Photo By 1st Lt. Richard Longoria | Senior Airman Jon-Nicos Walker, Air Force Financial Management Detachment 2 military...... read more read more
MOSUL, Iraq - What was typically a three-hour convoy turned into an 11-hour journey for one airman when his mine resistant ambush protected vehicle broke down in the middle of a village.
Senior Airman Jon-Nicos Walker and his teammates scampered to the next available MRAP to continue on their mission while Iraqi protesters lined the streets during the week of rage, possibly the most hostile time for U.S. service members in Iraq since combat operations ended last year.
Now this doesn’t sound like a common experience for most comptroller airmen but this is one of the highlights that sticks out during Airman Walker’s first deployment.
“This is my first time overseas and I’m glad to be serving in the role that I am,” said the Burlington, N.C., native. “Most people in my career field, when deployed, are usually stuck in an office all day, while I get to travel on a weekly basis.”
In a situation that would have some of us shaking in our combat boots, the warrior of the north found comfort in the company of the service members that had his back.
“I feel pretty safe with the Army,” said the accounting technician deployed from the 319th Comptroller Squadron at Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D. “They go outside the wire every day and they know what they are doing.”
Airman Walker is a military pay technician assigned to the Air Force Financial Management Detachment 2 at Contingency Operating Site Marez near Mosul, Iraq.
To date, he has help more than 11,000 service members with various pay related issues including more than 900 eagle cash card loads totaling $270,000 and processing more than 850 military pay transaction with 99 percent accuracy. In addition, Airman Walker has settled countless overdue travel reimbursements valuing more than 25,000.
“It’s a pretty simple job; we answer pay questions and disburse cash,” he said. “However, this job is different because our detachment caters directly to the Army and we do everything for them that a stateside base would. We pretty much help them with anything they need that is money or pay record related.”
The 23 airmen detachment is responsible for 17 locations. The detachment is also a test base for getting U.S. currency off of the battlefield.
“I’ve disbursed a lot of danar,” Airman Walker said. “The reason behind it is because using the U.S. dollar here isn’t giving the Iraqi economy a chance to grow. This gives them a chance to build up what they have as oppose to counting on us and our dollar.”
The mobile finance team travels to the various forward operating bases and checkpoints across northern Iraq to process pay transactions, hand out Iraqi danar and answer any pay related questions.
“From our location here, we travel out to other check points and offer the same services to the soldiers there,” Airman Walker said. “Some places we visit weekly while others only twice a month. I’ve been able to travel all over Iraq, via helicopter and ground convoy, to provide support to soldiers out in austere locations.”
While the traveling is fun, Airman Walker added that the interactions with his follow service members are the most rewarding.
“When go out to those locations, we get a lot more appreciation from the soldiers,” he said. “They just enjoy us being there. Even if they don’t need anything they still thank us for coming out. It’s an uplifting experience.”
Airman Walker travels to locations where the soldiers don’t have most of the life support functions or amenities that other sites have like a base exchange or post office.
“They are outside working all day,” he said. “So, it’s good that we are here so they can bring their stuff directly to us. We are right here so they can come and talk to us if there are any issues. Especially since most of them don’t have access to e-mail and if they do, they probably don’t have time to check it.”
Airman Walker mentioned that meeting with the soldiers in person is essential to completing his mission.
“Face to face communication is the key to good customer service,” he said. “It makes it easier on the soldiers that are here for 12 to 13 months at a time.”
Since he is on a joint expeditionary tasking, Airman Walker realizes he is getting a once in a lifetime opportunity.
“If this was an Air Force tasking, I’d probably be in an office all day taking paperwork,” Airman Walker said. “I’m actually rolling outside the wire. I’ve talked to the senior NCOs back at Grand Forks AFB and they’ve never had the chance to do some of the things I’m getting to do here.”
As an airman working for the Army, there were a few things to learn.
“The Army has different policies on a couple of things but they were pretty well explained to us, so we haven’t had too many difficulties,” he said.
Even with the learning curve, Airman Walker and his teammates have improved several processes within the detachment.
“We had some processes in place that were pretty archaic,” he said. “As a whole, our entire detachment has been able to make quicker processes and make things a lot easier. I’ve added my part and others have added theirs, so as a team we have definitely improved things.”
While the job is different than the one he performs at his home station, Airman Walker believes there are some similarities in the locations.
“In comparison Mosul and Grand Forks have a lot in common, for instance no one can point out either on a map and neither is a place you would like to vacation at,” he said.
But don’t let Airman Walker fool you; Grand Forks holds a special place in his heart.
“In a weird way, I miss the snow,” he said. “I didn’t get to see any last year. I’ve been there for a few years now, so it’s a part of me. I’m a NODAK now.”
When he isn’t traveling around the countryside or handling military pay issues, Airman Walker enjoys playing soccer with the locals and foreign nationals on base.
“They are cool and very friendly,” he said. “They are just like you and me. They don’t harbor any type of hatred. We are just out there playing soccer, which is their national pastime, and having a good time. However, they beat us all the time. Even the old, fat guys that you think couldn’t run are really good players.”
| Date Taken: | 04.23.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 04.23.2011 06:21 |
| Story ID: | 69231 |
| Location: | MOSUL, IQ |
| Web Views: | 1,007 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Airman Delivers Cash, Military Pay Services to Soldiers at Austere Locations, by 1st Lt. Richard Longoria, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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