Audit agency keeps war machine well tuned

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jeremy Larlee
  • Air Force News Agency
SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) --  Even the greatest machines need a tune up from time to time and the warfighting efforts of the Air Force are no exception.

The task of improving the Air Force's overall operations efficiency and proper use of assets in deployed areas is performed by the Air Force Audit Agency. The agency deploys teams of civilian auditors and supervisors every eight months.

Dean Tomlinson, a program manager for the audit agency, said that even though most people think of money when they hear the word audit, the job of the deployed teams is much more in depth.

"Our audits are not always about the money or financial aspects of operations, although many times they overlap," Mr. Tomlinson said. "Many of the audits are to evaluate program objectives and to ensure the Air Force meets those objectives as efficiently as possible" 

Examples of areas that get looked at by the audit agency include service contracting, communications security equipment, cash management, aerial port operations, munitions management and ground fuels.

Charles Tingle is the chief of the team that currently is auditing operations at Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan.

"The AOR holds a large budget of hard assets," he said. "Each member of the team views the internal controls and checks and balances to make sure all hard assets are properly accounted for and we have the right amount, ensuring there is no excess just lying around."

The efforts of the audit teams also show that Air Force officials take accountability of warfighting assets seriously, Mr. Tomlinson said.

"I know (Central Air Force officials) appreciate us being over there," he said. "They constantly take questions from Air Force leadership and Congress about what is the oversight of all the operations and the money that is being spent over there. They can answer that they have our periodic presence over there providing that oversight."

Getting the teams ready to deploy can be a challenge, Mr. Tomlinson said. The teams of civilians are not excused from all of the training and immunization requirements that servicemembers face before they deploy. 

Even with all of the challenges, Mr. Tomlinson said that the Audit Agency civilians are very competitive over who gets to deploy. He takes pride in the fact that the civilian workforce is able to help improve the air expeditionary force concept with their expertise.

"The civilian workforce brings something when it comes to the AEF concept, he said. "We provide a valuable capability to the Air Force."

(Staff Sgt. Giana Jaworski from the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs contributed to this story.) 

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