Welcome to the Charlestowne ASMC website.

About our chapter:

The CharlesTowne Chapter of the American Society of Military Comptrollers (ASMC) was established by Rear Admiral Gerald W. Mackay, Deputy Comptroller of the Navy on December 14, 1985 at a luncheon held at the Charleston Naval Base Officer’s Club.  The first officers of the new chapter were also installed at this luncheon and included Capt. Ramsey L. Lawson, President; Gay R. McCants, Vice-President; Roger A. Wagner, Secretary; and Richard G. Steward, Treasurer.

 

ASMC is a non-profit educational and professional organization for persons, military, civilian, and industry partners, involved in the overall field of military comptrollership.  ASMC was established as the Society of Military Accountants and Statisticians in 1948 in San Antonio, Texas and was only open to active duty officers.  Since then, ASMC has expanded to include all DoD and Coast Guard Financial Management personnel.  ASMC promotes the education and training of its members, and supports the development and advancement of the profession of military comptrollership.  The society sponsors research, provides professional programs to keep members abreast of current issues and encourages the exchange of techniques and approaches.  ASMC currently serves a growing professional society of approximately 18,000 members within 140 chapters.

 

Military comptrollership is defined as the professions of financial management in the Department of Defense and Coast Guard.  It includes the fields of:

 

-Accounting and Finance                                          -Financial Management

-Administrative Support                                          -Management Analysis

-Auditing                                                                      -Program Analysis

-Budgeting                                                                      -Resource Management

-Comptrollership                                                        -Statistics

-Cost Analysis                                                                      -and many supporting activities

 

Our mission statement is to promote education, training and professional development in all aspects of military comptrollership.

 

The CharlesTowne Chapter began with 125 charter members and grew to over 300 members in the late 1990’s.  The Chapter currently has approximately 100 members, including 39 Certified Defense Financial Managers (CDFMs).  The CharlesTowne Chapter is unique in that our members are from all branches of service, including Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Navy, Department of State and also retired members of these branches.  Our Chapter and its members have been recipients of numerous National Awards, including many 5-Star Chapter Awards.  Our members also perform many hours of volunteer work for the Carolina Youth Development Center, March of Dimes, Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon, Cooper River Bridge Run, Spoleto, Tour of Homes and many other deserving projects.  The goal of our Chapter is to continue to grow and help our community and our members in any way that we can.

Our mission is to:

• Afford a means by which members in the Charleston area who are or
  have been engaged in Comptrollership may, through combined action,
  application of advanced knowledge, techniques and sound management, assist in
  maintaining and improving the high standards of Comptrollership
• Foster a spirit of good will and good fellowship among its members
• Perpetuate the traditions growing out of their service together in and with the Armed Forces of the United States of America;
  Promote education, training, and research in Comptrollership
• Exchange ideas and techniques of dealing with common problems of the Services

Our members come from the following organizations:

• United States Air Force
• United States Navy
• United States Corp of Engineers
• United States Department of State
• Defense Finance and Accounting Service

About our national organization:

ASMC is the non-profit educational and professional organization for persons, military and civilian, involved in the overall field of military comptrollership. ASMC was established as the Society of Military Accountants and Statisticians in 1948 in San Antonio, TX, and was open only to active duty officers. Since then, ASMC has expanded to include all DoD and Coast Guard Financial Management personnel. In 1991 the national headquarters was opened in Alexandria, VA, and currently serves a growing professional society of 18,000 members. Military comptrollership is defined as the professions of financial management in the Department of Defense and Coast Guard. It includes the fields of:

ASMC promotes the education and training of its members, and supports the development and advancement of the profession of military comptrollership. The society sponsors research, provides professional programs to keep members abreast of current issues and encourages the exchange of techniques and approaches.

The mission of the ASMC is to promote education, training and professional development in all aspects of military comptrollership.

More information can be found here.

This portion of this website was taken directly from the National ASMC website.

Membership information is available on the National ASMC's website here. This page details the level of membership as well as the dues associated with each.

Benefits to ASMC members include:

• Networking opportunities - ASMC provides an opportunity to meet with those in the comptroller field in military organizations. It is a great way to find out what is going on at different organizations, find out about job opportunities and meet people with similar interests as your own. With the Charlestowne chapter's new focus on bringing in speakers from the local business community, there is an added networking benefit by meeting with these key individuals.
• Educational opportunities - Monthly luncheons are an opportunity to enjoy informative presentations that will enhance your knowledge. The National ASMC also provides resources to provide members with the CEUs necessary to maintain professional certification. In addition, the annual Professional Development Institute (PDI) is designed to educate attendees in the lastest development in the military comptrollership community.
• Opportunities to give back to our community through meaningful community service projects.
• Armed Forces Comptroller magazine subscription
• Rental Car Discounts
  • Hertz (use rental code: CDP-71795)
  • National (use Recap No. 5134033)
  • Alamo (use rental code: BY 93945)
• Pentagon Federal Credit Union membership eligibility
• Discounted tuition at University of Phoenix

Complete discount information is available here. There is specific information on who to contact at the University of Phoenix to take advantage of this discount.

The online application for membership is here.

A mail-in application is available here.

Information for students interested in ASMC and Working for the Government:

MATTHEW J. SCHMIT, 1Lt, USAF is our Student Liaison. Feel free to email him if you have any questions about becoming involved with ASMC.

Lt. Schmit's information session presentation is available here.

Colleges in our local region include:

• College of Charleston
• The Citadel
• Charleston Southern University
• Trident Tecnical College

If your college, finance or accounting club, fraternity, sorority or student organization is interested in having someone come out and talk to them, please let us know. We will see what we can do to get someone to speak to your group.

The following is for informational purposes only. The actual agencies mentioned and referenced are solely responsible for their programs and they are the sole source of official guidance on their programs.

If you are interested in a job with the Federal Government, there are a number of ways that we can reach students and new graduates.

The basic way to apply for a job is through USAJobs at USAJobs. This will give you a list of most jobs that are available in the Federal Government. The problem with this approach is that these are competitive job openings and you may have a hard time getting selected.
It's always worth a shot but there are better options available. Another similar site is America's Job Bank at America's Job Bank.

If you are a student who is not in your senior year, there are internships available through the Student Career Experience Program (SCEP).
This is a program where you come to work at an organization while you are still in school. The caveat with this program is you have to be able to complete 640 hours of internship training before you graduate. Once you graduate, the organization has the option of offering you a job. This gives the organization the chance to see if you are a good fit. It gives you the opportunity to get some experience and to see if the organization is a good fit for you.

SPAWAR SC Atlantic in Charleston has limited spaces available for these positions. You can email your resume and official transcript to SPAWAR's recruiter in order to be considered for the SCEP. You can visit SPAWAR's website to find out more.

If you have graduated, or are close to graduating, the following programs are for you. The government runs a number of career development programs. These programs will accelerate your career by allowing you to rapidly move up a couple of pay grades. There is a lot of training involved during the first few years. The goal is to get you to a mid-level career position quickly so that we can backfill position vacancies as they come available.

Navy Financial Management Training Program:
This is a 28-month training program that incorporates rotations to provide on-the-job training in a number of different aspects of financial management. You are hired into a position at one location, but your rotations will bring you to other organizations to learn how they function.
Once your rotations are complete, you always return to the office where you started. The four functional areas for your rotations are: Auditing, Accounting, Human Resources and Contracts.

There is also a 6-week rotation at your next higher level of command so that you can learn how your Headquarters functions. This is a great experience and a wonderful opportunity to build networks and develop a broad knowledge of financial management in the Navy. There are two hiring seasons for this program: fall and spring. The spring deadline for application is February 1, 2010; the fall deadline is October 1, 2010.
Start dates for employment are in June and July for spring hires. Fall hires start in February. This is a very selective program to get into. Positions are available all over the country for this program. SPAWAR hires a very limited number of people out of this program.

Navy Acquisition Intern Program
This program trains you to be an acquisition professional (contract specialist) or a financial manager who specializes in acquisition. It is a three year program that incorporates rotations, on-the-job training and classroom training. It is a very good program and a great way to boost your career. This program is somewhat less competitive than the FMTP simply because they have more positions available.

You can email the SPAWAR recruiter to request notification of when SPAWAR is planning on hiring out of this program. Be sure to send your resume and official transcript as well.

Other career programs worth considering:

Army Career Intern Program

Air Force Career Intern Program - specifically the financial management page

Defense Contract Audit Agency

Navy Audit Service

Check out the above resources. Even if a deadline for application seems like a far way off, please be sure to start assembling your application packet as soon as possible. There are some things that may take a little while to get (old transcripts, former employer addresses, etc.) and the deadline can creep up on you.

Here is my big tip for you: If you are applying for a job in the Federal government, you should have some desire to serve the public and the nation.
When your interviewer asks you why you want to work for the federal government, don't just say because you think it will be a great place to boost your career. Be sure to communicate that you want to serve the public. If you don't, you have no business being a federal employee.
Furthermore, if you are applying for a job in the Department of Defense, you ought to state something about supporting our troops and the Department of Defense's mission. Again, if you don't, you have no business applying.

Federal jobs are service jobs. There is a lot of satisfaction that comes with the work. You won't get rich, but you can be well compensated. When interviewing candidates, if they don't talk about service aspect of the job, they don't get recommended. It is a necessary part of the job.

The Professinal Development Institute (PDI) is the premier ASMC event of the year. Over 3000 members gather together to learn about the latest issues facing the comptroller community and to build and grow professional and personal relationships with other members.

In 2009 the event was held in historic San Antonio, TX. Visit our flickr site to see some photos of chapter members at the PDI.

CEUs can be earned during four days of workshops and seminars.

Next year's PDI will be in Nashville, Tennesseeduring the week following Memorial Day.

More information about the PDI can be found here.

The CDFM is....

The exams consist of three parts....

Exams reimbursement is available for Navy employees. Information is available here.

More information is available here.