Ms. Tabetha Mueller, Audit Data Lead, Financial Information Management directorate, Financial Operations and Information, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Management and Comptroller (OASA (FM&C)), and Maj. Arthur Middlebrooks, Lead Program Analyst for Army Aviation platforms, modernization, enabling effects, and Special Access Programs, Headquarters Department of the Army, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8 (DCS, G-8), were recognized with Department of the Army Pace Awards at a Pentagon ceremony Sept. 5. The awards were presented by the Honorable Christine Wormuth, Secretary of the Army.
The Pace Award, named after former Secretary of the Army Frank Pace Jr., has been presented annually since 1962 to one Army officer, lieutenant colonel or below, and one civilian employee, GS-14 equivalent or below, assigned in a staff capacity to Headquarters, Department of the Army, for a contribution of outstanding significance to the Army that culminated during the calendar year. Awardees are selected based on their performance and completion of significant staff assignments that benefit the Army by providing substantial financial savings, or technological or military development. Mueller and Middlebrooks were recognized with the Pace Awards for 2023.
As the Audit Data Lead within OASA (FM&C), Ms. Tabetha Mueller is responsible for finding and developing new data sets that support the financial statement audit and acting as the principal data point of contact to the independent public accountant. As part of her duties, she oversees the Universe of Transactions, UOT, and is responsible for remediation of Notices of Findings and Recommendations related to data-intensive activities, e.g., system-to-system reconciliation and developing financial transaction populations.
Through Mueller’s work on the financial statement audit she greatly improved the availability of previously unusable data for the Army community and the independent public accountant. Mueller was able to deliver on the Office of the Secretary of Defense priority of a useable Universe of Transactions (UOT). She expanded the percentage of financial transactions captured and explained by the UOT from under 20% to over 95%.
This level of coverage was achieved nearly 6 months earlier than had been expected and sped up timelines associated with achieving an unmodified opinion on the audit, a testament to her expertise and drive. She performed her role as the audit data lead in such a manner that demonstrated exceptional technical expertise in the realm of accounting systems, financial policy, and utilization of modern data platforms.
“Tabetha is a super SME – she developed the logic for reconciliations that now cover more than 90% of our 45 million monthly General Fund Enterprise Business Systems transactions,” said Honorable Caral Spangler, Assistant Secretary of the Army, Financial Management and Comptroller.
Mueller also acts as an accounting system subject matter expert with deep understanding of data requirements under regulation and legislation. She develops and implements policy related to the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014, the Federal Financial Manager Improvement Act of 1996, and OMB Circular A-130. She regularly performs hands-on development of new financial reports from Army’s accounting systems and engages with external partners as a subject matter resource.
“Tabetha is also the consummate team player, assisting a wide array of teams across all of Army with understanding audit processes and our accounting data,” added Spangler.
The Pace Award’s military recipient for 2023 is Maj. Arthur Middlebrooks, Lead Program Analyst for Army Aviation platforms, modernization, enabling effects, and Special Access Programs within DCS G-8. He led the Army’s assessment of the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft (FARA) Analysis of Alternatives (AoA), providing critical insights and expert-level analysis of discrete programmatic alternatives involving over $462 billion in potential investment options. These analytic efforts are central to providing a ready and relevant Army aviation modernization strategy that meets the demands of Large-Scale Combat Operations and advances next-generation firepower for a Multi-Domain Operations capable force.
Middlebrooks and his team helped identify key program cost discrepancies including those within the areas of aircraft lifecycle cost swings, per aircraft manufacturing ranges, procurement cost differences, and cost variance in flight hour estimates. Middlebrooks’ complete assessments of program costs across the 25-year procurement timeline resulted in the delivery of a fully informed FARA AoA to the Office of the Secretary of Defense-Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation Study Advisory Group.
“Major Middlebrooks is without doubt the most effective analyst with whom I have had the opportunity to work with,” said Dr. Bryan Shone, Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff, G8. “His innate ability to translate complex data into consumable materials has enabled senior leaders to quickly pinpoint Army trade space and make properly informed decisions.”
The AoA produced by Middlebrooks and his team helped define a sustainable path for the future of Army Aviation in developing innovative, capability-focused, and cost-informed approaches for the next-generation of Combat Aviation Brigade reconnaissance capabilities.
“The efforts put forth by Major Middlebrooks have delivered an analytic underpinning that has helped place Army Aviation on a more stable path for the future,” Shone said.
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