Finance officer wins DOD-level award Published May 23, 2007 BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AFPN) -- An Air Force financial management officer here won the Best in Department of Defense award for Financial Management Initiative May 22. Lt. Col. Robert Bickel, the deputy director of the Air Force's new Financial Management Center of Expertise was named the individual contributor category winner by Robert P. McNamara, the acting deputy chief financial officer for the undersecretary of Defense, comptroller. "As one of the Air Force financial management transformation initiatives, the Center of Expertise grew from conception to initial operating capability mainly through his leadership," said Richard K. Hartley, the deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for cost and economics. The COE opened its door for business in April 2006 and now provides expert, on-demand, specialized financial analysis and decision support to bases and major commands throughout the Air Force. Eighteen months ago, the center of expertise was merely a concept, with no secured location, no manning document and no funding, said Roger Bick, the director of the Air Force Financial Management Strategic Planning and Transformation Program Management. "Standing up the center was one of the six lanes of Air Force financial management transformation," he said. "It is gratifying to see the efforts of Lieutenant Colonel Bickel, his team at the center and the efforts of the entire transformation team be recognized as the best in the Department of Defense." The other five lanes are financial services; financial analysis; combat comptroller; education, training and development; and headquarters budget processes. "The goal of all the transformation efforts are to improve the way we deliver financial services to our customers and decision support to commanders by maximizing our ability to 'finance the fight,'" Mr. Bick said. As a champion of this transformation project, Colonel Bickel volunteered to create this organization from scratch and bring it to a fully-operational status. The organization achieved initial operating capability in April 2006, and has vastly improved analytic cost capability and decision support for major commands and wings throughout the Air Force. "There were many challenges to getting the center up running," Colonel Bickel said. "In the first five-months we were open, we completed 18 major projects for customers in six MAJCOMS at bases worldwide, resulting in savings of more than $1.8 million." During that same time, Colonel Bickel and his team also developed a knowledge-sharing Web site with templates, checklists and models to reduce research time and standardize analytic processes for financial management staff across the Air Force. "Colonel Bickel has shown outstanding leadership in creating an organization that brings real value and decision support to the Air Force," Mr. Hartley said. Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link) Click here to view the comments/letters page