Finance Goes Back to Base

Airmen last week handed over the Air Force Financial Services Center at Ellsworth AFB, S.D., to a fully civilian staff as the service transfers military pay functions back to the base level. “When the center opened in 2007, it was a big deal,” said AFFSC Director Gary Gualano in a Sept. 27 Ellsworth release. The center handled all Air Force pay and any travel vouchers outside of the Defense Department’s travel system, processing more than $500,000 in vouchers alone last year, states the release. As an efficiency—and cost-cutting—measure, the Air Force decided to shift manpower back to the installation level, providing pay services on base, while the civilian-run center would continue to process travel pay requests. Before the transition, AFFSC boasted a staff of more than 550 uniformed and civilian staff. The center bid farewell to the last of its 300 Active Duty airmen during a Sept. 19 ceremony. (Ellsworth report by Amn. Ashley J. Woolridge) (See also 2011 Washington, D.C., release outlining the AFFSC transition.)