Thanks for joining us today on commissioned. Today we’re going to talk again a little bit about money and the officers who are in charge of making sure that all works really well because nothing happens without money. We’re going to talk about the 65 foxtrot or finance officer.
This is a really critical career field within the Air force because just like no operations happen without intelligence. Right, Reed? No operations or support or anything else can happen in the Air force without money. And the finance officer is central to that entire process.
And we’re not just talking about how Colin, you and I get paid. We’re also talking about big blue Air Force budgets. How does the money flow? Are contracts getting paid on time? It’s a really complicated problem that without these people and the professionals, they are making sure everything works the way it’s supposed to, it’s not going to happen.
Yeah. Most typically people who end up as a finance officer are going to have some sort of academic background relative to accounting or finance or business management, something along those lines, but it’s not an absolute requirement. But if you like numbers, if you like accounting, if you like that topic, this may be a career field that you want to look a little bit closer into.
So in order to begin your career, you’re going to do an eleven week training at Keesler Air Force Base, where you’re going to get the background of how to speak Air Force. Because, Colin, you and I have experienced this. It’s a whole new world once you get inside the government with regulations and all the instructions and how we can make that all work and stay legal.
Yeah, absolutely. After you’ve completed your training there at Keesler, you’ll go to your operational base, which could literally be anywhere because like we’ve been saying, anytime there is an air force function, be it operations, support, acquisitions or anything like that, it requires money. And if money is involved, there has to be a finance officer there. Exactly.
And that includes deployments. You will deploy in these positions. Additionally, you’re going to lead, and you’re going to lead a lot of airmen and you’re going to lead a lot of airmen really early in your career. Some of the AFFCs have varying degrees of leadership, but this is one you’re almost certainly going to lead really early.
Yeah. And not only are you going to lead, but you’re going to be leading at the highest levels of leadership right out the gate, because we’re talking about very large sums of money that are typically going to be controlled at the wing level or installation level. And so you as a finance officer are going to be providing advice and counsel and recommendations to wing commanders as they make decisions around how to allocate funds, how to execute budgets, making sure that the Air Force’s mission is being successfully supported from a monetary standpoint.
Yeah, Colin, you’re right. And the longer you and I are in, the more we’ve seen how your ability to manage finances appropriately and be respectful and appropriately use the taxpayer money, that becomes more and more important the longer you stay in. And so if you need to make decisions and you’re not looking to that finance officer, you are wrong. So they play a really important role. And I think it’s a lot of in the background that we don’t really appreciate until we start one of those things that you don’t really recognize how important they are until you really need them.
Absolutely. That certainly has been my experience while serving in the air Force. Being a civil engineer and involved in the support side of things and doing construction and large scale maintenance projects across the base. I could not do my job without the finance officer. I need to have them as a right hand man or woman who’s working in lockstep with me making sure that we are taking care of the Air Force and its people the best that we can. I’ve been known to say it elsewhere that there are two people that should be your best friend in the Air Force, and one of them is the finance officer.
Yeah, no question about that. So if you have interest in this kind of career field, if you want know you have a head for numbers and this thing kind of makes sense, reach out to us. We’d love to put you in touch with some folks that we’ve interviewed for our podcast. You can get more information about that. We’ve got some links down in the description for some good information. But you’re not only going to develop skills that you can serve and use in the military, but you’re also going to develop skills that will be very helpful for you after the military.
Absolutely. And we would love for you to share those skills with other people that are part of this network. Join us in the heritage [email protected]. And you can also send your comments and suggestions to us through our email, through our email at [email protected]. You can also engage with us through the various social media platforms. Anything else that we need to cover here today? Reed?
No. Appreciate you joining us today for commission. Ed.