Happy Fiscal New Year

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jason Burton
  • 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  Midnight Sept. 30 was the deadline, and many Team Incirlik members were racing the clock to balance Incirlik's budget for the 2007 Fiscal Year closeout.

With the start of the 2008 Fiscal Year Oct. 1, any money not spent by Incirlik before the midnight deadline would have been reabsorbed by U.S. Air Force's in Europe and distributed to bases that had not yet reached their deadlines.

"We recognize that the primary responsibility (for comptrollers) is to be good stewards of the taxpayer's money," said Capt. Randall Gardner, 39th Comptroller Squadron Financial Analysis Flight commander. "By doing a thorough job during the closeout, we make sure the money is used wisely and prudently."

To have a successful closeout, it requires a team effort and constant communication, said Capt. Axel Clark, 39th Contracting Squadron, Infrastructure Flight commander. All of the organizations involved in the closeout put forth an amazing effort to make it a great year, he said.

During the last days of September, Airmen from 39th CPTS, 39th CONS, 39th Civil Engineer Squadron and Vinnell, Brown and Root employees across the base worked together and were able to execute around $2 million in contracts for Incirlik.

Some of the last-minute purchases included $300,000 for new playground equipment; $200,000 for dental lab upgrades; $300,000 for the veterinary clinic; more than $550,000 to purchase new appliances for houses being remodeled in Phantom housing as well as the new homes in Eagle housing; and almost $610,000 for new dormitory furniture.

Many of these purchases came from the estimated $1.1 million in fallout money Incirlik received from USAFE and the roughly $1.8 million that was collected by 39th CPTS members after scrubbing the books and reorganizing funds.

Staff Sgt. Gregory Proffitt, 39th CPTS budget analyst, went on to explain how they balance the books and find more money.

"For example, a unit could request $100,000 for an item but when the contract is awarded (by 39th CONS) it might only cost $80,000," he said. "That extra $20,000 can then go toward other items."

He added that sometimes units can leave extra money on their books that they don't need. That's when finance will start calling the different units to ask if they need that money. If they don't, CPTS can start reallocating the money for other uses.

"We expected some money from fallout, but we got a lot more than we anticipated," Captain Gardner said. "Also, a lot of the final purchases were a result of working the books and determining what the true costs of some contracts were. Once we crunched the numbers, we had a better idea of our bottom line and that gave us the ability to go back and fund additional items that we hadn't anticipated."

Even though closeout gets progressively busier up until the last minutes of the fiscal year, Team Incirlik began preparing for this closeout around mid-July.

"We made it as much of a team effort as we could by holding meetings weekly, sharing as much information as possible and communicating with our contracting counterparts quite a bit," said Captain Gardner. "I appreciated the effort they put forward for a successful closeout."

The teams proved unstoppable as crunch time drew nearer and last minute obstacles were overcome.

Captain Clark said that his Airmen worked extremely hard to ensure the wing got what it needed. For instance, contracting got the money to purchase new appliances for housing and mattresses for the dorms Sept. 29.

"My guys were in the dorms Saturday measuring the bed frames to ensure the longer mattresses we were looking at buying would fit," Captain Clark said. "Sunday around
7 p.m., we were searching the Internet and phoning vendors trying to find a suitable substitute for appliances that we just found out had been discontinued."

"As far as my team, I couldn't be more impressed," Captain Gardner said. "Unfortunately I was placed on quarters right at the end of the fiscal year. It made me very proud that my troops were able to perform flawlessly without me and carry on."

Even though everyone involved had to work long, stressful hours to meet the deadline, Captain Gardner said closeout is a necessity, and luckily, it only happens once a year.

By balancing the books as accurately as possible, the 39th CPTS demonstrates Incirlik is financially responsible for the money that it has been allocated, said Captain Gardner.

"By being responsible with our money, it provides a level of confidence to USAFE and the Air Force that ensures we are on target with the budget they provide for us," he said.