve measured performance variables and results. For example, during the years 1996-99, as compared to 1992-95, they achieved $69 million in customer savings while increasing customer satisfaction 20 percent by reducing costs and increasing productivity.

CEHC uses three types of teams: corporate, program, and functional. Each level establishes goals and metrics to measure progress. Through a formal measurement and goal-setting process, they recognize contributions and award team accomplishments. They use a 360-degree performance management review process that provides feedback from everyone involved in a task or project from supervisors through customer satisfaction. This feed-back measures "behaviors" rather than results. The feedback is anonymous: it uses numerical ratings captured in a PC-based application that computes scores. Constant feedback based on meaningful metrics achieves a constantly "growing within," highly supportive organization focused on satisfied customers.

Helen Lorio is a Budget Analyst in the Investment Directorate of the Army Budget Office. She has a bachelor's degree in account-log and a master's degree in business administration from City University, Seattle, WA.

Rod Bricksin is a Program Analyst in the Office of the ASA (FM&C). He is a graduate of the University of Illinois and the Army Comptrollership Program at Syracuse University. He currently serves as Army Vice President of the American Society of Military Comptrollers, Washington Chapter