Can the US Army Afford to Civilianize the Finance Corps?

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This thesis analyzes the feasibility of completely civilianizing the Finance Corps with government employees. With the downsizing of the military and the need to maximize the number of combat arms soldiers, the Army has been looking closely at minimizing the number of military support personnel. US Code, Title 31, section 3321, states that only officers and employees of the Department of the Treasury, the US Marshall's Office, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Transportation may act as disbursing officials of the executive branch and disburse public money. This prevents private contractors from acting as disbursing officials for the Department of Defense. Since disbursing is the most critical battlefield finance function, this thesis focuses on the feasibility of battlefield finance support by government employees. The thesis first conducts an analysis of methods of execution of critical battlefield finance support needs. Then it examines battlefield force protection and sustainment requirements. Lastly, it looks at battlefield flexibility to resolve problems and maintain goodwill to the troops, local civilians, contractors, and foreign government officials. These areas provide a complete understanding of the requirements and potential limitations of finance support.