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Homestead racks up savings through Every Dollar Count$

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Nicholas Caceres
  • 482nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. --  As Airmen across the Air Force are brainstorming to make the most of the Air Force dollar during the Every Dollar Counts campaign, Homestead Air Reserve Base also continues focus on fiscal responsibility.

The goal of the campaign is to address the Air Force's short-term fiscal realities while facilitating the long-term goal of a culture of fiscal stewardship.

The campaign has two parts--the first to drive a culture change in how the Air Force values saving and spending its money; the second part is to launch a month-long surge where Airmen can submit their ideas through the "Airmen Powered by Innovation" website: http://everydollar.dodlive.mil/every-dollar-count/.

Many squadrons here have already been looking for ways to save money. The base fire department is one of those squadrons. In addition to having a green, environmentally friendly building, which includes natural lighting and water recycling systems, they also save money by teaming up with fire departments from surrounding south Florida counties to conduct exercises and training.

"In a cost cutting effort, we're sharing training facilities in joint exercises between the base fire department and Miami-Dade, Broward, Charlotte, and Lee counties," said Fred Roberts, Homestead ARB assistant fire chief of training. "These joint exercises end up saving all parties approximately $500,000 a year."

The 482nd Communications Squadron also took initiative in the quest for ways to save the Air Force dollar by taking steps to help mitigate their budget execution risks.

The squadron developed a procedure to accurately and consistently audit telecommunications bills for discrepancies to ensure they were being charged correctly for the services they requested. The cost of powering telecommunications circuits as well as cell phones for was $640,000 in fiscal year 2012. With the measures put into practice, it's now projected to be roughly $240,000. This constituted a grand total of $400,000 in savings.

"With the high cost of communication comes a high degree of difficulty when it comes to saving money," said Tommie Pearson, 482nd CS resource advisor. "We asked ourselves what the communication channels were that we're bringing on base and are we being charged correctly. It took a couple of months and it was hard. Operations went in and started validating circuit by circuit, trying to figure out what, if anything, we could cut that wasn't essential. Sometimes people are hesitant to get rid of circuits because they are afraid of messing up something critical by doing so. It's a careful process, but in the end it was worth the effort."

Other measures taken were the canceling of non-mission critical cell phones and wireless hot spots, costing roughly $13,000 in fiscal year 2012. The cost is now projected to be roughly $6,000.

As Homestead ARB continues to think creatively about fiscal responsibility, saving will continue to roll in.

Across the Air Force at large, dollar-saving submissions are being evaluated by a dedicated team of 16 Airmen and civilians. They're evaluating submissions, monitoring the website, and providing feedback on a forum. The campaign runs through June 1.

"Budgets are tight and this program has come at a great time," said 482nd Fighter Wing Command Chief Master Sergeant Cameron Kirksey. "Yes, it's a difficult process, but we're trying our best to reassess how we spend our money. If each office can find a way to spend more effectively, the results would be staggeringly positive, which in turn improves the Air Force's ability to fly, fight, and win."

For more information on the Every Dollar Counts campaign, visit: http://everydollar.dodlive.mil/