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155th ARW develops innovative Cashless DFAC system

  • Published
  • By SrA Alexander Schriner

LINCOLN, Neb. – There’s a line leading outside from the dining facility with a steady flow of Airmen going in and out. They don’t need to wait outside in the cold for very long because all they need to do is scan their military ID and then be off to lunch.

The 155th Air Refueling Wing implemented a cashless dining facility to help the process flow for the members instead of having to sign in and write down information.

“The system determines whether you’re an officer or on orders, and pay or non-pay,” said Master Sgt. Josh Triplett, 155th wing administrations senior non-commissioned officer in charge. “It then creates all the required forms services needs for financial data and generates everything finance needs to debit members accounts so that they no longer have to provide cash.”

A cashless DFAC helps make everyone's job and experience easier while attending drill said Staff Sgt. Jeff Serrano, 155th dining facility staff accounting.

“This system helps the line flow a lot more quickly than the past,” Serrano said. “It also helps distinguish what status someone is on if they don’t already know, whereas in the past that could be an issue.”

Having a cashless system has been something services has wanted for some time, the only issue was trying to find a way to make it happen said Triplett.

“The idea has been there for a while, but we just didn’t know how to do it at first.” Triplett said. “After attending the presidential inauguration and seeing a system that did it, I re-engineered it and applied it to our base.”

A cashless system has brought many positives and the collaboration to make it happen shows how innovative Airmen at the 155th ARW can be when challenged with an issue said Triplett.

“This saves time for the customers, saving services internal time from processing forms and eliminating errors for accounting and pay,” Triplett said. “It’s part of innovation not taking a no and trying to think of new ways to make things happen that you want.”

This is the latest innovative change that has been implemented at the Nebraska Air National Guard Base and it won't be the last. Recently, a group of individuals formed the 155th ARW Spark Cell, which is intended to move individuals, units, or Wings forward and meet the challenges of warfighting and bring Airmen innovators together through connections, development, and support.