Survey of Defense FM Professionals Closes 9 September 2016
Many thanks to those of you that have completed this year’s survey of defense financial management professionals. If you’ve not had a chance to do so, I encourage you to take the time to provide your opinions. The survey closes on Friday, 9 September 2016. It only takes about 5 minutes to complete, and the results provide important information concerning the collective opinions of DoD FMers regarding status and trends in the defense financial management environment. ASMC values your opinion very much and encourages our member and non-member FMers to take the time to ensure their views are included in the results. ASMC HQ will award $300, $200, and $100 to the ASMC Chapters that have the highest, second highest, and third highest survey response rates, respectively, among their members. You may access the survey HERE.

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CDFM
The CDFM remains a prestigious credential, as only 14% of the 54,000 defense financial managers currently possess it; only 3% also possess the CDFM-A (Acquisition) credential. For those of you considering pursuit of the CDFM, I urge you to take the steps to achieve this goal now! The demands of the fiscal environment over the past few years certainly indicate that knowledge and analytical skills across the range of FM disciplines is beneficial. The CDFM certification is fundamental to establishing a broad set of financial management skills. It also enables DoD and USCG leaders to be confident in hiring CDFMs or CDFM-As, knowing they have demonstrated initiative and drive in achieving a certification focused upon knowledge and skills directly applicable to requirements of positions within our profession.

Now that the DoD FM Certification Program (DFMCP) has reached its first major milestone and over 32,000 FMers have achieved it, the shift from earning to maintaining the certification has begun. As a reminder, the DFMCP “recommends” and “strongly recommends” that FMers at Level 2 and Level 3 respectively, also obtain a “test-based” certification. The CDFM is among the group of test-based certifications recognized by the DFMCP, and, obviously it is the certification most closely related to the profession of defense financial management. Achieving a test-based certification and maintaining mandatory CPEs, are keystones of demonstrating professionalism and commitment to high standards.

Whether you are at the journeyman level or an experienced defense financial manager, the CDFM Certification Program offers the type of recognized and prestigious credential that remains relevant, provides a solid foundation supporting professional development, identifies you as an individual with the initiative to enhance your skills, distinguishes you as a respected professional with knowledge across all areas of defense financial management, and increases your employment opportunities within the public and private sector.

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Organizational Email Domains Issue
Your agency may have changed email domains in the past 18 months. (For example, jane.doe.2@basename.af.mil may now be jane.doe.42@us.af.mil, and james.bond.7@dfas.mil may now be james.bond.35.civ@mail.mil.) Until recently, you may not have been affected, but when your agency stops forwarding email from your old address, you may suddenly lose contact with us. Please be sure to log in to your member profile TODAY at www.asmconline.org/login to ensure your email address on file with ASMC is correct. Also, if you have moved from one location to another, you can update your chapter designation to that of the nearest chapter to your new location – no longer necessary to send a note to HQ asking us to change your chapter designation. Lastly, using your personal email address in your profile avoids lapses in ASMC HQ commo with you in the event you change jobs and your work email address changes. We also encourage you to update your address so you continue to receive the Armed Forces Comptroller, if you opt for the hard copy edition.

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ASMC National PDI 2017 will be conducted May 31 – June 2, 2017 in San Diego! Many thanks to the San Diego and supporting chapters, who are assisting ASMC HQ in preparation for this great training event. We’re thinking “Catching the Wave: Audit Ready” will be the theme. Our Professional Development Committee is gearing up to meet on 4 October to start developing the program. We expect to open registration NLT March 2017.

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Any questions – contact Brian Gresham, our Associate Director for Communications and Public Affairs at gresham@asmconline.org.