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Coining Pope's Finest: Airman 1st Class Dwayne Simeon

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POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. --  Col. James Johnson, 43rd Airlift Wing Commander, presented his Commander's Coin to Airman 1st Class Dwayne Simeon, 43rd Comptroller Squadron, for his exceptional performance.

Airman Simeon is a customer service technician in the Financial Services Flight of the 43rd CPTS.

In the month of April, he audited more than 100 travel vouchers, ensuring itinerary, receipts and orders were submitted and that claimed reimbursements were proper for payment. Due to his analysis, he averaged a phenomenally low 1.5 percent reject rate, well below Air Mobility Command's 9.6 percent average. His accuracy contributed to a steady 14.4 percent decrease in voucher rejects over the past six months for Pope's Total Force Airmen.

Airman Simeon actively participated in an Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century Rapid Improvement Event to help decrease travel voucher rejects. Due to his keen analysis, he identified a potentially fraudulent voucher which led to the investigation of similar vouchers.

Airman Simeon helped implement a voucher tracker database which assists technicians in identifying potential duplicate vouchers, thus avoiding overpayments and improving the overall efficiency of the audit process.

In response to challenges identified in existing Reserve deployments, Airman Simeon briefed travel pay during several 440th Airlift Wing deployment lines, informing members of their travel entitlements and the accrual voucher process to ensure their financial readiness.

Airman Simeon provided customer support when he researched more than 40 vouchers belonging to Reservists' traveling in high-cost areas, thus clearing and avoiding government travel card suspensions.

Despite the demands of providing top-notch customer service, Airman Simeon remains avidly involved in squadron activities such as the Adopt-a-Highway program and the base intramural soccer league, said Maj. Michael Kwasnoski, 43rd CPTS Commander.

Airman Simeon is dedicated to improving and maintaining the financial readiness of Team Pope's Airmen. He is truly an exceptional performer, Major Kwasnoski added.