Page 13 - FCA Diamond Point Sept 2023_eidts

FROM THE FIELD

You must also focus attention on external relationships throughout the garrison, sister units, and
HHQ. These relationships help you socialize ideas , gain support for additional funding, and may
provide avenues to influence commanders’ initiatives. Understanding the nuances of your HHQ

staff processes can help address capability gaps and resource other non-standard missions.
Understanding your sister units’ challenges or best practices can more quickly advance your
influence within the command. Strive to build relationships with your civilian counterparts; they are

critical to every team’s success. It may sound trite, but the Army is still a people business. Your
ability to actively develop and manage relationships internal and external to your unit will help you
influence team success.

Unit Mission: Every Army unit has a mission. You must know and understand that mission. Begin
by asking simple questions such as: What is the mission of the headquarters unit? What is the
mission of subordinate units? What is the mission of the sister and adjacent units? What must I do
to support each mission I am required to support? As the comptroller, you should be able to give
an elevator speech for each unit your team supports. The previous and on-going meetings with key
figures in each unit are excellent opportunities to continue to grow your knowledge and
understanding of the big picture.
As you expand your knowledge in this phase you can employ the MWA technique by viewing the
troops in their element or visiting various offices/agencies you support. For example, take a tour of
the facilities where the Soldiers work day-to-day. Visit parachute hangars that need repair, the
motor pools, and training areas. Your eyes-on-target will help you better understand the unit’s
needs as opposed to knowing only the name of a project via spreadsheet or info paper. People are
generally willing to show off the best features of the projects they will launch when all of the
resources are in place. They want to show you the ongoing projects to get your personal buy-in
and this is a good thing. Your understanding of these projects and missions makes you an integral
and valued member of the staff and helps you better defend the unit’s requirements through written
justifications to your HHQ.
Mission Command: Throughout everything discussed thus far, you must understand the
application of mission command and the commander’s desired end-state. Your level of
understanding and ability to translate the commander’s ideas to your work and focus areas for
your team will develop over time. You must always seek to understand the big picture and the
operating environment. A popular myth concerning FMers is we do not make decisions…we merely
provide guidance to commanders and wait for decisions. This myth undermines your abilities to
help the commander achieve the desired end-state and undermines your fiscal authority. You are a
leader placed in a position to either make resource informed decisions, specifically money, or
influence the commander to make resource informed decisions.

The more you understand the unit’s mission, your commander’s intent, and her priorities, the more
opportunities you will have to make decisions without writing an email or info paper requesting a
decision. Your challenge is to secure the commander’s trust and develop a level of rapport such
that the commander empowers you to act with increasing levels of autonomy. So, we invoke the
tried-and-true cliché, “when in charge, take charge.” Learning the operating environment and your
left and right limits is essential to understanding the difference between decisions within your
authority and decisions left to higher authority.

Systems and Processes #1: You must learn how your unit spends money and learn the processes
for getting a requirement from initial development through to completion. You need to understand
the primary vehicles used to spend money in the unit. Does your unit have a habitual relationship
with a particular contracting office? You will want to become familiar with the policies used to push
requirements through to contract award and compile a list of current and pending contracts.

11