Chaos theory--execution management in a combat zone: adapting to financial management in a budgeting universe that had "gone mad".

As a Certified Defense Financial Manager with over 10 years' experience in resource management, I felt confident in my capabilities prior to my deployment to Afghanistan. Even though I had a solid base of skills and knowledge, I've learned a number of lessons during the past nine months as the Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF)-76 deputy director, CJ8, and funds control officer.

Zero-based Budgeting a Challenge

Upon arriving in Afghanistan, the first thing I learned was that the budgeting universe had gone mad. We didn't have a budget. Instead, we developed monthly spend plans that were validated through a hybrid Program Budget Advisory Committee (PBAC) process and were forwarded to our higher headquarters for validation and funding. The goal of this process is to ensure that only valid requirements are funded while not fiscally constraining the commander's warfighting efforts. The result is a 30-day, zero-based budgeting cycle. A zero-based budget means starting the budget period with zero dollars and receiving funding only for planned requirements. In this system, spending in the prior period, while a potential indicator, is not a justification for funding in the succeeding period.

This process has both good points and bad points.

On the Positive Side

The process of developing a spend plan forces commanders to look at their resource requirements and gives resource managers (RMs) their best chance to ensure that the command's expenditures are fiscally responsible. This is a good first step because validating requirements is important.

On the Negative Side

First, requirements in a contingency environment tend to be fluid. What a commander considers mission essential today can be an afterthought tomorrow. Second, current financial management systems were not designed to tie unit spend plans to actual execution. Third, physically separated RMs and unreliable communications equipment can lead to miscommunication and imperfect fiscal situational awareness.

Fourth, getting your customers to recognize their resources and to justify their funding is exceedingly difficult and time-consuming. There is a reason why very few, if any, organizations actually perform zero-based budgeting.

Fifth, when commanders are told that their validated requirements will be funded, and then funding is not received, there may be an immediate impact on the warfighting mission. Last, in the midst of fighting a war, commanders have little time or inclination to prioritize a spend plan when anticipated funding is not received from their higher headquarters (HQ).