 It is an honor and a pleasure to be one of the newest members of the Air Force's financial management team. I look forward to working with you to support our Airmen in the critical missions they take on everyday. Today, our nation faces serious economic, fiscal, and national security challenges. As we grapple with these challenges, I want to highlight several key priorities for the whole FM enterprise. Above all, we must be committed to supporting the top priorities of the Secretary of the Air Force and Chief of Staff through effective, efficient, and transparent allocation and execution of Air Force resources.
In addition to ensuring the Air Force's highest priorities are appropriately resourced, I intend to focus on three continuing priorities within our financial management enterprise:
· Improving the transparency and fidelity of the Department's financial processes in order to provide senior leaders with a clearer picture of the Air Force's fiscal situation
· Developing and empowering financial management professionals across the Air Force so that we are faithful stewards of the taxpayers' resources and so that commanders can have even greater confidence in the financial advice they receive
· Enhancing Air Force cost estimation capabilities as part of the Department's commitment to improving defense acquisition processes
Finally, underpinning all we do is an emphasis on improving Airmen's lives through streamlined FM interaction and consistent performance.
As a trusted financial advisor, you are empowered to perform a critical role in this time of scarce resources. Every dollar wasted or inefficiently expended is an additional debt passed on to our children. As Air Force financial managers, we are all charged with balancing the imperative of effectively using resources to accomplish vital national goals with the need to continuously improve our business processes. It will not be easy to develop workable budgets which rebalance Air Force programs to address our nation's commitment to our uniformed service members, provide the capabilities needed in the wars we are fighting today, and prepare for the uncertain conflicts of the future. We will need to reconsider the old ways of doing business and dig a little deeper to find efficiencies. As we meet the challenges the Department faces in matching resources to requirements, we must also build financial systems and business systems that adequately take care of the taxpayer's resources. As we continue to make progress toward a clean audit, we will need to refocus effort on those elements of our Financial Improvement Plan that best serve the information needs of decision makers.
You are all part of a highly valued decision support team, providing full spectrum financial advice, from helping wing commanders squeeze the most mission out of their budget every day, to shaping the Air Force of tomorrow as strategic advisors to our senior Air Force leaders. I am proud of the work you do every day for our Air Force and look forward to our continued association as we face the many challenges ahead. Thank you for your service!
|
|