Funding the Mission

  • Published
  • By Airman Jackson N Haddon
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla --  Money has a big effect on the mission and the 97th Comptroller Squadron makes sure the base has the funds to keep planes in the air and keep money in the pockets of our Airmen.

“We fund the mission,” said U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Brandon Bray, 97th CPTS financial services technician. Executing over $130 million for the base during the fiscal year of 2016, CPTS oversees projects such as funding the U.S. Air Force KC-46A Pegasus tankers, the Government Travel Card Program, travel vouchers and more.

While budgeting the mission may not be the most exciting task in the world, it is one of the most necessary.

“Without the money and budgeting, we wouldn’t know what we can afford, what we can do and what we can’t do,” said U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Jessica Micare, 97th CPTS financial services technician.

However, the mission is not the only thing the CPTS affects. Their other role is to ensure all Airmen, military and civilians are being paid properly.

“We help customers with their entitlements, base pay, basic allowance for housing, basic allowance for sustenance and other the financial matters,” said Micare. The customer-service side of finance handles questions that members have about their pay, inprocessing, outprocessing and help members go through official channels when there is a discrepancy on their Leave and Earnings Statement.

Without the CPTS, the process of fixing Air Force members’ pay would take much more effort. When a member’s pay has a discretion, CPTS works with the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, the office paying Airmen, to correct the issue. It is important to ensure service members are being payed correctly to mitigate the impact it could have on mission accomplishment and Airmen financial compensation.

“No money, no mission,” said U.S. Air Force Tech Sgt. Shaun Houser, 97th CPTS NCO in charge of customer service. “If a member doesn’t have a paycheck coming their way, they’re not working on the mission, they’re at finance trying to fix it. If we don’t have funding to build new infrastructures for the KC-46, we’re not getting the KC-46.”

From budgeting the mission to assisting Airman with pay issues, the 97 CPTS maximizes resources and provides world-class customer service for Airmen at home and abroad.