Week 7: Week 7: Surviving Spreadsheets and a Hiring Freeze
Ava M -
Hello everyone, and welcome to Week 7 of my senior project!
This week, I attended the Financial Management portion of the AFIMSC Commander, Major General Allen’s, Program Management Reviews. This review was originally scheduled to be held last week, but was rescheduled to this week. Each day, the review takes a deep dive into every portfolio across AFIMSC (Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center) to examine the ins and outs of each program. Most of the Financial Management focus was on process improvement and automation.
The first major talking point was the “Commander’s Application”, which is currently in the process of being deployed across all Department of the Air Force installations. “Commander’s Application” is a one-stop financial operations toolbox designed specifically for commanders, senior enlisted leaders and first sergeants. This app will make it much easier for commanders and supervisors to stay aware of financial management actions they need to take for their personnel.
The second review was about the Customer Service Portal, which automates the registration and appointment process. This is especially important for people who are retiring or transferring between bases, since a lot of financial management actions have to occur during those transitions. The portal will help automate appointment scheduling and significantly reduce wait times. As the offers to resign or retire early in the Air Force have been sent out twice, all automation efforts are necessary for timely transitioning.
The third review, and my personal favorite, was about the Odin-FM tool, which the Air Force has been developing since 2023. Odin-FM automatically generates execution plan budget resources by pulling primary source contract data and creating a fully developed budget request for the execution plan. Each year, about 25,000 unique requirements are submitted and validated for funding for the following year; a process that currently takes around seven months and hundreds of people to complete. Once Odin-FM is fully finished and deployed, it will save tens of thousands of man-hours, not only at AFIMSC but across all Air Force installations. This really ties into the broader challenges facing the Department of the Air Force and the federal government as a whole right now.
Again, the Air Force has already received two offers for government employees to resign or retire early. Unfortunately, AFIMSC is not immune to this. There are tons of open positions because people have left, and with the president signing off on a hiring freeze, AFIMSC can’t hire new people to fill those gaps. Because of this, automation efforts like Odin-FM are more critical than ever. Not only because of the reduced workforce but also because of the need to maintain high-quality work. Tensions at work have definitely risen, and as an intern, I’ve had to stay flexible and adjust to all the changes happening around me. Overall, my favorite part of the reviews was learning about Odin-FM, because it shows how innovation and technology can directly solve real-world problems; making budgeting faster, more accurate, and much more efficient for the future of the Air Force.
Each week I experience an unwavering amount of gratitude for my ability to intern with such an amazing team and learn so much information that I didn’t have any knowledge on before.
Thanks for reading! See you next week.
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