18th CONS 'burns' midnight oil to make FY deadline

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jason Lake
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  Every year on Sept. 30, members of the 18th Contracting Squadron, 18th Comptroller Squadron, and resource advisors from units across the base, 'burn the midnight oil' while trying to wrap up final purchases of the fiscal year.

But this year, 18th CONS had a little scare when their building's fire alarm system went off less than one hour before midnight.

"We were all very busy in that last hour," said Angela Harris, 18th CONS commodities flight chief. "Some of us were trying to load funding documents into our contract writing system, others were verifying vendor quotes. Members from other flights were also at our office trying to help us out when the alarm went off. I thought it was somebody's idea of a really bad joke."

Firefighters from the 18th Civil Engineer Squadron quickly responded to what turned out to be a false alarm, and reset the system in a matter of minutes. With about 20 minutes before midnight, the forty or so contracting personnel got back to their workstations to try and beat out the clock for last minute fiscal year 2010 purchases.

"[The firefighters] did a great job ensuring the building was safe," explained Lt. Col. Phillip Hendrix, 18th CONS commander. "They could tell it was unusual for everyone to be standing outside the building at midnight on a Thursday night."

Lt. Col. Seung Paik, 18th CPTS commander, said despite the unusual challenges the 18th CONS faced, the unit managed to stay on-schedule - spending more than $928,000 in last minute "fallout" funds.

"The 18th CONS is a group of true professionals," Colonel Paik said. "We kept pushing money at them, and because they were ready, they were able to buy a second phase of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems and some bench stock for the 18th Civil Engineer Group, several quality of life items for the 18th Mission Support Group, the new Defense Biometric Identification System for the 18th Security Forces Squadron, lodging and community center supplies for our community, and even some additional mobility equipment and supplies for the 18th Maintenance Group."

Colonel Hendrix commended his workers for their dedication last night and throughout the fiscal year.

"I am truly amazed at how much money we handled this year," he said. "Like every end of fiscal year, we were prepared for fallout funds. But I don't think anyone realized just how much we'd see. I couldn't be more proud of the teamwork here at Kadena."