Page 15 - FCA Diamond Point June 24

FROM THE FIELD

US Army Financial Management Command
(USAFMCOM) Corner (Cont’d)

Williams, a St. Louis native, received a Regular Army commission into the Finance Corps in 1999
as a distinguished military graduate of the Florida Institute of Technology’s Army Reserve Officer
Training Corps program after earning a Bachelor of Science in business administration. She also
holds a Master of Policy Management from Georgetown University and a Master of Strategic
Studies from the Army War College.

“To lead this organization, you must be a technical expert because you have to roll your sleeves
up and work, and you’ve got to be a master at organizational design because there’s still work to
be done as this organization continues to be operationalized,” said Mohan. “And, we are incredibly
blessed that Col. Michelle Williams is that leader, and she is that expert.”
He then drew the attention of the nearly 200-person audience, including serval high-ranking
Department of Defense and Army financial management leaders, to Williams’ 25-year career with
assignments in both financial management and resource management operations around the
world.
“She was the G8 for the XVIII Airborne Corps…responsible for resourcing three incredibly complex
deployments to [U.S. Central Command], [U.S. European Command] and [U.S. African Command],
where she oversaw portfolios worth billions of dollars,” Mohan explained. “The XVIII Airborne
Corps is the nation’s 911 force…and Michelle managed the budget for them and for some very
dynamic leaders who didn’t like it when you said, ‘no, there’s no more money.’”
He also recognized her barrier-breaking roles as both the first female Army Congressional Budget
Liaison chief at the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management and
Comptroller and the first female Chief of the U.S. Army Finance Corps while serving as the 42nd
commandant of the U.S. Army Finance and Comptroller School.

“She worked closely with Congressional appropriators and Army senior leaders to ensure our
service was adequately funded, and that is one of the most important jobs that we have at the
Pentagon,” said Mohan. “And, Michelle did a phenomenal job down at Fort Jackson, and that’s
why she’s sitting here today.

“The Army has recognized her leadership and her potential,” he elaborated. “It is my honor to
officially welcome you as the new commander of the U.S. Army Financial Management Command.”

In reply, Williams set out her vision for where USAFMCOM is going as a fully integrated
sustainment organization under the AMC umbrella.
“Financial stewardship, accountability, compliance, auditability and readiness are of the utmost
importance,” the colonel said. “We will ensure we operate with the highest integrity, transparency
and innovation in all financial practices while maintaining our financial readiness in supporting our
Army’s mission.
“As the 45th Finance Center continues its journey toward full operational capability, we will ensure
robust and accurate theater-level finance planning for large scale combat operations,” Williams
continued. “We’re also going to continue to standardize and modernize our Army Military Pay
Offices…to ensure our Soldiers’ financial readiness is there to better support their families.”

The new commander also gave a peek behind the curtain about some exciting things on the
horizon.

“We’ll have lots of data analytics and maybe some artificial intelligence and some machine
learning in our future,” she said.

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