10 August 2016 /21:12 UTC-07 Tango 01 (21 Mordad 1395/07 Dhu I-Qa’da 1437/09 Bing-Shen 4714)
The U.S. Air Force has round-a-boutly admitted that Reserve unit personnel are not getting paid for travel expenses. The revelation was made as the USAF boasted about a new voucher program that has significantly increased payouts.
The new program is being tested at Dover AFB in Delaware, by the 512th Airlift Wing. According to the 512th Financial Management office, in August 2015 there were 113 Airmen who were owned money for travel expenses (this is just for Reserve Airmen who drill at Dover). Under the new system that’s been dropped to 27 in July.
The new system has been so succesfull that Technical Sergeant Nathan Rivard wrote “Since August 2015, the office has seen a drastic increase in the amount of travel vouchers. The FM team of three has pushed through an average of 500 travel vouchers a month and regularly reviews approximately 650 vouchers a month….”
Remember, this new system is only being tested at one AFB. Who knows how many Reservists at other U.S. Air Force bases aren’t getting paid? Of course senior level personnel have been accusing lower level personnel of not properly submitting payout requests, although finance managers admitted that it was a complicated process.