Centralizing Air Force financial services: centralization will dramatically transform the majority of Air Force financial services.

United States Air Force (USAF) financial management is undergoing the greatest single change in its 60-year history as most services are centralized. Currently, USAF financial services are being provided by 93 separate financial service offices (FSOs) located at active and reserve bases around the world. While these FSOs have adequately served customers' financial needs (such as travel reimbursement and military pay), the centralization of services offers the opportunity for improved efficiency.

Typically and under the current process, airmen have to leave their work areas to make inconvenient cross-base trips to complete face-to-face financial transactions at the FSOs--often resulting in wasted time and money. In a move to address the needs of customers and improve overall efficiency, the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force (Financial Management and Comptroller) (SAF/FM) and. more specifically, the financial management staff (SAF/FMT/FMPT/FMPW) are working an initiative to centralize financial services at the Air Force Financial Services Center (AFFSC).

What Centralization Will Change ...

The AFFSC, located at Ellsworth Air Force Base (AFB), South Dakota. will centralize and transform me majority of financial services, with the goals of improving efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery while reducing the need for time-consuming, face-to-face interactions. These changes have been modeled on best practices found in the private sector and nave been identified as a model in military financial management customer service. In addition, these changes correspond with Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne's Air Force Smart Operations 21, which focuses on increasing value to the customer, eliminating waste, saving money and time, and improving quality.

So now will AFFSC change Air Force financial services? And what won't change?

Various changes will occur during two phases of implementation that are to be initiated and completed one year apart. Phase I will conclude with the opening of the Central Processing Center (CPC) in October 2007. The CPC will consolidate "backshop" transactions that now are being performed by the customer support section of each base-level financial services office. The mission of the CPC will be to process accurately and efficiently travel and military pay documents, as well as documentation affecting a variety of other pay services. These transactions are referred to as backshop because they generally are not seen by customers; thus, the transfer from various bases to the AFFSC will be transparent.

Phase II of the AFFSC, whose targeted opening tentatively is set for October 2008, seeks to establish a 24/7, full-service contact center. Knowledgeable staff in the contact center will provide top-quality pay and travel service to customers via telephone, Web, and fax. This centralization of customer service will eliminate the inconveniences that customers experience in having to rectify financial issues during regular business hours or having to contact duty stations at off-hours because of duty-related travel. That said, limited face-to-face service will continue to be offered at the bases for personnel who have base-centric issues or who are unaware of Web-based service opportunities. The contact center will employ a dynamic-solutions network that quickly and correctly will direct complicated issues to appropriate stations in order to maximize customer satisfaction and minimize wait times. The AFFSC will be the home of up to 750 financial managers operating in one location.

Both phases of this consolidation seek to achieve efficiency in financial services that improve customers' experiences. In fact, development of the contact center is being worked in coordination with the Personnel Services Delivery Transformation initiative in order to ensure that customers receive the highest-quality, end-to-end personnel and pay services.

... And What It Won't Change

While the AFFSC will result in centralizing a great many financial services, it is important to note that its establishment will not completely phase out the base-level financial service offices. Some processes that could not be performed efficiently from a centralized location (that is, processes requiring manual intervention or face-to-face service that would be difficult to administer from a distance) call for considerable coordination with base agencies. Processes that will remain at base-level include, but are not limited to, active duty death benefits and the government travel card program.

Organizing for Centralization

Organizationally, the AFFSC will be a field-operating agency directly under the leadership of Mr. James Short, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Operations (SAF/FMP). Since becoming operational in February 2005, the SAF/FMT office, under the leadership of Mr. Roger Bick, has been at the forefront of USAF financial management transformation. As one of six separate lanes of transformation, the Financial Services Transformation (FST)lane is responsible for the AFFSC. Currently led by Lieutenant Colonel Howard Osborne, the FST lane is centralizing Air Force financial services through four integrated work streams: migration, facility buildout, technology, and contact center. Migration includes shifting those taskings and processes currently performed at base-level (and associated personnel) to the AFFSC.

The AFFSC also will reduce paper transactions by using the latest technology available in the new Financial Services Document Management Service. Mr. Richard Gustafson and the SAF/FMPT team currently are navigating a path through new territory in developing an information technology enterprise solution that will enable the AFFSC to seamlessly provide financial services to the Air Force customer.

In addition to the reengineering efforts to stand up the AFFSC, the Financial Services Office Reengineering Team (FSORT) was established to evaluate base-level workloads and personnel required to maintain financial services at the base, post-transformation. Its mission, like that of the AFFSC, is to generate efficiencies while providing optimum service to the customer. FSORT has identified initiatives and evaluated them using Six Sigma and Lean principles, with the goal of process streamlining. As of June 2006, FSORT had identified 48 base-level initiatives; the team is continuing efforts to improve processes and implementation. SAF/FMT has been appointed as FSORT's champion and will facilitate team linkages with the AFFSC, while helping to improve those processes that will remain at base level.

Standing Up the AFFSC

Ellsworth AFB was selected as the site for the AFFSC from more than 80 candidate locations. After a thorough evaluation process, Ellsworth proved to be the best location as a result of meeting specific qualifications that included, but were not limited to, facility availability, growth potential, availability of a local civilian workforce, and a low risk of natural disaster. Following this evaluation, Secretary Wynne made the selection announcement on April 10, 2006.

The buildings that will house the AFFSC are only five years old and currently are being renovated to accommodate the new center. The center will complete construction of all needed facilities by October 2008, thereby providing renovated space to accommodate the people who will perform the new services. The center will boast state-of-the-art technology, and each financial services staff member will be equipped with the latest technology and ample space so that he or she can offer exceptional service to all Air Force personnel.

In the short term, the AFFSC will be staffed primarily with military personnel; the initial 55 personnel already have been approved by the Air Force Personnel Center. The future goal is to transition staff from military to civilian billets.

The first staff will arrive at Ellsworth AFB in the spring of 2007. This initial staff contingent will evaluate the new equipment, test the systems, and optimize operating processes. Following initial testing and training, normal assignment rules will be used to fill the center's remaining positions. During the first couple of years of operation, the AFFSC staffing will consist of 80 percent military and 20 percent civilian, with the percentage shifting toward civilian by 2011. This staff evolution is one element of a larger effort to shift finance personnel from transaction processing to decision support functions.

The Future Is Now

The future of Air Force financial services is now! The Air Force expects significant cost reduction to result from AFFSC implementation. As Mr. John Vonglis, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, recently stated, "This new center will save the Air Force more than $200 million in the first 10 years.... " That money will be available for other programs directly supporting the warfighter.

The focus, however, is not solely on cost-cutting. While costs associated with the execution of time-consuming tasks will be reduced, quality and service will be maintained or improved. The overarching goal of this transformation is to support the Air Force's 700,000-plus men and women with the state-of-the-art technology and financial services that they expect and deserve.