Finance keeps military members in the money

Published Nov. 13, 2008
By Staff Sgt. Vincent Borden
386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- As a finance officer, Staff Sgt. Ronald Brewer doesn't just count cash all day. He's in the business of helping people; deployed Airmen and civil service members who are having problems with their entitlements and their pay. In an overseas location that demands increased work commitments from its Airmen to support U.S. Central Command's premier airlift wing, it pays for them to not have money on their mind.

That makes Sergeant Brewer's primary job more of a problem solver than a money manager. He said he considers his performance in that role as a valuable contribution to the mission.

"When you deal with people's money, it tugs the heart strings," said Sergeant Brewer, 386th Air Expeditionary Wing. "Being deployed you have enough stress, and on top of that you have to provide for your family back home. Finance is a really important part of the morale of the troops."

The Tennessee native said the focus of the office is on preventing problems from ever occurring to Airmen traveling in and out of the area of responsibility. Their primary means of doing this is education, which they administer once deployed servicemembers touch the ground.

Pay entitlements can be withheld during the entire time servicemembers are deployed, and can be paid in one lump sum once members return to their home stations and file their travel vouchers. Sergeant Brewer said the voucher should be filed in five days upon a member's return, but his office encourages members to receive their tax-free pay at a minimum, in order to avoid complications with taxing filing for the year.

The guardsman said his job is to make sure servicemembers deploy, complete their assignments and return to their home stations with a minimum amount of problems, difficulties and confusion with their entitlements in the future. The office's aims, for the most part, are working.

"We have a really high success rate," said Sergeant Brewer, who is deployed from the Tennessee Air National Guard. He does not typically see the majority of people rotating in and out on deployments because servicemembers don't usually drop by to say things are going well.

"If there are problems, a lot of times it's through no fault of the member," the sergeant said. "Once we send off the changes, we track it to makes sure it gets done and updates on the member's pay record."

Sergeant Brewer said all pay change requests are sent to a central processing site in the AOR, in order to maximize efficiency between finance offices spread throughout CENTCOM. It normally takes two pay periods for members to see the adjustments in their pay.

Enrollments in special programs offered only in deployed locations, such as the Savings Deposit Program, are also handled by the office. The SDP allows military members to contribute up to $10,000 to a savings account which draws a 10 percent annual interest rate. Military members qualify for enrollment in the program after 30 days in the AOR.

While individual pay issues are one of the main problems finance personnel deal with, the office does not strictly deal with the pay issues and entitlements of members. Finance offices have to worry about the logistics, time and money spent in the completion of their own operations, which is one of the reasons the Eagle Cash Card program was created for use throughout the AOR. The office handles the setup of the Eagle Cash Card, a program mandated in August for servicemembers with extended deployments in CENTCOM. It works similarly to a debit card, requiring users to load funds onto it from linked personal bank accounts.

"It's a safe option," said Sergeant Brewer. "If members lose the card they lose money, but we can get it back. The card also requires a [personal identification number], which makes it useless to anyone else except the member.

The sergeant said that recovery and security is something the office can't do with cash. The widespread use of the systems contributes to the ease of its use; Eagle Card systems can be found at every location where goods or services are exchanged on bases in CENTCOM.

Although set up of the card is mandatory, members may opt not to use it. Cash is also an acceptable form of payment for items and services in the AOR.

The deployed location also offers the Finance office an opportunity to work with squadrons it wouldn't normally have to in the U.S. For many of the morale and equipment needs of Airmen here, the finance office works hand in hand with the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing's contracting squadron.

Staff Sgt. Douglas Reed works in the budgeting section of the finance office, and handles approvals of many requests that come through the wing. He works with various organizations in the wing, making sure the funds are available for purchase requests and that they're authorized and approved at the proper levels.

Sergeant Reed, who is deployed from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, said the 386th Expeditionary Contracting Squadron is his largest customer. By nature of the organization's duties in the AOR, which include negotiating with various vendors in order to make purchases for the base, he sees them almost every day.

"There's a lot of Form-9s that come through that office every day," said Senior Airman Abbi-gayle Cochran, 386th Expeditionary Contracting Squadron contract officer. She personally handles all purchases for the wing's civil engineering and communication squadron purchases, but acknowledged the Finance office sees many more, with a majority coming from her and her contracting co-workers.

Before deploying here from Patrick AFB, Fla., she never worked with the office at all, as the interaction between the two organizations is non-existent stateside. She sees it as beneficial caveat that comes with being in a deployed location.

"Working with finance here has definitely opened my eyes to what they do here and how important they are," Airman Cochran said.

Sergeant Brewster said those sentiments are shared by many members who rely on the Finance office for everything from equipment procurement to pay. It's something he sees that's a contrast to working at home in his guard unit, where he works with the same customers all the time. It also gives him daily job satisfaction, whether he's performing duties in the "cash cage," a secure part of the office used for monetary transactions, or helping members with problems with an entitlement.

"We deal with people that need us to help them," Sergeant Brewster said. "That's a privilege."