Closing the books on 2017

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Posted on October 18, 2018

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PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — While the rest of Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, was busy preparing for the week Sunday, Sept. 30, 2018, some Airmen were awake finishing their week with the End of Year Closeout.

Members of the 21st Comptroller Squadron, Contracting Squadron, Space Wing, Civil Engineer Squadron, Wing Staff Agency and Communications Squadron were working well into the weekend, some as late as 1:30 a.m., Monday, Oct. 1, to close out the end of the fiscal year 2018.

This year’s closeout ended up being one of the most successful the 21st SW has seen, according to 2nd Lt. Danielle Sease, 21st CPTS financial analysis flight commander.

“I was really nervous at first, thinking of all the things that could possibly go wrong — I had three backup plans,” said Sease. “But in the end, everything that got asked for funding was funded.”

Contracts that are funded have to go through many hands to see it through — it’s a process that wouldn’t happen without the teams of people working to make sure each group receives the funding it needs.

“We are working hard, not only this weekend, but throughout the year to provide the best support we can so they accomplish their missions – our folks work very hard to do that,” said Lt. Col. Scott Schofield, 21st CONS commander.

Contracts are not just handled last-minute when funding falls in the lap of finance the last weekend of the fiscal year, either.

Right now, CPTS and CONS are working on FY ’19 contracts to be put in place for the new year of funding.

“The medical team has the majority of the ones that are Oct. 1 and there are about 10 that we have to have funded, because they are healthcare workers and they need funding in order to work Oct. 1,” said Sheri Burks, 21st CONS base support deputy flight chief.

For one contract, it takes not just the contracting or comptroller squadron, but a team.

“It really is a team effort,” Schofield said. “It’s contracting in conjunction with the comptroller squadron and all the customers – government purchase card holders, subject matter experts – plenty of folks in the customer squadrons as well.

“It takes the relationship with all of us to come together to make it work – that team work is absolutely the key to success.”

This year, the contracting office saw 20,000 contract actions to make up a total of $325 million in funding, said Schofield.

In fiscal year ’17, $22 million was executed and for FY ’18, the 21st SW was right on track, said Schofield.

“We spend all our funds smartly, and if we hit a point to where we can’t expend the funds on our requirement, we can give money back to the wing,” said Mark Silva, 21st Operations Group resource advisor. “They’ll go out and re-allocate to someone else. If that doesn’t work, they’ll give money back to Major Command.”

Closing the books on 2017