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IC Auditor DEPLOYS with Army to By Gerald Strickland rmy Reserve Maj. Furman L. Oxendine, an auditor with DIA’s Office of the Inspector General, received mobiliza tion orders and deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, from July 2004 to August 2005. Oxendine is a finance officer and served as comptroller for Multi-National Forces Iraq (MNF-I), Civil Military Operations Directorate (CMO) in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
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Oxendine managed more than $20 mil lion in command funds supporting the CMO Humanitarian Operations Center in Kuwait; the Humanitarian Assistance and Coordination Center (HACC) in Amman, Jordan; and the National Iraqi Assistance Center in Baghdad, Iraq.
Editor’s Note: This article is an excerpt of a piece authored by Furman L. Oxendine ‘S uncle, Gerald Strickland.
Among his accomplishments, Oxendine executed $553,000 in support of the HACC Jordan missions and operations. He directly affected Iraqi infrastructure restoration and economic development after successfully obtaining Commander Emergency Relief Program funding for CMO and HACC Jordan economic pro grams. Additionally, he identified strategic operations (STRATOPS) funds for CMO and assisted in the management and execution of the STRATOPS $12.5 million operating budget. Oxendine also prepared and published 200 temporary duty orders for U.S. military, civilian, coalition and Iraqi personnel to travel worldwèlë in sup port of critical civil military rrd humani tarian operations.
IRAQ Oxendine analyzed the root causes of non-per diem payments to 11 HACC Jordan soldiers. He compiled two years of background financial and pay infor mation and coordinated with U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command, U.S. Army Special Opera tions Command, U.S. Central Command, Department of the Army and the Defense finance Accounting Service. His efforts resulted in all 11 HACC Jordan sol diers receiving a total reimbursement of $175,000 in per diem, civilian clothing al lowance and foreign language proficiency pay. Some of these soldiers received back pay for more than 18 months. Oxendine restructured the lodging contract for HACC Jordan personnel saving the com mand $250,000 per year in housing costs while improving operational security. He also alerted the command to incidents of credit card identity theft. Oxendine supported civil affairs ele
ments throughout the tactical, operation al and strategic battle space domains and received the Bronze Star Medal and the Joint Service Achievement Medal for his commendable efforts in the Middle East. Although Oxendine returned to his civil service job in DIA and has put his battle dress uniform away for the time being, he is ready to take the call to serve his country again. His family seems to take it all in stride since he is married to a career naval officer. They have a son, Lee, who is a senior at Florida Southern College, and a 6-year-old daughter, Alexandria. 9