Fleet Readiness Center East was recognized by the Assistant Secretary of the United States Navy for its exceptional financial management performance.
Staff from the FRCE Comptroller Department, Andrew Frossard, Jennifer Bean and Alana Erevia, received recognition for their financial management achievements during the Department of the Navy Financial Management Awards Ceremony on June 18.
The recognition is the second consecutive year that members of the depot’s workforce have been recognized by the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for their contributions, said Samantha Morse, FRCE public affairs specialist.
The Department of the Navy Financial Management Awards Program recognizes staff members and teams who exemplify the core values of the Department of the Navy and whose outstanding performance, actions and contributions have had a significant impact on the Navy and the financial management field.
Fleet Readiness Center East, North Carolina’s largest maintenance, repair, overhaul and technical services provider, brings in an annual revenue exceeding $865 million.
Financial stewardship is essential to the depot’s ability to fulfill its mission and provide high-quality service to the fleet, said Capt. Randy Berti, FRCE commanding officer.
“Our Comptroller Department plays an extremely important role in the depot’s ability to support warfighter readiness,” said Berti. “Effective financial management practices allow us to deliver fast, comprehensive services to the fleet at the lowest possible rates, while also serving as good stewards of the taxpayer’s dollar.”
Berti said their innovative approach and commitment to success highlight the depot’s dedication to excellence.
Andrew Frossard, Budget Division director, was presented with the Contribution to Optimize Stewardship in the Budget Process Award, which recognizes those who have made significant contributions to optimize stewardship and trust in the Department of the Navy’s budget process.
FRCE Military Comptroller Maj. Matt Shulman, who nominated the three for the awards, said Frossard’s mission-driven mindset and ability to optimize available resources make him highly deserving of this recognition.
“Andrew embodies leadership, and his influence goes beyond the financial management community,” said Shulman. “He asks the hard questions and is not afraid to roll up his sleeves and dig for answers when needed.
“He continues to find innovative ways to increase efficiency and challenge norms in the name of fiscal responsibility and improvement.”
Frossard has played a key role in improving the command’s approach to its annual budget process, Shulman said.
He led the charge across the command to revolutionize the budget, challenge requirements and set a new mindset for department heads.
Frossard said refining the budget process was a key focus since his arrival at the depot’s Comptroller Department.
“The team and I have focused on going through each department to identify their core requirements and must-pays, that way everything is properly funded,” said Frossard. “We categorize everything based on priority – the musts, the needs and the wants.”
Supervisory accountants Jennifer Bean and Alana Erevia earned the Contribution to Business Processes and Internal Controls Award.
The award recognizes those who have made significant contributions to standardize the Navy’s business processes and strengthen internal controls to improve accountability.
Shulman said when the FRCE transitioned to a new business and financial system in 2022, many Naval Supply Systems Command sales orders didn’t transfer properly, which made it difficult for the command to bill customers for maintenance, repair and overhaul services.
Each sales order that didn’t transfer properly generated a conversion document that needed to be translated into a version compatible with the new system before Fleet Readiness Center East could bill customers, receive payments and close out the sale.
Realizing the importance of closing the conversion documents, Bean and Erevia jumped into action.
Shulman said their demonstration of effective leadership, collaboration and problem-solving skills, in addition to their development of a functional solution, is why he nominated them for the award.
“Jennifer and Alana have spent over a year spearheading the development and implementation of a highly effective, multi-step process that allowed us to continue closing out Naval Supply Systems Command conversion documents,” said Shulman.
Shulman said this was no easy feat because many factors go into developing a detailed, step-by-step process that addresses many different elements.
He added that they spent countless hours researching the sales order and billing process, testing different scenarios and validating results.
“Together, they have successfully overcome significant challenges to transform a complex and no-longer-efficient procedure into a streamlined and successful operation,” Shulman said. “Their hard work and dedication to excellence, along with their ability to drive transformative change within a complex system, makes them highly deserving of recognition.”
Erevia said in 2023, she and Bean visited the Fleet Readiness Center Southwest onboard Naval Air Station North Island, Calif., to learn more about the system and how they were closing out conversion documents.
Afterward, they were motivated to begin developing a solution that was fit for the FRCE.
“We were able to learn a lot while visiting our sister site,” said Erevia. “When we came back, we started out with smaller documents until we got the hang of it.”
Bean said that before they got involved, depot staff was working on closing out a single conversion document for two and a half years. With the new process, they were able to close the document within half a day.
“It’s a much simpler process and now that it’s been implemented, we are closing out conversion documents daily,” Bean said. “We’re no longer having to send help desk tickets or spend a lot of time working on them.
“It’s helping the command’s financial metrics, reducing our dormant sales orders and saving a significant amount of time.”
Since implementing the new process developed by Bean and Erevia, the command has successfully closed out more than $330 million in sales orders, reflecting a significant financial and operational impact, Shulman said.
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