Every Dollar Counts Campaign Published May 17, 2013 By Col. Raymond G. Toth AEDC Arnold Air Force Base/Arnold Engineering Development Complex -- Team Arnold, You know that we are living in a time in which we are pinching every penny and looking for ways we can continue our mission and exceed the expectations of our customers. Today and for the future, I am asking each of you to do something more: Tell us--not just Arnold AFB but the Air Force--where we can do without and how we can do better with our limited dollars. The way you can do this is by going to http://everydollar.dodlive.mil and giving the Air Force your best cost-saving ideas! The Air Force's initiative is called "Every Dollar Counts" and I endorse this wholeheartedly and ask you to do the same because we can no longer live by the mantra of "spend what we can" and then later "spend everything we get." As you all know and can see on a daily basis, we don't have the money today and will likely not have fallout money at the end of the fiscal year --we're raiding our piggy banks to get where we are now. The Air Force's Vice Chief of Staff, General Larry Spencer, is leading this charge across the Air Force. Our public affairs offices, including ours here at AEDC, are right there in the fight. AEDC Airmen, civilians and contractors can submit cost-reducing ideas and suggestions via the above-mentioned special website set up to promote Airmen Powered by Innovation (http://everydollar.dodlive.mil ). You can access this site and post your ideas whether you are at work, at home, or even on the go as they have a smartphone interface. "We have to squeeze a year's worth of cuts into about six months," General Spencer said of the Air Force budget. "So there's a lot of money to be taken out of our budget in a short period of time. I've never seen anything quite like it," General Spencer said with regard to why this campaign is so important. Airmen at every level should feel less encumbered by perhaps dated or unnecessary Air Force Instructions or guidelines when brainstorming cost-cutting measures, the general said. Right now, the Air Force is taking suggestions through this month and into the first couple of weeks of June. There are no prizes. There are no special coins or any other recognition, other than your knowledge in helping the Air Force reduce costs, finding smarter ways in how we do work here and elsewhere and helping us stretch the dollars we need to assist our customers and the Air Force in general. Consider ALL of your ideas, unconstrained, even the ones which may not gain us anything but perhaps a couple hundred dollars or so. That's a couple hundred dollars which may help us down the road. Please assist me in making "Every Dollar Count" here at AEDC! Submit your ideas and suggestions today--and keep thinking of ways we can save Air Force dollars to move the mission forward! RAYMOND G. TOTH, Col, USAF Commander, Arnold Engineering Development Complex