Comptrollers earn DoD-level recognition Published July 7, 2015 By Staff Sgt. Alexx Mercer 27th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs CANNON AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- Cannon’s elite comptrollers were recently recognized at the Department of Defense level for innovative efforts toward improving overall customer service and contingency training as a direct component of Air Force Special Operations Command. The 27th Special Operations Comptroller Squadron financial analysis flight was instrumental in leading the 27th Special Operations Wing to this unprecedented success; throughout the year, the budget flight provided timely and accurate decisions to wing leadership in supporting the most relevant and lethal wing in the Air Force. The budget team’s skillful management of the wings $212 million annual budget supported over 2,000 deployed members to 26 locations in 15 countries; along with 4 groups, 25 squadrons and 17 wing staff agencies at home station. “They helped ensure the 26th Special Tactics Squadron would stand up on time by advocating for $60,000 for building refurbishment and furniture one month ahead of the team’s arrival to Cannon,” stated Maj. Bob Clay, 27th SOCPTS commander. “They also skillfully managed the 27th SOW’s $43 million flying hour program, the most diverse flying hour program in the Air Force due to the number and variety of airframes assigned to the wing.” Other successes of the comptroller squadron include: Ensuring the wing’s flying squadrons were able to train more; supporting the Air Force’s largest stateside construction program with projects valued at over $561 million; and exceeding the requirements established by the Financial Improvement and Audit Readiness directive by instituting the command’s new “Funds to Base” reporting process, which resulted in 247 Funding Allocation Documents loaded without error for seven operational bands and nine fund codes. AFSOC noted how impressive the error matrix design was; declaring it the AFSOC standard and sharing it with the other bases within the command in an effort to improve FIAR compliance. “This checklist helped identify the occasional error on the FADs, enabling them to work with AFSOC to correct any disparities and ensure funds were loaded to the right areas throughout the year, while ensuring the 27th SOW and AFSOC were always in balance,” Clay continued. “Their detailed evaluation of each FAD, and identification of both original issue errors from the MAJCOM and internal posting errors with a locally developed error matrix assisted in training the flight’s new analysts.” Because of these and numerous other efforts, the 27th SOCPTS financial management office received a number of additional accolades and awards this year to include: 7 squadron and 3 wing staff quarterly awards, as well as the AFSOC financial management Senior Civilian of the Year. Master Sgt. JoAnn Toetz, 27th SOCPTS financial management flight chief, was also recognized for her efforts in developing the command’s first full-spectrum contingency training exercise. Her tireless efforts helped ensure the most realistic joint financial management and contracting training within the Air Force. “By utilizing the nearby Melrose Air Force Range and intrinsic capabilities of the 27th SOW, Master Sgt. Toetz enabled the 27th SOCPTS to establish the standard that future financial management contingency training will be measured against,” said Clay. “She identified numerous weaknesses in the squadron’s contingency training and took immediate actions to fix them.” Toetz began by reviewing the training material and rewriting 73 training scenarios to better represent financial management functions in support of special operations forces deployed operations. She then spoke to her counterpart in the 27th Special Operations Contracting Squadron office to see if they would be interested in a joint training exercise. “After receiving an enthusiastic response, I quickly began looking for an area to hold the training,” stated Toetz. “Despite multiple people telling me it would not be possible at the scale I envisioned, I was finally able to acquire an optimal exercise location out at Melrose.” “I worked closely with my contracting counterparts to develop 110 training scenarios to ensure both comptroller and contracting Air Commandos would understand the importance of working together, while we as facilitators provided them with a better understanding of their SOF support role,” she continued. Over 12 weeks, Toetz trained her team in preparation for a 30-hour live fire exercise which included joint scenarios, procedures for wearing chemical gear and guidance on how to identifying explosive ordnance; she also handmade $2 million in treasury checks and $750,000 in foreign currency. “At the end of the day, both comptrollers and contractors were tested thoroughly and walked away from the experience much better prepared than when they went into it,” stated Clay. “Master Sgt. Toetz was able to leverage the capabilities of the 27th SOW to produce a full-spectrum training exercise for her Airmen.” “Her incredible efforts ensured our Air Commandos were equipped with a financial weapons system they could rely on,” he continued. “This was all instrumental in her selection as the 2014 27th SOCPTS and AFSOC financial management Senior Noncommissioned Officer of the Year!”