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AT THE FOREFRONT

1 U.S. Army Financial Management Command, Army Financial Services, Army Banking Program. Retrieved on January 21, 2024.
URL: https://www.usafmcom.army.mil/afs/

1 Mark R.W. Orders-Woempner, “New banking short course readies Army for next major conflict,” Indianapolis, IN, June 22,
2022. URL: https://www.usafmcom.army.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/3070469/new-banking-short-course-readies-army-for-
next-major-conflict/
1 Ronald L. Adolphi, “Military Banking: Its Past and Promise,” Armed Forces Comptroller, Fall 1981, Winter 1982, Spring 1982, and
Summer 1982.

1 Billy R. Barker, “The DoD Overseas Military Banking Program,” U.S. Army War College Study Project, March 30, 1990.
1 “Overseas Military Banking: How it is Financed and Managed: Department of the Treasury and Department of Defense.”
Report to Congress by the Comptroller General of the United States, ID-76-29, B-184090, Dec. 12, 1975, pg. 17-18.

From 1982 to 1985, I became the project officer for three significant initiatives: (1) begin developing policies
and procedures for testing the General Services Administration contract for travel cards (2) improve Army
military and civilian payment processes to reduce cash outside the Treasury by issuing travelers checks; and
(3) test the concept of using automated teller machines (ATMs) to pay soldiers that do not or cannot have
their pay sent to a bank. (NOTE: The “heavy lifting” of the Army-wide implementation of the travel card
program and further expansion of the Army’s travelers checks program became a significant part of my
successor’s tenure; i.e., Captain Charles Kacsur, Jr.)

Being the Army Banking Officer provided a wonderful experience. The three initiatives presented multiple
opportunities to participate in projects resulting in significant changes to policies, procedures and systems to
improve cash management and ensure military personnel, DoD civilians, and vendors (Prompt Pay Act was
passed in 1982) are paid correctly and on time. It was exciting to be involved in rapidly changing technology
developed through engagement with multiple organizations in the federal government. There were many
positive events such as briefing senior officials; making presentations at annual professional association
conferences; preparing and negotiating contracts; and being a key player allowing soldiers to withdraw their
monthly pay through ATMs.

On June 30, 1982, three months after I started my Army Banking Officer duties, President Reagan signed
Executive Order 12369 creating the Private Sector Survey on Cost Control (PSSCC), commonly referred to
as the “Grace Commission,” after its chairman, J. Peter Grace. The commission’s mandate (June 1982 to
January 1984) sought to identify opportunities for increased efficiency and reduced costs by executive or
legislative action. It wasn’t long for the Grace Commission to adopt and recommend cash management
programs such as travel cards and travelers’ checks (already underway in the Army) and ATMs to pay
soldiers (which was not a planned initiative, but became one). I will discuss travel cards and travelers checks
in the subsequent Part 2 of this paper. The ATM project will be discussed in the subsequent Part 3.

My TWI in banking ended on March 26, 1982. The excellent training opportunities provided
an expansive understanding of commercial banking products and operations, the banking
industry and the extensive statutory requirements for banks and bank operations. After
retiring from the Army in 1995, I worked for First Hawaiian Bank, Honolulu, for six years:
three in International Banking and three in commercial credit/purchase cards. After leaving
Hawaii in 2001 I begin teaching, and still do, offering financial management classes to
federal, state and local government employees.

1 “Analysis of the Grace Commission’s Major Proposals for Cost Control,” The United States Congress Budget Control Office
and the General Accounting Office [now the Government Accountability Office], February 28, 1984, 1-3.

In closing, I recognize and applaud Colonel Ralph Parker Dixon Jr. (1927-2015), the Deputy Commander of
Operations in USAFAC (a.k.a. the “Mayor of the Finance Center”) specifically for his strong leadership and
concern about the operation and costs of overseas MBFs. He was a driving force for the Army’s banking
officer program and getting a participating bank to train a military officer to be a banker.

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