Action Line #91003 – GTC

  • Published
  • By 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  Complaint: 

I'm writing to express frustration with the current process for Travel Vouchers and the subsequent GTC delinquencies that often result from rejected vouchers.

First, there seems to be a lot of issues with vouchers and rejection notices. Often, there is no feedback when a voucher is submitted to the base finance and people are not even aware the voucher has been rejected until they show up on the delinquent list for the GTC. Is there any way for an initial quality check to be conducted when the member turns the voucher into finance so that reoccurring errors can be identified and corrected on the spot? Also, is there any way to notify the member if/when the voucher gets rejected? Finally, is there any way to get feedback during the process if requested by the member? I recently had a member of my unit get told that since finance had not heard anything bad about the voucher... that it must be ok... one of those "no news is good news" type answers.

Next, since we are at the mercy of the centralized processing center, is there any way to make the consequence for GTC delinquencies less severe? People are so scared about showing up on this list that they are paying thousands of dollars out of their own pocket, which is just not right. I feel that we are putting undue pressure on our airman to pay the GTC bill when in reality, as long as they file their voucher within five business days of return, it is completely out of their control.

Have the Commanders discussed these items and decided on a course of action? If so, can that message be passed down to the Wing because again, the perception people have is that they need to do whatever they can to pay their bill including pulling money out of their own pocket.


Response: 

All of the below information is related to manual documents which must be submitted, reviewed, scanned and sent to Ellsworth for processing and not to the defense travel system (DTS).

Let me start by saying your Financial Services Office works hard to make sure every Airmen's military and travel pay transactions are processed accurately and timely by the financial services center at Ellsworth AFB. In this time of transition we have hit a few bumps in the road, but we continue to work hard processing an average of 582 documents per month with an average processing time of 3 days for military pay and 11 days for travel pay. All of this with a local reject rate of 5.6%.

We have attacked local rejects aggressively driving the rate from 20% in June to 5.6% now. While we have improved, we will not stop working to drive that rate down. One of the tools we are using to drive down rejects is a checklist for travel documents. However, we were completing the checklist after the customer departed and to be honest were not always paying attention to the details. This process has been modified so my technicians now complete the checklist with the customer on the counter. This will help catch common errors and if needed will allow us to work with the customers on obtaining additional information before the document is ever sent to the processing center.

Even with a checklist though, there will still be opportunities for rejects to occur. If it is necessary to contact a member when a reject occurs i.e. additional documentation is needed, then contact will happen within 48 hours of the reject. However, if it is something we can fix without customer contact we will correct the error and resubmit within the same 48 hours. A customer can inquire on their document at any time, however, there will be times when all we will be able to tell you is "it is at the processing center". Keep in mind the financial services center has 30 days to process a document. This is by no means the norm, I refer you back to the processing times above, but in some cases patience is necessary.

As for the GTC questions, the answer is it is up to the Squadron/CC to determine the most appropriate course of action. There are multiple options available to members going TDY to ensure they don't go delinquent. For short TDYs, 30 days or less, if the member uses the GTC appropriately and then accurately files their voucher within the prescribed 5 duty days upon return, then based on the current processing times the financial services center will pay the voucher and subsequently the GTC on time. For extended TDYs, 30 days or more, the customer should file accrual vouchers starting right before they leave for their airfare and then every 30 days until they return. The accruals can be filed online via vMPF or by emailing our customer service office at 39CPTS.customerservice@incirlik.af.mil. Upon return they should file their final voucher within 5 duty days. Taking these steps should allow the Squadron/CC to see the member is doing their part to pay off the GTC balance. If all steps have been taken by the member, there should be no need for them to pay for the GTC without first being reimbursed for their authorized GTC charges.

Thank you for asking your questions and please let me know if any additional information is needed. I can be reached at 676-6607 or by email at joseph.schaefer@incirlik.af.mil.