Department of Defense Accountability Army Promotion Ceremony

From Congresman Mike Conaway Texas 11th District Department of Defense Accountability Texas Insider Report: WASHINGTON DC This week the Department of Defense Inspector General retracted the U.S. Marine Corps fiscal year 2012 audit. These developments are the difficult part of the ugly under-belly of the audit process and to some degree are expected. That is why I have pushed the Department of Defense to begin auditing now rather than wait until the 2017 deadline when the Department of Defense is required to be fully audit ready. Without the Department taking the steps towards financial management they would not have uncovered these discrepancies. There are still many questions that need to be answered as we learn more about the nature of these transactions and their impact. As this process moves forward the Defense and Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) must accept responsibility for their part in these unreconciled differences and resolve them in a timely fashion. If DFAS cannot reconcile these transactions the services will not be able to complete their individual audits so it follows that it is imperative that these bum transactions be fixed. While not preferable news my hope is that this will help refocus the Secretary of Defense Services and DFAS on the importance of full auditability. This certainly is not an easy process but it is critical that we learn from our mistakes because we cannot afford to make them again and expect to make the audit deadline. Army Promotion Ceremony I had the great honor and privilege of taking part in a promotion ceremony for Major Trent Colestock. I first met Major Colestock when he was an Army Congressional Fellow in my office several years ago. He was born in Mineral Wells enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1997 and then made the decision to enter Army ROTC at Texas Christian University shortly after 9/11. He and his family continue to serve our nation honorably and I am very proud to know this outstanding individual. In this picture Colonel Timothy Connelly is on the left and Major Colestock is center.