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Rock Solid Warrior: Staff Sgt. Thomas Rutherford

  • Published
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Finance
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Rank/First & Last Name: Staff Sgt. Thomas Rutherford

Deployed Unit: 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Finance

Duty Title: Accounting & Budget Technician

Home unit/station: Hurlburt Field

Family's military heritage: My older brother is in the Air Force and my uncle is in the Army.

What is your mission here? My mission here is money! I provide decision support to the Comptroller and maintain the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing's budget. I also complete all of the accounting functions for the wing, certifying all current year form 9's and travel orders, as well as setting up payments for all prior year contracts.

What are some of the best parts of your mission? I enjoy working so closely with the contracting team on current, old, and new requirements for the wing. I also like researching old and stagnant funding and cleaning up the wing checkbook.

What are some of the challenges you face while conducting your mission, and how do you overcome them? Action is requested of me from several different agencies and bases. The most challenging part of this job is identifying my priorities. With several different tasks assigned to me by several different agencies, everything appears to be a priority. I learned during my time here that if everything is a priority then nothing is a priority.

How does your job differ in a deployed environment vs. home base?
Here on 'The Rock' I am alone in my duties, and the others in my office are here to do customer service & cashier duties. Back home, I would be doing this job with a team or at least one other person. Also, there are automated systems back home that would do a portion of my work for me, out here, everything is manual.

How many times have you deployed? This is my second deployment. My first was to Kirkuk Iraq.

What makes this deployment unique? This deployment is unique for me because our deployment training has never included developing/running a budget. Prior to December 2012, AOR sites were not truly given these types of limits. Thankfully, the position I filled at Hurlburt Field gave me that experience and I could apply it to my role here at the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing.

Why did you join the Air Force? I joined the Air Force because I did not know enough about scholarships and grants to go to college after High School, and I knew that my mother could not support me financially. The thought of pursuing a degree while struggling to make ends meat did not appeal to me and just did not sit right with me. I heard about the programs that were in place and that I could take advantage of in the Air Force, and also the opportunities to travel. Coming from Detroit, the three choices I saw for my future were simple:

1) Stay there and try to make a living at my minimum wage job
2) Stay there and try to get into a decent college while working at my minimum wage job
3) Leave Michigan and try to make something for myself out in the world.

I chose option 3.