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In 1988, at what was once Loring AFB, Maine, an aircraft from another base, different from those supported by Loring, was forced to land due to weather conditions. The crew assumed some nonmission critical maintenance tasks could be performed on the aircraft for free. When it turned out to the contrary, a series of phone calls between senior officers of both bases ensued. Two facts became apparent: (1) due to the aircraft's equipment configuration Loring did not have the support equipment to perform the services, and (2) no support agreement existed spelling out how requests for such services should be handled.
Support agreements (SAs) are rarely emphasized among financial managers. However, they're crucial to financial integrity and funding flexibility. In fact, the End to End Governance Task Force, a part of the FM Transformation effort, chartered a team to look at how we develop and review SAs, focusing on their fiscal aspects. This article explains the basics and shows how prudent oversight of SAs can help bases.
To begin with, SAs come in a variety of shapes and sizes. We are concerned with two specific types of agreements. The first is the Znira-Service Support Agreement. As the name implies, intra-service is support being exchanged between AF units. An example would be an Air Mobility Squadron located on an ACC base. The second is the Inter-Service Support Agreement, covering service between an AF organization and a nonAF agency. Non-AF agencies range from other DoD components such as an Army battalion to non-DoD entities such as a Coast Guard (Dept of Homeland Security) unit. Both agreements are formally documented using DD Form 1144. The purpose of these agreements is fairly obvious. They provide a documented listing of all the services a host unit will provide to a customer and how those services will be provided. The agreement has a budget annex to show which services are reimbursable and an estimate of reimbursable costs. The goal: charge the right amount for reimbursable services.
Guidance for SAs falls in three areas. First, DODI 4000.19 covers both Infra-Governmental Support and Inter-Service Support and defines funding responsibilities and categories of support that are reimbursable. Next, AFI 25-201 covers Intra-Service Support. Finally, AFI65-601 V1, Chapter 7, provides guidance on support agreement...