56 CPTS rakes in three Air Force awards Published Feb. 11, 2011 By Master Sgt. Cindy Dorfner 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- Luke Air Force Base is in the money when it comes to cashing in on awards. The Air Force recently announced the "best of the best" in the comptroller world and Team Luke raked in three 2010 service-level awards -- financial services office, financial management and comptroller, and resource advisor for the installation level. Ask Lt. Col. Quy Nguyen, 56th Comptroller Squadron commander, the recipe for his team's success and he'll tell you. "We're not flawless," he said. "But we're in the business of problem solving - not problem sharing." The colonel said the members of his squadron have really taken to heart that they're not just people sitting behind desks. "The people who walk through our doors aren't customers," he said. "They're Airmen. We're Airmen and our jobs are to serve Airmen." Financial services office The 16 Airmen and civilians who make up 56th CPTS financial services were busy in 2010. When the Air Education and Training Command financial manager asked bases in the command to meet and sustain financial standards, Luke comptrollers set the benchmark as the only wing to meet that accuracy standard for six months straight. The team processed and submitted 27,000 military and travel pay documents worth $21 million. Maybe more important, 99 percent of those monies were delivered to the rightful owners within 24 hours. This team also took its show on the road. Three of the FSO Airmen deployed and between them, they oversaw 82 purchase agreements worth $1.2 million, while teaming with vendors "outside the wire." Their involvement helped better the supply delivery where recipients had products in one week vs. two months. The team managed the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response Program, securing $6 million for Pakistan and Afghanistan. Their efforts supplied 47,000 refugees with badly needed food and medical care. In 2010, Luke became the only wing to use a "predeployment" accrual system, which set up automatic accrual payments for 550 deployed members, saving 2,000 hours of work. Colonel Nguyen said he's thrilled his team is reaping the benefits of their hard work. "Sometimes it's tough to motivate Airmen - enlisted, officer and civilian - to continue to produce results the Airmen in this wing have come to expect," he said. The job, he said, entails a lot of hard work with not a lot of people and not a lot of experience. The most experienced military member in the FSO is a technical sergeant. "This job isn't always pleasant," he said. "People aren't always happy when they're walking in to address an issue. Here we are, taking a person from the street, sending him through basic training, giving him a career field, sending him through technical training and setting him at the counter saying, 'OK, now help "Lt. Col. Bob" figure out his pay problems.' That's an enormous set of responsibilities. But, my folks do it every day - working 11, 12 hours a day, long after the doors close, to process the paperwork and fix the problems. Their success is because of pure grit, a lot of hard work and commitment. I'm tremendously proud of them." The Maj. Gen. Frank R. Faykes financial management and comptroller It's no wonder the members of the 56th CPTS were so successful in 2010. Their boss, Colonel Nguyen, was recognized as the Air Force's top financial management field grade officer. In a world where balancing the books to the penny is only one iota of the job description, this 15-year Air Force veteran often finds himself on a tightrope, balancing his responsibilities. He's accountable for assisting the wing, group and squadron commanders with budget decisions - a task made increasingly difficult with shrinking resources. His squadron isn't authorized an officer, so he doesn't have experience to help him provide that financial support to commanders. However, he's teaching the young lieutenants in his squadron, who are considered "overages," to lead flights, while keeping up with all the moving pieces across the wing - from the F-35 predecisional information to the F-16 movements, to operating under an unfunded continuing resolution authority, to taking administrative control of the entire wing staff. If Colonel Nguyen sounds busy ... he is. Consider three years ago, his squadron had about 48 Airmen in the financial services office compared to the 16 award-winning Airmen he has now. Still, he's found a way to shine. The AETC FM called him the "most influential FM squadron commander in AETC, possibly the Air Force, for fiscal 2010." He trained and deployed four FM warriors, one - a staff sergeant - who briefed President Obama on a $1.4 billion program. He collaborated with four groups and 26 squadrons on energy initiatives, propelling the wing to earn $1.5 million for its priorities - number one in AETC. He partnered with the 56th Contracting and Civil Engineer squadrons to posture Luke with 23 projects worth $24.4 million - 150 percent more than the next wing. Colonel Nguyen has proven himself as AETC's "go-to" FM leader. He was the only financial management commander in the Air Force to earn a seat at the Professional Development Institute panel with Dr. Jamie Morin, the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and Comptroller. Resource advisor - installation level She's not part of the 56th CPTS, but Tech. Sgt. Chandra McCoy plays an important role when dealing with Luke AFB dollars. As the resource advisor for the 56th Equipment Maintenance Squadron, Sergeant McCoy helps keep the mission moving for Luke's maintainers. "Being a resource advisor plays an important part in a unit's successes or failures, in that we guide and assist the commander in financial decisions," Sergeant McCoy said. "One of the most interesting things about my job is that each day is different than the one before. You never know what task, person or issue is going to walk through your door." Despite the varying challenges of her job, Sergeant McCoy excelled in many areas throughout the year. In 2010, Sergeant McCoy oversaw 14 government purchase card accounts, approving 4,000 transactions worth $380,000. During an annual GPC audit, she received zero discrepancies and her program was lauded as excellent by the wing coordinator. In an effort to crack down on late payments from within her squadron, she instituted a tough monitoring program, organizing 550 accounts and reducing the 60-day delinquency rate by 35 percent. As the lead squadron approving official, she reviewed more than 350 travel authorizations and vouchers, prompting corrections and aiding quick payments. At the end of the fiscal year, Sergeant McCoy closed out an $820,000 operating budget, adjusting the spending plan where necessary and meeting all of fiscal 2010 obligations. Finally, Sergeant McCoy's superb resource management enabled 27,490 sorties and 35,820 flying hours - allowing the graduation of 418 pilots and 578 crew chiefs. "It is very humbling to be nominated by my supervision, and it is an extreme honor to represent my squadron and be selected as the Air Force Resource Advisor of the Year," she said.