End of FY $$$

[Magnum]

Anyone know what reg covers gear pilots are authorized to be given through O&M purchases?  Trying to spend end of year funds and take care of guys without buying tvs and chairs.  Thanks for legit ideas!

[brabus]

New round of Garmin watches and knives - best use of EOY funds I’ve seen. 

Edited August 23 by brabus

[Herkdrvr]

8 minutes ago, brabus said:

New round of Garmin watches and knives - best use of EOY funds I’ve seen. 

+2.

I benefited from this specific expenditure. I'm currently sporting a Garmin Fenix Pro courtesy of Uncle Sam. One of the justifications was the altitude function which allows you to set elevation alerts; aka hypoxia preventer. 

[Boomer6]

The Garmin watches are all well and good, until the altimeters start failing at the 18 month point. Even better when Garmin recommends buying a new watch if you want it fixed.

Skillcraft Aviator pens are great. If you have enough cash for 400 dollar watches I'd rather get some nice shades (Costa etc.) or a good travel bag (osprey, eagle creek, patagonia etc.).

[brabus]

Had my Fenix for 3 years now, have beat the shit out of it, and it’s still flawless function. Definitely worth it. 

[LiquidSky]

Biggest issue is you'll have to get quotes and the whole contract Shennagins with finance if it's over 10k (maybe 25?). And they normally want that shit 2 months ago for end of FY purchases. I think pretty much anything is fair game as long as you can justify it as functional.

I've seen done:

Watches, coolers/lunchboxes, sunglasses, nice to have uniform items (better boots, undershirts, OCPs), knives, headlamps, hammocks, sleeping bags, morale shirts, massage chairs, travel bags (rolling and duffel), cold weather gear, sq bar renovations, sq facility renovations, software subscriptions, and more I'm sure I'm forgetting.

[arg]

Hot tub for squadron gym. For muscle therapy.

STS at CVS has two.

[polcat]

On 8/22/2024 at 5:00 PM, Magnum said:

Anyone know what reg covers gear pilots are authorized to be given through O&M purchases?  Trying to spend end of year funds and take care of guys without buying tvs and chairs.  Thanks for legit ideas!

Are you referring to end-of-year fallout funds coming down from the wing/group? If so, you should know that justification is a must and something your Commander will have to back when he takes his 1-N list up to the Group. My memory is fuzzy regarding RA duties and unit budgets now that I'm retired, but for example, my last unit (Combat Training Squadron) used O&M funds to purchase flight gear (flight suits, gloves, flight boots, Massif coats, etc) for our pilots and loadmasters. If I recall correctly, straight up AF regs don't really get into the specifics of this, you have to delve into DoD financial management regs. I recommend talking to the group RA who should be tied into the base comptroller.