Financial Management Transformation: What it means to me at Laughlin

LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- -- Reductions in manpower have affected many Air Force career fields. Financial Management  has been no exception. However, FM had already initiated transformation in the financial services arena which went a long way in meeting our required manpower reductions. This transformation would improve customer service, modernize financial services, and approach the level and type of services Air Force members have been accustomed to with many civilian companies. 

Laughlin has already taken the first step in this process. On Jan. 12, we transferred our military and travel pay processing to the Air Force Financial Services Center at Ellsworth AFB, S.D. This process, ideally invisible to the customer, should not affect the interaction between customer and technician. The only change: the local finance office will be able to see the status but will not be able to change or prioritize a pay voucher. 

Starting this August, Laughlin will take the second step along the transformation path and transfer our finance customer service to the contact center at AFFSC. This will change the way people perform finance actions. The AFFSC will have a customer-friendly website via the Air Force Portal where you can search among more than a thousand Frequently Asked Questions.

Air Force FM leadership has coined the phrase for our transformation efforts, "click, talk, and walk." If you have a finance question, "click" on the Contact Center website in order to check the FAQs and download forms. If you cannot find out the answer to your question through the web page, then you will "talk" to a customer service representative at AFFSC via phone. If you still cannot get your question answered to your satisfaction, then you can "walk" to our finance office and our representatives will contact AFFSC with you in order to answer your question or solve your problem. 

In the very near future, finance customer service will all be done online, mostly through increased capability of the Air Force Portal; linking mypay, Financial Services FAQs, CASH Forms Lite (similar to TurboTax to fill out finance forms); or on the phone through a customer service line. The future of finance customer service, as with personnel customer service, revolves around more member interaction and responsibility. The time to start transforming is now!