Financial management transformation underway at Holloman

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  • By 49th Comptroller Squadron
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  The Air Force financial management transformation currently underway is the greatest single change in the organization's 60-year history. 

"We, and all of Air Force Financial Management, are transforming the way we conduct business to better provide expert decision support and analysis to commanders, while continuing to provide high-quality financial services to all Airmen," said Maj. Frank Verdugo, 49th Comptroller Squadron commander. 

According to Mr. John G. Vonglis, principal deputy assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller, the result of this effort will save the Air Force more than $200 million over the next 10 years, money that will be available for other programs supporting the warfighter. 

One of the cornerstones of the financial transformation effort is the opening of the Air Force Financial Services Center this fall at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D. The AFFSC will centralize and streamline most financial processes now being handled by individual bases. 

"The AFFSC will be established through two phases, ultimately resulting in Airmen having the total force expertise of financial management matters available at one location," said Mr. Roger Bick, director, Air Force Financial Management Strategic Planning and Transformation Program Management Office, Pentagon. 

Phase I will begin with the opening of the Central Processing Center in October. The CPC will focus on consolidating base-level back-shop operations. 

"Such operations include, but are not limited to, processing travel and military pay documents," said Mr. Bick. "These transactions are termed 'backshop' as they are not generally seen by the customer." 

Phase II operations will begin in October 2008 when a "24/7" full-service contact center is established. Knowledgeable staff in the contact center will provide top-quality pay and travel service to customers via telephone, Internet and fax. 

"From this point onward, Airmen will only need one telephone number to find solutions to their financial issues," said Capt. Jeremy Taylor, Holloman's financial services officer. "Having a single contact center will eliminate the inconveniences customers experience in having to fix financial issues during the regular duty day." 

To prepare each base to transition to the new Financial Service Center, the SAF/FMT Financial Service Transformation Team has launched a "cut-over" initiative. The cut-over includes both the preparation for migration of the workload and the actual migration of the workload to the Financial Service Center. 

A team of experts will be at Holloman May 31 to brief wing and base leaders on the process and provide preparation guidance to the Comptroller Squadron personnel on the processes.