Workin' hard for the money- 2 CPTS pays it forward

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Kristin High
  • 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs
BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. --  The 2nd Comptroller Squadron finance customer service section receives more than 63,000 inquiries a year pertaining to debts, permanent change of station moves, travel vouchers and other questions regarding pay and entitlements.

Around 35,000 of those customers walk into the finance office including active-duty and reservists currently assigned to Barksdale, Department of Defense employees and retirees.

"Our customer service is broken down into different sections to ensure everything is documented accurately," said 2nd Lt. Joseph Regan, 2 CPTS Financial Services officer in charge.

The Airmen who work the counter answer questions walk-in customers have and help people fill out travel vouchers. The voucher paperwork is then passed to the reviewer who oversees them. Finally, the quality assurance person checks all of the information documented before pushing any paperwork through, he added.

"It's important to make sure the paperwork is entered correctly so Airmen are given the right entitlements and do not incur any debts," said Airman 1st Class Gerald Marshall, 2 CPTS finance quality examination technician. "Customer service checks to see if vouchers are recorded correctly so the member receives the right reimbursement."

Common customers in finance are young Airmen who have either recently arrived to the base or have just come back from their first temporary duty assignment or deployment.

Staff Sgt. Crystal Velez-Greenhill, 2nd Comptroller Squadron NCO in charge, and her team members meet one-on-one with these Airmen so they can learn how to use the Defense Travel System and cut down on time-consuming errors.

The most important thing for the customers to know is most finance problems can be fixed simply by going to the DTS, myPay or eFinance websites. Links to all of the sites can be found on the Air Force portal, she said.

On the back side of customer service, some Airmen specifically work with debts.

"Sometimes when Airmen PCS to another base with a lower housing allowance, they incur a debt that has to be corrected," said Regan. "Our Airmen help to set up payment plans so the member can have the debt dispersed comfortably."

The 2 CPTS finance Airmen do a great job on quality control to ensure the customers are taken care of, he added.

"Working in finance is an ongoing job," said Marshall. "Our walk-in customer service is open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., but we are always working hard for our customers, whether responding to emails and inquiries on the DTS help desk or walking through finance questions anyone may have."

For more information on financial services contact the finance office at 456-4733.