Finance overcomes adversity while 'deployed'

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Zachary Kee
  • 35th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan --  Money may not buy happiness, but it can buy a lot of things while at war, and that's why Airmen from the 35th Comptroller Squadron are a vital asset in a deployed environment.

Finance Airmen here are in day three during the second phase of an Operational Readiness Exercise and are working around the clock to keep the mission and their cash in check.

"Anything we need at Base-X ... to sustain the base, we coordinate with Contracting to make sure the purchase is legal ," said Staff Sgt. Wilfredo Mateo, 35th Comptroller Squadron budget technician. "Not much changes in what we do while deployed compared to home station, except we deal more with cash. If we are at a remote location we can't just say we are going to pay you electronically."

Comptrollers like Tech. Sgt. Shane Malone, 35th CPTS disbursing agent, sometimes go out with contracting officers to make payments to agencies who provide the base with supplies.

"We have to go out in hostile territory and take the money to the vendors," Malone said. "Sometimes we carry bricks of cash in a backpack out in the middle of nowhere."

One of the many challenges CPTS members face is ensuring all funds are accounted for, down to the last penny.

"In order to hand out money we have to be absolutely sure that it is the correct amount," Mateo said. "A lot of mistakes come into play during accounting because if you go to a bare base, we might not have laptops, so everything has to be done free-hand on paper. That's a challenge in itself, writing everything out. If the cashier is off by one penny we aren't going home that day. Everything has to be balanced to the penny because we are going to a foreign country with a lot of money and we have to be able to say 'this is what we are going to spend it on.'"

Another challenge many comptrollers encounter is finding out who needs to spend all of that money in the first place. Working in budget and accounting, Mateo looks over all of the purchase requests they receive.

"Sometimes we can't buy what the commander wants," Mateo said. "He may want something, but the regulation says in black and white we can't buy this. On the other hand sometimes the regulation isn't always cut and dry and we have to use our best interpretation or seek legal help to fully understand it."

One of the exercise injects Finance received involved buying a stereo to put in a work center. To Mateo this raised red flags, so he researched it.

The purchase was legal, to a point. The customer said he wanted it for their break room, however Mateo told the customer for them to purchase the stereo system, it had to have a positive impact on the mission to be government funded. So the customer was informed to take a different route, maybe a booster club or some other avenue of funding.

"If I don't have the warm and fuzzy I won't sign at the bottom cause it leaves me responsible if it isn't a justifiable purchase," Mateo said. "If the purchase is deemed illegal, then we are held responsible for making that purchase."

While an operational readiness exercise is designed to replicate a deployed environment, comptrollers must maintain their composure to ensure accurate and timely payment to base agencies and merchants who supply the base.

"Being well-organized and not getting flustered is what it's all about. One little accounting mistake could make for a rough day," Mateo said. "So it all falls back on paying attention to detail. If we pay attention to detail we can take on any challenge thrown at us."