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Afghan AF finance managers, coalition partners work to ‘fund the future’
Posted 2/8/2013 Updated 2/8/2013
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by Staff Sgt. Eric Burks
U.S. Air Forces Central Command Public Affairs
2/8/2013 - KABUL, Afghanistan -- Afghan Air Force Col. Abdul Shukoor, Headquarters A8- Comptroller/Finance Budget chief, is eagerly awaiting an opportunity to manage an air force budget.
Currently, the AAF budget is managed in two parts: direct contributions, funds donated by Coalition partners and executed by the Afghan Ministry of Defense, and U.S. government Afghan Security Force Funds, managed through the NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan(NATC-A).
Maj. Travis Biggar, Col. Shukoor's U.S. advisor/mentor, is working with his AAF team, coalition partners, and the MOD to transfer a portion of the AAF budget this year to AAF control.
"The budget system we've been using is old," Shukoor explained, relying on many manual transactions and record keeping. "We want to solve these problems as quickly as possible to improve our finance section."
So the colonel, partnering with NATC-A, is working to implement a new, automated, budget system that will ensure effective resource management and stewardship - one of four key transitional goals identified in joint strategic flightplan signed in November 2012 by AAF and NATC-A leadership. The new system is called 'Resource and Accounting Interface'.
When RAI is implemented, Col. Shukoor said, it will benefit all AAF units and improve accountability.
"Once RAI is in place and finance managers have been trained, even in remote provinces we can track resource spending and delivery."
Creating and implementing a new finance system wasn't going to happen overnight, but steady progress has been made in the last several months as the result of a partnership between members of Afghanistan, Canada, and the United States.
Dustin Thompson, U.S. Air Force budget and finance mentor, said the first step of the process was to identify all the budget activities for the new system.
"We looked at every unit's section and every detail to see how they work together and see how NATO works with them," he said. "Then, we needed to define a process - a way forward - based on criteria already in place. To make things better down the road, you still have to identify what's in place before you can move forward."
Next, Thompson said the team developed the components of RAI.
"We created the initial standing operating procedures and identified different possible databases for storage," he said. "We ultimately selected the RONNA information system, which means 'guiding light' in Pashtu, for our data warehouse. Mr. Tony Baker, RONNA's field service representative, has been essential in helping us implement this critical information solution."
The standard operating procedure, Thompson said, is designed to align with Afghanistan's Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Defense business rules, and will ensure funds are reaching their intended destinations.
When RAI is in place, Thompson said, it will allow AAF to show exactly what purchases are made, provide appropriate accounting/documentation to aid in planning next year's AAF budget. They will have the means to track and defend their requirements from now on," he said.
"The history of the new system began once the SOP was established. It became the building block for the new finance program. Working side by side with our Afghan finance partners, day and night, we built every piece of RAI."
The coalition team, utilizing Afghan translators, began training AAF finance managers as RAI was still developing.
"Translators are building their own program and training each other," Thompson said. "Afghans are physically directing their own people. We're creating the system, and as we create it, we're moving it over to them piece by piece and step by step - training as we continue to build."
This process has not only saved time, he said, but it has given AAF finance officers a better understanding of the system and team unity.
"It's better to train, and let them see with their own eyes what they'll be doing," Thompson said. "Then they can verbalize in their own language as they train others."
In addition to daily ongoing training as the system develops, the coalition team meets each week with AAF finance officers to discuss program goals, progress, and any needs.
Ultimately, the AAF will have an automated, integrated finance system that will have up-to-date, accurate information, Thompson said.
"Not only can they track incoming funding from the MOD," he said, but there will be checks and balances to ensure those funds are spent appropriately.
"I'm happy for the coalition forces and mentors who have been helping us through the process," Shukoor said. "We've come together to talk and work as a family, and by 2014, this new system will make our financial processes much better." |
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