ALCOAST 079/20 - MAR 2020 2019 COAST GUARD CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER (CFO) AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE

R 111050 MAR 20
FM COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC//CG-8//
TO ALCOAST
UNCLAS //N01650//
ALCOAST 079/20
COMDTNOTE 1650
SUBJ:  2019 COAST GUARD CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER (CFO) AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE
A. COMDT COGARD WASHINGTON DC 181046 NOV 19/ ALCOAST 360/19
B. Recognitions Program Manual, COMDTINST M1650.26 (series)
1. The Coast Guard Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Awards for Excellence recognizes
individuals and teams who demonstrated outstanding performance, innovative thinking,
and improved methods in financial management.
2. I am honored to announce the 2019 CFO Award Winners:
    a. Enlisted Personnel E-6 and Below: SK3 Karlee Isaacs, Air Station Kodiak, AK. 
As the unit's fuel account manager, SK3 Isaacs expertly maintained accountability
of all fuel card transactions and obligations for the largest account in District 17,
budgeted at $7.5 million. She demonstrated critical foresight in preparing and
implementing a Financial Management and Procurement System Business Process
Re-engineering (FMPS-BPR) process guide for aviation fuel to assist the BPR fuel
team transition. Her expertise within Military Standard Requisitioning & Issue
Procedures (MILSTRIP) allowed for successful centralization of a separate log to
track over 2,000 orders. SK3 Isaacs also developed an aviation consumable catalog
for the unit that focused on reducing administrative time frames associated with
researching over 200 part numbers for reordering. She expertly processed more than
$50k micro-purchases and $585k of MILSTRIPS while ensuring compliance with all Coast
Guard procurement policies. 
    b. Civilian Employee up to GS-8: Angela Varner, Finance Center, Chesapeake, VA. 
Ms. Varner’s skill and fastidiousness were evident in her primary duties on the
Purchase Order team. Last year she processed 3,285 purchase orders totaling $45M
with a 100% accuracy rate. Ms. Varner helped reduce backlog queues by assisting
other teams in her unit. She used her expertise to voluntarily assist the Contracts
and Transportation Teams during peak seasons by processing 1,109 contract invoices
and 87 Personally Procured Move claims valued at $62.9M. These efforts bolstered the
Finance Center's 96.1% on-time payment rate, and resulted in an average travel claim
processing time of just 21 days, a record low. Her precision in executing and
certifying payments directly contributed to the Finance Center's best in government
payment accuracy rate of 99.95%. Ms. Varner earned the respect of her peers and
leaders as the go-to problem solver. Her focused research and customer service acumen
earned high praise from both government and commercial partners, solidifying the
Finance Center's reputation as a DHS service center of excellence.      
    c. Enlisted Personnel E-7 and Above: SKCM Omir Perez, Surface Forces Logistics
Center (SFLC), Baltimore, MD. SKCM Perez executed the SFLC responsibilities as the
technical authority over Asset Material Managers (AMM) and facilitated the
accountability of $101.6M of inventory forward positioned at 65 remote locations
worldwide in support of the USCG Surface Fleet. He demonstrated initiative by
providing detailed guidance to AMMs and incorporating best business practices in a
major revision of the AMM Desk Guide. SKCM Perez tracked compliance with the
established procedures by incorporating a quarterly desk audit that facilitated the
reconciliation of delinquent transactions and inventory discrepancies. He also
planned and hosted the first annual AMM workshop to train and exchange information
between AMMs and SFLC. SKCM Perez represented SFLC to the AMMs and advocated for the
AMMs to help resolve issues with other divisions within SFLC. His actions reflect
great credit on him, the SFLC and the US Coast Guard.
    d. Civilian Employee GS-9 to GS-12: Keith Fowler, District Thirteen, Seattle, WA. 
Mr. Fowler was a key member of D13's Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)
Professional Work Group that provided crucial input to the D13 Commander and
Strategic Guidance Team on local BPR execution. In the fall of 2019, he helped
convene D13's Resource Management Board, expertly communicating the AOR's FY20
$17M budget execution plan. While crafting the budget, Mr. Fowler was faced with
multiple funding shortfalls and found $1M in savings to help bridge the funding gap.
Given a travel ceiling for FY20, Mr. Fowler conducted a detailed analysis of FY19
travel and reduced FY20 travel spending requests by $200K. He controlled a $450K
property lease account and worked with multiple field commands and CEU Oakland to
manage 100 leases that were vital to the performance of multiple D13 missions.
As D13's financial representative for interagency agreements, Mr. Fowler coordinated
over 60 funding transactions valued at well over $500K and significantly strengthened
relationships between the CG and numerous federal, state, and local agencies.
    e. Chief Warrant Officer: F&S2 Gary Miller, Surface Forces Logistics Center (SFLC),
Baltimore, MD. In the absence of key budget personnel, CWO Miller oversaw the
development of a $600M, 20,000 line item budget request to support the depot level
maintenance needs for the CG surface fleet. Utilizing advanced modeling techniques,
his efforts supported the allocation of $420M to the most critical needs to support
1868 small boats and 250 cutters worldwide. Simultaneously, he facilitated the on
target closeout for 70 Operations & Support (OS) accounts during the FY19 Pipeline
Certification (PCT) and Open Obligation Validation processes. To resolve a PCT data
migration error, CWO Miller worked quickly across divisions to correct more than
300 documents, valued at over $2M, thereby improving financial accuracy and ensuring
SFLC met the highest level of audit readiness. His attention to detail enabled the
de-obligation of $3M that was repurposed to fund mission critical fleet maintenance
and inventory purchases.
    f. Commissioned Officer up to O-3: LT Hayley McElroy, District One, Boston, MA.
As the District member of RST-1 Leadership, LT McElroy guided DCO and DCMS components
through Business Process Reengineering, including leading an ongoing pilot which will
result in best practices for disestablishing the CG's recurring charge master. Her
experience and exceptional insight made LT McElroy a key participant in the Project
Accounting Lean Event and Financial Systems Modernization Solutions Training Guide
Review. The products produced are critical to the successful implementation of FSMS.
Trusted as a financial resource, she provided critical AFC-30 and ORRF financial
guidance that led to flawless execution of the North Atlantic Coast Guard Forum
Plenary Meeting which received accolades for "reinforcing the prestige and
professional reputation of our Service." LT McElroy significantly improved
District-wide management of weight handling equipment (WHE) by creating the WHE
tracker on Coast Guard Common Core, enhancing inventory management and identifying
AOR recap priorities, resulting in over $500k targeted purchases and highlighting
the D1 Commander’s request to establish a WHE product line.
    g. Civilian Employee GS-13 and above: Kristin M. Clark, COMDT (CG-9283),
Washington, DC. As the Business Financial Manager (BFM) for the National Security
Cutter (NSC), Ms. Clark managed over $2.8B in appropriated funds, furthering the
execution of one of the CG’s largest acquisition programs and enabling the delivery
of new cutters. She also led a team of six BFMs to update the COMDT (CG-9) BFM
Standard Operating Procedures. Her team developed process guides for 20 BFM
processes to capture best business practices, bring about standardization across
the BFM world of work, and deliver a systematic desk guide for use by all BFMs.
Additionally, Ms. Clark led the ongoing effort across the Division to prepare
document review guides for the 29 different document types used to execute funds.
Through her prudent execution of budgetary authority for the CG’s largest acquisition
program and her service as the Contracting Officer’s Representative for a Financial
and Audit Support Services contract, she contributed greatly to the CG’s ability to
earn a pass on an unprecedented seven consecutive audits.
    h. Commissioned Officer O-4 and above: LCDR Corydon Heard, COMDT (CG-821),
Washington, DC. LCDR Heard is the Program Reviewer for the Coast Guard's most
visible acquisition programs, including the Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPC), Polar
Security Cutter, National Security Cutter, Fast Response Cutter, and Waterways
Commerce Cutter. He effectively planned for, programmed, and justified over $1B of
PC&I funding through the Federal budget process. LCDR Heard made particularly
noteworthy contributions to the OPC Program, which is the largest acquisition in
the history of DHS. After the shipbuilder designing and constructing the OPC was
substantially impacted by a category five hurricane, a request for extraordinary
relief under Public Law 85-804 was submitted to the Coast Guard. LCDR Heard helped
coordinate the evaluation of cost, schedule, and performance impacts of the
shipbuilder's request, ultimately leading to a Secretary-level decision to grant
limited relief to support construction of the first four OPCs.    
    i. Team Award: Coast Guard Western Pacific Deployment Finance Team, Alameda, CA.
This team’s superior planning efforts and budget execution skills allowed the Coast
Guard to conduct two six-month National Security Cutter deployments to the Western
Pacific with U.S. Navy 7th Fleet, the first such employment of Coast Guard assets
in more than a decade. These operations were in support of the United Nations
Security Council Resolution enforcement operations alongside partner nations in
the Indo-Pacific Theater. The team developed cost estimates, secured $2 million
across four funding sources, established two mission-specific reimbursable
agreements and conducted all necessary account maintenance for $500,000 in
reimbursable spending. Their comprehensive funding plan and in-depth research on
budget execution requirements ensured BERTHOLF and STRATTON were fully supported
and logistically prepared for operations while simultaneously engaging in multiple
professional maritime exchanges and capacity building efforts with key regional
allies including Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
The team consists of:
      (1)  Ms. Janie Thomas (PAC-8)
      (2)  Mr. Ken Langford (PAC-8)
      (3)  Ms. Dawn Stephens (PAC-8)
      (4)  Mr. Rob Thorson (PAC-8)
      (5)  Mr. Jeremy Famularcano (PAC-8)
      (6)  Mr. Paul Dinsmore (PAC-8)
      (7)  Mr. Tony Pariga (PAC-8)
      (8)  SK1 Ryan Doty (PAC-8)
      (9)  SK2 Randy Jordan (PAC-8)
      (10) SK2 Jorge Orozco-Alba (PAC-8)
      (11) CDR Suzanne Rainwater (PAC-092)
      (12) LT Christopher Jones (PAC-092)
      (13) CDR Michael Hunt (PAC-3)
      (14) LT Stuart Carley (PAC-3)
      (15) LTJG Alexis Wilde (PAC-3)
      (16) CWO Mallory Stonehouse (STRATTON)
      (17) SKC Mark Ebli (STRATTON)
      (18) CWO Raymond Eakes (BERTHOLF)
      (19) SKC Shane Swartz (BERTHOLF)
      (20) CWO Edgar Carrelo (BERTHOLF)
3. I heartily congratulate all nominees and award winners on their accomplishments,
and commend the entire financial management community on all ongoing work that is
improving delivery of CFO services, and finding better ways to support operational
commanders and mission support professionals. The innovative and dedicated efforts
conducted every day throughout the Coast Guard to manage our financial resources
were reflected in all of the nominations submissions. Thank you for all you do to
ensure our Service is Ready, Relevant and Responsive.
4. The Coast Guard CFO award winners will be contacted individually regarding award
presentation. POC: Dr. Dianne Trawick, COMDT (CG-81) at Dianne.S.Trawick@uscg.mil or
(202) 372-3722.
5. RDML T.G. Allan Jr., Assistant Commandant for Resources/Chief Financial Officer, sends.
6. Internet release is authorized.