Financial service center opens doors at Ellsworth

  • Published
  • By Capt. Martha Petersante-Gioia
  • 28th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D. (AFPN) --  The new Air Force Financial Services Center officially opened its doors Sept. 14 with an assumption of command and ribbon cutting ceremony officiated by Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne. 

During the assumption of command ceremony, Col. Judy Perry assumed command of the center.

"Opening the AFFSC is a significant step forward in the transformation of Air Force financial management," Secretary Wynne said. "Air Force financial management is leading the way to a smarter, leaner Air Force."

The mission of the AFFSC is to centralize and transform the majority of financial services, with the goal of improving efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery while reducing the need for time-consuming, face-to-face interactions. These changes have been modeled on best practices found in the private sector and have been identified as a model in military financial management customer service.

In addition, these changes correspond with Secretary Wynne's Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st century initiative, which focuses on increasing value to the customer, eliminating waste, saving money and time, and improving quality.

"Our move to streamline and improve financial management is the right thing to do for our Air Force, leaders and fellow Airmen," said John Vonglis, the principal deputy assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management.

"Over the next year, as base finance office processing moves here to the center, and additional customer service options are rolled out, not only will the Air Force save money, but it will become easier than ever for Airmen to find answers to finance questions and to get issues resolved," he said.

The center will, in a two-phase implementation, stand up a Central Processing Center to accurately and efficiently process travel and military pay and create a 24/7, full-service contact center for Air Force members. Phase one will be complete and in place by October, followed by the completion of phase two in October 2008.

"Today," Mr. Vonglis said, "is the culmination of an Air Force vision -- a challenge -- by our senior leadership to provide service with a sharper tooth and a shorter tail as the Air Force flies, fights and wins in air, space and cyberspace."

Transformation, not just in the financial realm but also across the Air Force, was an underlying theme of the event. "[The AFFSC is] one of the examples of [transformation] being done right and showcasing how it can and does work," Mr. Vonglis said.

"In financial management, which is arguably a support function, we took an idea, a vision and in two short years turned it into reality, proving that with commitment and teamwork, transformation can and does work. In the proven, we have saved and returned to the Air Force $210 million in real dollar savings and (given) approximately 600 positions back to the warfighter. So we can do it and do it right."

This savings, Secretary Wynne said could be a "an F-22 Raptor, it's a down payment on a next-generation bomber, it's possibly up to two of our F-35 Lighting II -- it's real war-fighting capabilities."

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