REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command's G-8 leader was named the Army's best when it comes to managing the command's budget.
Col. Donald M. Cook, USASMDC/ARSTRAT deputy chief of staff, G-8, was informed he would be the recipient of the Fiscal Year 2014 Assistant Secretary of the Army (Financial Management and Comptroller) Capstone (Military) and Military Comptroller Awards on March 24.
The ASA(FM&C) Awards Program is a program that recognizes and acknowledges the outstanding contributions of Army civilian and military financial managers.
The Capstone Military Award recognizes a Soldier serving in a leadership capacity who the assistant secretary of the Army personally cites for outstanding contributions to the field of resource management. The winner of the Comptroller award is a staff member responsible for obtaining, administratively controlling and accounting for funds needed to secure required resources. They are cited for coordinating efficient and effective utilization of organization resources and identifying innovative ways to improve fiscal management and financial processes.
"I'm humbled to have even been nominated for either award, let alone be selected to receive them both this year," Cook said. "I'm deeply grateful to my team and SMDC's leadership that they'd do me the honor of submitting my name for consideration.
"For me, it's a great honor and a humbling one," he added. "As I said, I simply represent the work of the folks that make it happen day in and day out. For the command, I think it validates the credibility we hold at (Department of the Army Headquarters) for being on top of our game and able to readily execute the resources provided us, and for being straight shooters who can effectively articulate and support our issues."
Cook organized and led his team to successfully receive and allocate more than $615 million in operation and maintenance appropriation; research, development, test and evaluation; and other procurement appropriations.
To make the situation even more complex, the appropriations consisted of a mix of customer and direct funds. He achieved this while simultaneously managing furloughs, a government shutdown and a 16 percent topline budget decrement. Moreover, Cook was successful at articulating critical and unique space and global missile defense operational no-fail missions to the Army Budget Office, which provided almost 30 percent more in funding for mission critical needs directly supporting national defense.
Cook established and chaired meetings involving the command's analysts, requirements owners, and Army Contracting Command representatives in order to collaborate efforts and foster communications throughout the Army.
"I am pleased to announce that our G-8, Col. Mike Cook, has won two FM&C Resource Management awards for the command: capstone and military comptroller," said Lt. Gen. David L. Mann, SMDC commanding general. "I believe that the vast majority of our hard working G-8 team could be the poster child for this award. These are prestigious and very selective awards presented to only three personnel in the Army at the Capstone level.
"Congratulation to Col. Cook and the entire G-8 team," he added. "We are so proud of all your efforts. Well done."
Cook took on difficult tasks benefiting the command, such as management improvements including an updated, auditable reimbursable policy; identification of mission essential tasks to better articulate risks associated with Army Workforce Warfighter Review position cuts; and definition of day-to-day business processes to meet audit readiness requirements. These changes impacted the command's mission success and better postured the command for future internal and external audits.
Cook, in conjunction with SMDC G-3 office, created a temporary duty mission critical checklist to ensure that travel was programmed against the highest mission critical priorities. This allowed the command to plan for a 40 percent travel budget cut from the outset. In the end, the command reduced the travel budget by more than 27 percent, allowing allocation of that funding to higher priority requirements. The Department of the Army ultimately adopted this checklist and implemented it as the Army standard.
"As the commanding general said, the only reason I'd even be considered for either award is due to the extremely hard work and professional excellence of the G-8 team," Cook said. "Any success we've had is a direct reflection of their ability to get the job done. I'd also note that it's not just the G-8 that has contributed to SMDC's success but also the great partnership we've enjoyed with the Army Contracting Command and the organizations we support.
"Had we not all been focused on ensuring the resources the Army provided us were promptly and appropriately used, we wouldn't be where we are today," he added. "Truly this is a team sport and a team victory."
Cook acknowledged his team and said the award was for the complete team effort the command's G-8 does to be good financial stewards as they accomplish the mission of supporting the Warfighter.
"I'm immensely proud of not only the award but what this means for the G-8 team," Cook said. "As I said, the award validates the great work of SMDC's G-8 team and the value they provide the command and the Army. I'm honored that the Army would choose to recognize both.
"I want to thank my team and SMDC's leadership for taking the time and making the effort to submit my name for consideration," he added. "To say I was completely surprised when Ms. (Donna) Bowden told me the news would be a huge understatement. It just further reinforces my belief that SMDC is a great place to serve and the G-8 has got it going on."
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