Looking for a challenging job in financial management? Try deployed comptrollership.

It's become an axiom that the folks who handle money are required to support almost every aspect of military operations. Some take cash into the combat environment; others pay the troops once major combat operations subside--or at least some stability and security are ensured. Later, once bases begin to take enduring form, comptrollers are needed in order to advise leaders and execute funding and finance requirements to make it all happen.

The experiences relayed herein are those of the 379th Expeditionary Comptroller Squadron (379 ECPTS), where I served as squadron commander from May 2004 through June 2005. The 379 ECPTS provided a broad range of support to operations Enduring Freedom (OEF), Iraqi Freedom (OIF), and Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa (HOA). The nature of support spanned financial analysis (for example, budget functions), accounting, financial services, and disbursing. The 379 ECPTS supported a large base population at multiple sites throughout the U.S. Central Command Area of Responsibility (AOR), supporting almost all Air Force personnel deployed in-theater. The squadron is the Air Force's only expeditionary comptroller squadron, with 14 personnel assigned on a 120-day rotational basis.

What follows are a few of my personal observations and experiences that occurred while serving as the squadron commander. My intent is to impart a sense of the scope of operations and share some of the challenges faced in each of the squadron's functional areas.

Taking Care of Units' Needs

The budget function was confronted with some attempts by customers to buy grandiose items. Often the justification included a statement to the effect that "we're at war; we can buy whatever we want." Purchase requests came in for Persian carpets and expensive furniture....

Our accounting personnel teamed with budget counterparts to facilitate U.S. mission accomplishment. Because of the frequent rotations, the budget personnel routinely had to disallow purchases of "nice to have" items that were either not appropriate or not mission essential. Two particular excesses were units trying to rectify home station mission equipment deficiencies and procurements of personal items to augment required deployment requirements. Another problem was the practice of allowing personnel to rotate home with certain items, like force protection sleeve cover identifications as souvenirs.

Our accounting personnel aided purchases throughout the theater, in addition to providing accounting support for thousands of purchases made for (and during) major combat operations. Often, we'd assist in purchases for operators in liberated areas that had no local purchase opportunities--which we delivered via C-130 aircraft. This additional role added to our accounting workload, as we ensured that appropriate appropriation lines were properly charged.

Working with each supported unit, our budget and accounting personnel scrubbed the accounting lines for duplicate items and those no longer necessary. Duplicate items cropped up when personnel in one rotation would order an item with a long lead time, and then personnel in a subsequent rotation (who were unaware of the previous orders) would reorder the same item. Further, since the requirement for an item might disappear over time, we routinely compared the list of purchases to current requirements. This took close coordination with those units that generated the requirements, as well as the contracting squadron. I found that these folks worked well together and--led by our accounting shop--the number of accounting lines was reduced by 40 percent. In total, these personnel reduced fiscal requirements by $41 million--a direct savings to the taxpayer.

Taking Care of the Troops

In addition to taking care of the units, a primary role of comptrollership is taking care of the troops. In the 379 ECPTS, five people provided service to approximately 7,000 customers per month. Those customers were assigned to the base or were transient personnel on their way in or out of the AOR. The vast majority of these customers visited the 379th to avail themselves of our check-cashing service. A few, however, created extra work in accounting for and processing bad checks. (As an aside, the volume of customer flow wore out the mechanical functioning of the door latch, which had to be replaced about 7 months after the building opened.)

The finance function went beyond the 12-hour days spent waiting on customers; it also included the clerical task of initiating the entitlements due each Air Force member who deploys to a combat zone. During my tour, the 379 ECPTS was responsible for 100 percent of the entitlement "starts" associated with OEF and OIF. Our finance personnel entered an average of 5,700 entitlement start transactions each month; but, in actuality, those transactions came in large numbers following the rotations and dwindled in the month prior to the next rotation.

Paying the Bills

Perhaps the most challenging--and definitely the most important--aspect of deployed comptrollership is providing the money, that is, the cash to pay bills. The 379 ECPTS disbursing function consistently made payments for goods and services throughout the AOR, paying vendors across nine countries, in four currencies. One of the little annoyances was dealing with unscrupulous vendors who had scoped out our staff rotations. These vendors would call after each rotation of the paying agent and claim to be owed money for unpaid contracts. Often, these were multiple old invoices. The 379th staff would research these claims and provide the vendors with dates and amounts paid on the referenced invoices.

Another challenge was taking care of aircraft and crews grounded in the HOA. About equally as often, crews were stranded for maintenance or held by officials for landing fee payments. We handled maintenance issues much the same as when Air Force aircraft are stranded at civilian airfields in the United States. When airfields held aircraft for landing fees, it was because they would accept neither credit card nor voucher methods of payment. In such instances, either the paying agent would work directly with the airfield manager, or intervention by a State Department representative or nearby disbursing officer would be required. Ultimately, we provided mundane or imaginative solutions that met the legal intent and assisted the aircrew's mission accomplishment.

In addition to specific job challenges, management of an expeditionary squadron presented unique challenges. One such challenge was turnover. About every 100 days, the squadron experienced a 100 percent personnel swap-out. Obviously, it was critical that the rotation be appropriately managed. We tried to communicate in advance to incoming personnel; departing personnel often left contact information so they could be reached while on leave immediately after rotating out. In such a fluid situation, as commander (the only non-rotational person), I found that it was easier for me to adjust my style to the squadron rather than having squadron personnel adjust to me.

Getting the Job Done

In summary, running an expeditionary comptroller organization presents challenges in the areas of budget, financial services, accounting, and disbursing. The 379 ECPTS performed well and continues to do so in support of OEF, OIF, and Combined Joint Task Force HOA. These personnel form the primary source of Air Force comptroller support in the AOR. They continue repeatedly to prove that such support must be deployed in-theater and that comptroller presence smoothes mission accomplishment.

Major David Peeler is the 354th Comptroller Squadron Commander at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. He is a Certified Cost Estimator/Analyst and an Air Force Certified Acquisition Professional Major Peeler is a member of ASMC's Tanana Valley Chapter.