LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. –
Economics is defined as the social science that analyzes the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services; coming from an ancient Greek word meaning "rules of the household."
The 633rd Comptroller Squadron uses microeconomics to provide financial and decision support for the installation's leadership and population.
Staying vigilant
A team of about 30 military personnel and approximately 20 civilians provide accounting, finance, budget and cost analysis for the 633rd Air Base Wing and more than 30 associate units, including Headquarters Air Combat Command.
The squadron also disburses more than $1.45 billion dollars annually; maintains and disburses payroll data for 10,815 military and civilian personnel. CPTS also provides financial support for worldwide contingencies, oversees non-appropriated funds and financial management for installation leadership.
"Our job is to help the installation leadership to understand and navigate through the fog and friction of the budget environment," said Lt. Col. Timothy Kodama, 633rd CPTS commander.
Practice makes perfect
To help servicemembers navigate through different scenarios, contingency training is performed weekly and deals with unique situations, such as cash operations that are not usually performed stateside.
"There are still a lot of entitlements we deal with in a deployed environment that we don't necessarily deal with in our garrison environment at the home station," stated Master Sgt. Keith Munroe, 633rd CPTS financial analysis flight chief.
Overcoming challenges
The squadron faced challenges during the joint basing process between Langley Air Force Base and Fort Eustis. When Joint Base Langley-Eustis reached Full Operational Capability status in October 2010, the 633rd CPTS integrated financial experience from two different military cultures into the way the Air Force does business.
During the integration, a new Automated, Time, Attendance and Production System was implemented at Langley, thanks to the suggestion of Fort Eustis' financial employees. The ATAAPS system improved the 46 minutes it took for one civilian time card to be processed. According to Kodama, The Air Staff Agency plans to implement this system Air Force wide for the 2013 fiscal year.
By looking at how the Army and Air Force conducted their business financially, the efficiency of the budget process was either confirmed, or looked at closely, to determine cost and time effectiveness.
In the wake of recent announcements of Department of Defense spending cuts in the coming months, the squadron is working hard to stretch the taxpayer's dollars further. Being able to "do more with less" makes their role more valuable than ever in accomplishing the mission.
"At the end of the day we just have to work a little bit harder and spend the taxpayer's dollars smartly," said Kodama.