FM

Financial Management

The FMSix story began in the Army Financial Management (FM) community with foundational experience in a broad spectrum of Army financial operations. This included performing functional roles supporting the day-to-day operations of Accounting, Commercial Vendor Services, Disbursing, Military Pay, and PCS/TDY Travel.

Army Financial Management Functions (As defined in FM 4-80, Finance and Comptroller Operations, 21 April 2025)

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS 1-6. A function is the broad, general, and enduring role for which an organization is designed, equipped, and trained (JP 1, Vol 1). FM has a total of ten primary functions: disbursing, banking, and payment support specifically pertain to finance operations; programming, budget formulation, budget distribution, and budget execution specifically pertain to Resource Management (RM); and accounting, internal controls, and financial data analytics are overarching functions executed in both finance operations and RM.

Disbursing 1-7. Disbursing support is the paying of public funds to entities in which the United States Government is indebted; the collection and deposit of monies; the safeguarding of public funds; and the documenting, recording and reporting of such transactions.

Banking 1-8. Banking support is establishing and coordinating the mechanisms for obtaining, exchanging, and depositing physical and electronic currency and negotiable instruments necessary to support policy, operations, and host-nation banking infrastructure.

Payment Support 1-9. Payment support is the calculation of entitlements, verification and validation of appropriate documentation, and certification of payments.

Programming 1-10. Programming is the translation of strategic guidance into a comprehensive allocation of forces, manpower, and funds among competing requirements.

Budget Formulation 1-11. Budget formulation is the translation of programming decisions and commanders’ operational planning into an appropriation format for justification.

Budget Distribution 1-12. Budget distribution is the issuance of budgetary resources and authorities to subordinate organizations for execution.

Budget Execution 1-13. Budget execution is the accountability and application of budgetary resources.

Accounting 1-14. Accounting is the accurate and complete recording, reconciliation, and reporting of financial transactions to meet auditability standards.

Internal Controls 1-15. Internal controls are the procedures and techniques that organizations execute to provide reasonable assurance of compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and policies.

Financial Data Analytics 1-16. Financial data analytics is the process of collecting, organizing, and analyzing financial data to drive fact-based, resourced-informed decision making that optimizes commanders' resources.

SIX

Signal Operations

FMSix has lead IT Operations in Financial Management (FM) organizations in Europe and Korea and has tactical experience providing FM and IT support to expeditionary forces during initial theater entry operations. FMSix has operated, maintained, secured, upgraded and modernized multiple FM systems and has proven corporate experience in IT Training, ERP/MRP/B2B administration and migration, Database Administration and IT Consultation. FMSix also has a strong background in data analytics with a proven ability to analyze systems for quantitative datapoints and extract and transform them into digestible metrics.

The U.S. Army's staff structure, based on older European models but tailored to support the American military's unique system of command, control, and organization, provides commanders in all units and at all echelons with consistency in performance, responsibility, training, and resourcing. The letter prefix of each staff section reflects the echelon or nature of the staff section. The letter “C” indicates combined (multinational) headquarters, “J” signifies joint (multiservice) headquarters, “G” for division level or above, and, finally, “S” for divisional brigades and lower. Other letters are specific for each of the U.S. service components (“A” for Air Force and “N” for Navy). The numerical suffix designates the function of the particular staff section. Staffs usually contain a minimum of 1 through 6, but can have as many as 1 through 9. The roles of each staff section in the Army command system are:

  1. Personnel (G1) (S1)
  2. Intelligence (G2) (S2)
  3. Operations and training (G3) (S3)
  4. Logistics (G4) (S4)
  5. Civil-military operations (G5) (S5)
  6. Signal operations (G6) (S6) (SIX)

Army G-6 Organization Functions

1. Network Operations (NETOPS) and Mission Command Systems Integration Plan, establish, monitor, secure, and maintain communications networks (NIPRNet, SIPRNet, tactical radio, SATCOM, etc.). Integrate and manage mission command systems, ensuring interoperability between warfighting functions.Oversee tactical and strategic communications infrastructure across garrison and deployed environments.

2. Cybersecurity and Information Assurance Implement cybersecurity policies to safeguard information systems from unauthorized access, misuse, or disruption. Enforce RMF (Risk Management Framework) standards for system accreditation. Manage compliance with DoD and Army cybersecurity regulations, including the application of STIGs and the monitoring of vulnerabilities.

3. Spectrum Management and Electromagnetic Operations Plan and manage the use of the electromagnetic spectrum, ensuring frequency deconfliction and optimal communications performance. Coordinate with joint, interagency, and multinational partners to synchronize electromagnetic operations (EMO).

4. Signal Planning and Architecture Design and implement signal architecture that supports the commander's operational concept. Plan and allocate signal assets (e.g., VSAT, tactical radio systems, fiber optics) during MDMP and OPLAN development. Forecast communication requirements for operations across echelons.

5. IT Governance, Policy, and Portfolio Management Develop and enforce policies for information technology governance, lifecycle management, and software/hardware acquisition. Support CPIC (Capital Planning and Investment Control) processes for IT resource allocation and budgeting. Oversee enterprise IT initiatives aligned with strategic objectives.

6. Information Management and Knowledge Management Manage data flow, information sharing, and content lifecycle to enhance decision-making. Implement Knowledge Management (KM) frameworks to support collaborative planning and situational awareness.

7. Help Desk and User Support Operations Provide Tier I–III support for communications and IT services. Troubleshoot hardware/software issues, manage account provisioning, and support deployed users in both CONUS and OCONUS environments.

8. Continuity of Operations and Disaster Recovery Develop and test COOP/DR plans to ensure resiliency of critical IT systems and communications infrastructure. Enable mission command continuity during cyber events, natural disasters, or kinetic attacks.

FMSIX

Sean Collins

Sean brings more than twenty five years of experience integrating, operating, supporting and securing U.S. Army and Department of Defense (DoD) Financial Management (FM) systems across tactical, garrison, and enterprise environments.

Most recently, Sean has helped secure DoD FM systems by identifying and driving implemtation of relevant cybersecurity controls through a range of activities including conducting vulnerability assessments, supporting system deployment, and performing portfolio management ensuring system compliance with federal mandates such as FISCAM, FFMIA, FISMA and RMF.

Sean's government experience includes supporting financial management and payroll system accreditation and modernization, datacenter consolidation and cloud migration. His influence supports secure system development and deployment garnering operational support by clearly communicating control compliance impacts, justification and implementation methods to developers, product teams, product owners and executive leadership. Sean has a long history of leveraging partnerships with federal agencies such as the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), The U.S. Treasury, and the Federal Reserve Banks to discover mutually beneficial product improvements.

Sean's experience operating, deploying, maintaining and securing FM systems places him in a position where he both understands the importance of auditability and can follow these requirements to the responsible configuration, service provider, or business process owner and is able to support Army initiatives toward confident attestation to the implementation of Internal Controls Over Financial Reporting (ICOFR) from the provider to the end user.

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