high desert chapter asmc 2nd quarter high desert wind 2009 ... · financial management within the...

P.O. Box 547, Edwards AFB CA 93524 2nd Quarter FY09

CONTENTS:Page 3

ScholarshipAwardsPage 4

Jan EB MinutesPage 5

Jan GM MinutesPage 6

Member’sArticlePage 7

Chapter GivingPage 8

Feb EB MinutesPage 9

Mar GM Minutes0

National News&

Financial FunFacts

Page 12Treasurer

PDF newsletter at web site: www.highdesertasmc.org

2nd Quarter2009High Desert Wind

News letter

High Desert Chapter ASMC

American Society of Military Comptrollers

~ UP-COMING CHAPTER MEMBER MEETINGS & EVENTS ~ ASMC Meetings: Start 11:30 - Place: Wolfe Yeager Room, Bldg. 2800

“16 April 2009”Ms. Rose Burnham will speak on Cost & Risk Analysis (CARA)

“18 June 2009”Mr. Michael Moore will speak on “Leadership” - Place TBD

Chapter

CERTIFICATION: HOW TOGET THERE AND WHY IT’S

IMPORTANT FOR YOURCAREER

Spring has finally sprung!Soon the Antelope Valley willbe awash with poppies, home-owners will commit themselvesto their annual spring cleanup,Financial Services transforma-tion will kick into high gear, anddiligent ASMC members willrededicate themselves to final-ly completing the remainingthree or four classes they needto complete their associates,bachelors or masters degrees.As we think of the importanceof education and the role itplays in advancing our careers,improving our social standing,and fulfilling our desire for self

actualization, we should alsoconsider the benefits of profes-sional certification.

With our annual PDI justaround the corner, this is theideal time for many High Des-ert Chapter members toturn their thoughts to studyingand taking the required tests tobecome Certified Defense Fi-nancial Managers (CDFM).While this is truly a lofty andworthwhile goal, it will requirededication, a commitment tostudy, and a willingness tobroaden one’s horizons bystriking out and seeking knowl-edge in areas of FinancialManagement which are oftenstrange or unfamiliar to us.With that in mind, I highly en-courage our members >>>

President’s MessageMaj, Michael J. RooneyCOMMANDER, 95 CPTS

High Desert Chapter NewsletterVolume 25 Issue 2

seeking professional certification toget with others who have recentlycompleted the CDFM tests to get abroad understanding of not only thedepth and breadth of material neces-sary to successfully pass these tests,but also the types of study habits em-ployed and the amount of time invest-ed to achieve the goal. The next stepwould be to find other interested peo-ple who are also planning to test forCDFM and, with your diverse back-grounds and experiences, you shouldbe able to form small effective studygroups with these people. If a mem-ber of your group has experience inone particular discipline, have thatperson lead your study session butbe actively involved and ask ques-tions in areas that you may not becompletely familiar with.

As I recommended at our Januaryluncheon, seek out those who haveexperience working issues or pro-cesses that you and your study groupare unfamiliar with. If possible, askthese functional area experts to givea brief process presentation to yourstudy group over lunch. We havemany within our Chapter with broadexperiences they would be glad toshare if asked. So ask!

Why is professional certificationimportant to your career???

Three reasons:

First, for our civilian workforceCDFM may be the final way to differ-

entiate, which puts you ahead of thecompetition when seeking out newemployment opportunities within thefederal government. It shows supervi-sors and managers that you are aperson invested in your career andare one who has dedicated yourselfto improving your professional qualifi-cations. When you complete profes-sional certification, you further buildout your resume and distinguish your-self from your peers.

Second, obtaining professional certi-fication is an achievement to beproud of. The module tests are any-thing but easy. Successfully complet-ing them demonstrates mastery ofthe subject matter (even when youknow that there is still so much youdon’t know). Obtaining your certifica-tion demonstrates your understand-ing of the principles underpinningfinancial management within the De-partment of Defense. It also meansthat you understand what you don’tknow but are equipped with the skillsnecessary to find the right answers.

Finally, certification assures thepublic that those charged with man-aging taxpayer’s money in an efficientand effective manner. Given the er-rors of the past and a general misper-ception as to the manner in whichgovernment employees carry outtheir assigned duties, certification canonly help improve the public’s confi-dence in the work we do as federalfinancial managers.


Ultimately, CDFM credentials putyou into a select but growing group ofprofessional financial managers whocan be relied upon to provide wellreasoned decision support to theirleadership. Those who fail to avail ofthe opportunity are doing themselvesa disservice and hampering their ca-reer growth potential. If you’re up to

the challenge and would like moreinformation on CDFM, please visitwww.asmconline.org or go directly tothe CDFM program page athttp://www.asmccertification.com

The ASMC High Desert chapter high schoolscholarship selection committee for 2009 waschaired by Nancy Wachter. The members ofthe committee were Kathleen Augustine, ToniCulver and Rebecca Pease. Scholarship ap-plications had gone out to approximately 20local high schools and unfortunately we hadapplications returned from only three schools.Scholarships in the amount of $500 will beawarded to two high school seniors enteringinto the business field. Committee members

will be attending award nights at the two schools to present the winnerswith certificates. Upon acceptance in a college the scholarship moneywill be sent directly to the school.

AND THE WINNERS ARE!!! Sorry can’t name them yet...since they haven’t been announced yet bytheir respective schools, but of the two $500 winners one is being submit-ted as a National scholarship competition entry. We will announce thetwo winner’s names in the next newsletter.

ANNUAL SCHOLARSHIP SUBMISSIONS & AWARDSBy Nancy Wachter - Committee Chairperson

Scholarship Committee Report


Executive Board Meeting MinutesHigh Desert Chapter Minutes

6 Jan 2009

Meeting called to order at 0900.

Anita will be rescheduling the visit toAV Hospital to give away the bears tothe children.

Anita passed the book over to MajRooney.

Zarie suggested that Kathleen plan outlunches a year in advance to makethings easier.

January’s General Meeting needs to bepushed back a week due to the UCI.Kathleen will pick up the lunch forJanuary’s meeting in Lancaster. (Poss.Green House Café)

Anita will recap all events for 2008 atthe meeting.

Maj Rooney will be added to ASMCbank account.

Anita will be selecting a new Tax Ser-vice to file taxes and to place us into atax exempt status.

Anita plans to check with Sam White tosee how the Newsletter is comingalong. Anita stated that each membershould write a monthly blub on the dif-ferent charities and provide this to Samto put in the Newsletters.

CDFM Courses are coming up. Do wehave anyone interested? An emailneeds to be sent out asking for inter-ested participants.

A speaker from the previous PDI is will-ing to speak on Financial Planning. Heplans to speak in San Diego soon.

The Board plans to ask RebeccaPease to announce the Board nomi-nees again this year Scholarship com-mittee needs to send out package tothe schools and request applicantsfrom the counselors.

Maj Rooney plan to write a blurb for thenewsletter regarding the families thatreceived the donations during Christ-mas.

Officers and Committee Chairs Present:

Maj Michael Rooney President Anita Rennie 1st Vice Charlotte Phillips 2nd Vice Toni Culver 3rd Vice Zarie Flemig Treasurer Kathleen Augustine Events Coordinator Jackie Burdian Secretary


We need to give Barbara Sobaski aletter of appreciation for her thoughtful-ness and hard work making the jewelryand giving the proceeds towardsDecember’s charity.We need to gear up and prepare forthe Cancer Walk soon.

Meeting adjourned @ 10:00Jackie Burdian, Secretary

BusinessMeeting called to order by Maj Rooney @ 12:00

SecretaryMinutes for December’s meeting were emailed to members for review and ap-proved 1st by Richard Phillips and 2nd by Phyllis Wright. Approved.

Treasurer’s Report Money MarketEFCU checking $2,305.85 Pentagon FCU $14,131.67Scholarship Fund $2,680.85 EFCU $5,646.50




Next Month Meeting:Mike Ryan will be speaking on 3 Easysteps to take towards a bigger and bet-ter Government Retirement.

New BusinessASMC Connection – EDT open enroll-ment 23 Feb.Nancy Watcher sent out 2 high schoolscholarships. Due date for applicationsis 27 Feb.Relay for Life coming soon.PDI applications due 6 Feb. to ToniCulver. Registration should open upmid March.Virginia won a free lunch for nextmonth.

Dee Cameron is working on 5 StarChapter. Please provide her with infor-mation.

Speaker:Anita Rennie was our speaker. Thetopic of discussion was “High DesertASMC Chapter - A look back on 2008and a look forward.” A $20 donationwill be donated to the National CancerSociety.

Meeting adjourned @ 12:30Jackie BurdianSecretary

A CHANGE IS COMING!“The Air Force Financial Service Center (AFFSC)”

By Capt, Whiticar Darvill - 95 CPTS/FMAO

MEMBER’S ARTICLE

Financial Services is full speed aheadfor a migration to the Air Force Finan-cial Service Center (AFFSC) located atEllsworth AFB. The migration will allowa centralization of processes to gainefficiencies. Utilizing trained techni-cians whose primary responsibility willbe processing documents, the AFFSCwill be able to focus greater resourceson the primary mission of paying mem-bers. A secondary effect will be a moreconsistent financial customer service.Historically, members could inquireabout a specific military pay question

and receive a different answer depend-ing on whom in the FSO they asked.The future is for customers to first seekanswers to questions online or througha centralized call center. This willgreatly increase the standardization ofpay related questions and answers.The ultimate end state for the FinancialTransformation is for customers to uti-lize the Click, Call, Walk concept. Cus-tomers should click on web resourceslocated in the Life & Career tab underthe Money – Finance Center page onthe AF portal. There will be an elec-


tronic in-processing program for mem-bers who recently PCSed. There willalso be an eFinance program utilizing a“turbo-tax” like interface to help cus-tomers fill out required pay affectingforms. The Call portion of the conceptwill be a centralized call center, operat-ing 24/7. This will greatly help get an-swers to deployed troop whose homestation operates on a differing time.The final step will be for a customer toWalk into the local FSO to speak faceto face with a technician who will helpanswer questions.

The first day of cutover for Edwards is24 April 2009, but CPTS has been pre-paring for months. With the help the 95CG, we are ready to transmit travel and

military pay documents to the AFFSCvia the electronic information manage-ment (EIM) program. This is greatnews, as CPTS absorbed manningcuts back in 2007 in preparation for themigration. While customers will not seeany difference in how they can file trav-el vouchers, the expected paymenttimeline is returning to the Air Forcestandard with 95% paid within 10 daysand 100% within 30 days. This is amajor deviation from our current 5-7day payment window, but the DoDstandard has always been 30 days.We need all of EAFBs leadership tosupport this effort and be patient as theAF changes to the future of FinancialServices.

W.D.

Monthly our local Chapter membersgather and donate clothes etc. toGrace Resource Center, helping tofeed and cloth the homeless.

MONTHLY CHAPTER GIVING TO GRACE RESOURCES Helping to Serve The Homeless In The Antelope Valley

“Community Giving Project”


Meeting called to order at 0900Donating the bears to Antelope ValleyHospital will be postponed again.

Anita has 2 new prospects for the tax-es.

Toni Culver will ask Rebecca Pease toaudit tax records. Janet Fitzgerald didthe audit last year. Zarie will look intoBill Bruens or Janet Fitzgerald doing it.The audit is to be completed within thenext 4 weeks.

Charlottes needs to provide a list ofproposed speakers for the next quarter.The following people were suggested:Tom Oko, Lori Williams from AFRL,Col. Gerald Brown from the JAG office,Capt Stengel, Steve Lundy and Mr.Bernard to represent NAF.For March, we will have Lt Darvillspeak on Financial Services Transfor-mation and in April the POC from the412th FM.

Blankets and charitable donations aredue by 18 Feb. Kathleen will check withGrace Resource about donating shoesand socks for March.

The board voted to donate $200-250quarterly for different charities. Theboard also voted to donate $250 to buyfood for Grace Resource this month.We need to look into holding fund rais-ers to help support the donations. Itwas suggested to have a muffin or ba-gel sale and Kathleen will look into thestipulations of having the basket auc-tion.

We reviewed and discussed the appli-cants wanting to go to this year’s PDI.

There is going to be a large attendancefor February’s General meeting. Kath-leen will need assistance insetting/cleaning up.

Meeting adjourned @ 10:20Jackie Burdian, Secretary

HIGH DESERT CHAPTEREXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING MINUTES

10 Feb 2009




Business Meeting called to order by Maj Rooney@ 12:00

Secretary Minutes for February’s meeting wereemailed to members for review. Therewas a correction stated that not onlydid the board approve to donate $200-$250 per quarter to a charity, but MajRooney put the proposal to the floor fora vote and it was approved. Motionwas made 1st by Maj Rooney and 2nd

by Kathleen Augustine. Approved.

New Business Maj Rooney discussed the selectionprocess of choosing member’s for PDI.It is based on the direction individualsare going in their career. The funding isprovided by Don Sullivan and he ulti-mately makes the final decision. If indi-viduals are not chosen to go, theirorganization can used their TDY fundsto send them.

Toni Culver and Kathleen Augustineare responsible for heading up a Chari-ty Event at Grace Resource. For themonth of March, the ASMC boardmembers are requesting donations fornew socks, new or slightly used shoes,and always toiletry items. These itemswill be distributed on March 25th forthose who wish to participate

The members were asked to thinkabout other charities that might need

help and submit them to theboard/membership.

Toni Sandelli talked about the Relayfor Life. This event is to help raisefunds for the American Cancer Society.It will be held on April 18th and 19th atQuartz Hill School. There are 9 teammembers and you can give a donationto anyone of them. Also, from 11:00-3:00PM, Antelope Valley Hospital isconducting a long-term study on indi-viduals who have never had cancerbefore and are between the ages of30-60.

Nancy Watcher said that there were 2high school students who will receive ascholarship for $500. We will forwardone on to National.

Lashunda Waterman won nextmonth’s free lunch.

Speaker: Lt Whitaker Darvill briefed on Finan-cial Services Transformation. On be-half of Lt Whitaker Darvill, ASMC willbe donating $20 to the American Can-cer Society.

Meeting adjourned @ 12:30

HIGH DESERT CHAPTERGENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES

16 Mar 2009


ASMC Selects NewExecutive Director

Mr. Tucker replaces the HonorableRobert Hale who was recently con-firmed by the U.S. Senate as the UnderSecretary of Defense(Comptroller/Chief Financial Officer). Mr. Tucker is well known in the De-partment of Defense (DoD) financialcommunity. He has extensive experi-ence in Defense accounting, audit, andbudget and has demonstrated a strongcommitment to the professional goalsof ASMC by serving as Chair of theCDFM Commission. He joins ASMCfrom the accounting firm of GrantThornton LLP where he spent 12years, and served as a Director in theDefense and Intelligence practice. Dur-ing his federal service he was DoDDeputy Chief Financial Officer from1990 to 1997. Previous to that he wasDeputy Inspector General of the De-partment of Housing and Urban Devel-opment, Deputy Assistant InspectorGeneral (Audit) in the Office of the DoD

IG, and Director of Training and Educa-tion in the Office of the Secretary ofDefense (OSD). He began his federalcareer with the Army Audit Agency,and progressed to staff positions as anauditor and budget analyst in the OSDComptroller organization before joiningthe Senior Executive Service in 1979.He retired from the Civil Service in1997 with 34 years of service. Mr.Tucker is a Certified Defense FinancialManager (CDFM), a Certified PublicAccountant (CPA), a Certified InternalAuditor (CIA), and a Certified Govern-ment Financial Manager (CGFM). He isthe recipient of the Defense Medal forDistinguished Civilian Service, with oakleaf cluster and was twice named aMeritorious Senior Executive. A gradu-ate of the University of Maryland with aBachelor of Science degree in Ac-counting, he is also a graduate of theFederal Executive Development Pro-gram sponsored by the Office of Per-sonnel Management.Alvin Tucker resides in Crofton Mary-land with his wife Jacqueline.

Submitted by Sara Cameron - Member

History and Facts The first US income tax was started during the Civil War to help raise moneyback in 1862. The 16th Amendment, ratified in 1913, established the first permanent US in-come tax. There are over 7 million words in the tax law and regulations. That beats theGettysburg address, the Declaration of Independence, and the Holy Bible allrolled into one (269 + 1,337 + 773,000 = 774,606).


By 1945, 43 million Americans were paying income tax. In 1939, there were on-ly 4 million income tax payers. In 1916 Congress deleted the word “lawful” before the word “income” makingillegal income taxable.

Collection & Forms The easiest form, the 1040EZ, has thirty-three pages of instructions. The first e-file (electronic transmission of a tax return) occurred on January 24,1986…by 1989, taxpayers in 36 states could e-file their taxes…by 1990, every-one could. The Cato Institute estimates that there are 1.2 million tax payers in this country. Tax Freedom Day (is the first day of the year in which a nation as a whole hastheoretically earned enough income to fund its annual tax burden) was April 23rdin 2008, a few days earlier than last year (April 26th) because of the tax stimulusrebate. 21% of paper returns have errors, 0.5% of e-file returns have errors; doing yourtaxes electronically seems to be the best bet.

Weird Tax Laws Drug Tax Stamps – In at least 20 states (not including California) there is a taxon illegal drugs. When you buy an illegal drug, like marijuana or even moonshine,in Tennessee, you have 48 hours to report it to the Department of Revenue topay your tax and get a stamp for the substance. No identification needed. Formore information on tax rates and penalties, you can visit:http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6668. Jock Tax” – Levied on athletes who earn an income competing in a particularcity or state. California first levied this tax on athletes from Chicago in 1991, afterthe Chicago Bulls beat the LA Lakers in the 1991 NBA Finals. Alabama has a 10 cent tax on each deck of playing cards. Blueberries from Maine are subject to specific tax too, anyone who grows, pur-chases, sells, handles, or processes blueberries in Maine has to pay a pennyand a half tax per pound. In Chicago, fountain soda drinks are taxed at 9%, if it comes from a bottle orcan then it’s only taxed 3%.

Sources: Jim. “50 Fun Facts About Taxes.” Bargaineering.com. April 15, 2008. Bargain-eering: Engineering a richer life. February 9, 2009.http://www.bargaineering.com /articles/50-fun-facts-about-taxes.html>

Marco, Meg. “It’s Tax Day! 13 Interesting Facts about US Taxes.”Consumerist.com. April 17, 2007. The Consumerist. February 9, 2009.http://consumerist.com/consumer/taxes/its-tax-day-13-interesting-facts-about-us-taxes-252882.php>


Newsletter Editor: Sam White - [email protected] 12

18-19 APRIL 2009QUARTZ HILL HIGH SCHOOL

High Desert Chapter Team Event

Sign up on line: http://events.cancer.org/rfllancasterca ourTeam Name is ASMC and Toni Sandelli is the Team CaptainCamp Site has already been reserved

Sign up on line (you do not need to pay on line, but you can. If you like you canmake your check out to The American Cancer Society and give it to Toni, or youcan pay cash. Registration Fee is $10.00).Teams should bring a flag representing the team, we can use our ASMC banner.All teams will make a lap carrying their flag.

MONEY....MONEY...MONEY...Balance SheetHIGH DESERT CHAPTER

Treasurer's ReportFebruary 2009

Beginning Balance $4,989.64

Add: Revenues checking 721.00

Revenues saving 1.13

Less: Expenses checking 750.69 Expenses saving 0.00

Ending Balance $4,961.08

Treasurer's note to members:1. Edwards Federal Credit Union checking account balance: $2,278.06EFCU savings account balance for Scholarships: $2,683.022. Pentagon Federal Credit Union money market certificate andsavings account balance as of statement 16 January 2009: $14,305.25(PFCU Dividends Year to Date $59.13)3. Edwards Federal Credit Union money market certificatebalance as of statement February 2009: $5,646.50(EFCU Dividends 2006 $215.65 )(EFCU Dividends 2007 YTD $207.24)(EFCU Dividends 2008 YTD $223.61)

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