Ramstein comptrollers provide precision, accuracy

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Alexandria Mosness
  • 86th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany --  The 86th Comptroller Squadron deals with more than 50,000 customers annually, but this has not stopped them from giving detailed customer service striving to make the customer happy.

While the 86th CPTS goes through new changes with their hours due to the AFSO21 findings, this has not hindered their ability to get the mission completed.

With many parts to the finance career field, it takes a lot of time and hard work to accomplish everyday tasks.

"Everything is different day-to-day," said Capt. Andrew Wilkins, 86th Comptroller Squadron financial services flight officer. "We are always trying to get our process as smooth as possible. I am always going to be working on the hot issue of the morning."

When many go to the finance office, they see the customer service of finance, but the finance career field has two parts: budget section and financial services.

Tech. Sgt. Erik Snyder, 86th CPTS NCOIC of integrations explains the difficulty of his job.

"As funding flows down to the base from MAJCOM, I ensure it is properly loaded and accounted for in the accounting system" he said. "Daily, I run status of funds reports to check our balances and to monitor our spending trends to capture trouble area before they become real issues. I also review Overseas Contingency Operation request from organizations to ensure these request are legitimately relatable to the OCO mission."

And, there are consequences if the job is not done correctly.

"Ramstein is a large installation, with a wide variety of missions and partnerships," Sergeant Snyder added. "Ensuring we are accounting for every penny accurately and that we are spending our budget and OCO funding properly in order to provide the best possible decision support to the wing is vitally important to the mission."

While Sergeant Snyder deals with the budget section of finance, people interact more with the financial service section.

"I take care of the customer," said Senior Airman Markus Ayala, 86th CPTS customer service technician. "When someone comes in with a problem, I get it adjusted, and submit for processing."

The job does not end when the customer leaves the lobby; instead, the technicians will check over the request for accuracy and accountability.

While some might complain about the wait at finance, there is a reason why the customer might have to wait for a little bit.

"There are about 57,000 people in the KMC," said Captain Wilkins. "We average about 110 customers a day, and with only six people on the counter, it takes a while. Sometimes, it takes a while to figure out what is wrong with the member's pay and how to fix it."

And, although the finance office is now closed on Tuesdays, they are still hard at work preparing for the scheduled change to take place in early April.

"Please excuse this interruption in service as we strive to improve our customer service experience for the customer and for the KMC as a whole" said Senior Master Sgt. Barton Randolph, 86th CPTS deputy finance services officer. We are all struggling to find the smart way to do our job with minimum impact on the wait and member."

With the new changes, the customer does not know what is happening behind closed doors.

"We would like you to know when the finance office is closed, it is not a day off," Sergeant Randolph said. "We are prepared to take initiatives to help customers. The return will be great. The wait time will be less, and there will be an increased efficiency of time. We have to ensure that we are ready for the changes in April."

While the finance office is facing many changes, this is nothing new or unexpected for the career field, according to Sergeant Randolph, who has been in finance for 15 years.

"Always have flexibility," he said. "It is needed in the financial arena. The career field is ever changing, so just have an open mind with the changes coming down."

With all of the changes, this has not detoured the comptrollers from working hard.

"The best part of my job is leading the young men and women in the finance office," said Captain Wilkins.

However, the great reward comes when a customer leaves with their problem fixed.

"Nobody is ever happy when they come in," Captain Wilkins said. "We ask our customers to have understanding, and know that we will do everything to find out the issue and get it fixed."

But, the 86th CPTS requests one thing.

"(We) ask for everyday patience," he said. "We have a dedicated crew working hard to make sure the member is paid correctly."