95th Comptroller Squadron stands up

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jason Hernandez
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  A stand-up ceremony to recognize the activation of the 95th Comptroller Squadron was held at the Conference Center here Tuesday.

Col. H. Brent Baker Sr., 95th Air Base Wing commander, presented Major Michael Rooney with command of the 95th CPTS, formerly known as 95th ABW Financial Management.

"The stand up culminates a year's worth of work," Colonel Baker said. "We are the last financial management squadron to stand up as a comptroller squadron in Air Force Materiel Command, and one of the last to stand up in the Air Force."

The command is the first for Major Rooney, who just completed Naval Postgraduate School.

"It's an honor and a privilege to accept this command," Major Rooney said. "It's a tremendous opportunity to serve the 95th ABW and a great opportunity to get in at the ground level."

The stand up of the 95th ABW CPTS was necessary because the Air Force is standardizing the comptroller squadrons to ensure that all wing level organizations are on par with each other, Major Rooney said.

Major Rooney is a Certified Defense Financial Manager and a distinguished graduate from Phase 1 Joint Professional Military Education through the Naval War College. He also holds a Master of Arts in Security Studies, Homeland Security and Defense from the Naval Postgraduate School.

The 95th CPTS main functions are to provide customer service and support on the financial services side with military, travel and civilian pay to the population of Edwards, said Major Rooney. The other function is to fulfill a budget and provide decision support to leadership.

"We are assigned a number of dollars, which we use to create a balance program with guidance from our leadership," said Major Rooney. "It's our mission to come up with alternatives when we have funding shortfalls to present to our leadership."

Fifty-one total personnel work within the 95th CPTS.

"We have a tremendous organization here," Major Rooney said. "I see a lot of good things from good people. We have a mixed squadron of Airmen, non-commissioned officers, civilians and contractors. What I see here is pride, professionalism and dedication to doing the job right the first time."