WEBVTT 00:00.610 --> 00:02.499 - Good morning, Marines and civilian 00:02.499 --> 00:04.666 teammates. Lieutenant General Adams 00:04.666 --> 00:06.888 and I wanna thank each of you again for 00:06.888 --> 00:09.054 the part you played in the Corps' clean 00:09.054 --> 00:11.054 audit opinion for FY23. We're the 00:11.054 --> 00:13.277 first of any service to receive such an 00:13.277 --> 00:15.499 opinion. As many of you already know, 00:15.499 --> 00:17.277 the FY24 audit is already well 00:17.277 --> 00:19.221 underway, and past success does not 00:19.221 --> 00:21.277 guarantee future success. But we've 00:21.277 --> 00:23.221 established a baseline for a clean 00:23.221 --> 00:25.110 audit opinion and we just need to 00:25.110 --> 00:26.999 maintain it. We won't do that by 00:26.999 --> 00:29.166 resting on our backsides, but I don't 00:29.166 --> 00:30.999 need to tell you that. We're here 00:30.999 --> 00:32.999 because of your relentless grit and 00:32.999 --> 00:34.756 determination, and I know you'll do it again. 00:35.221 --> 00:37.443 - Having jumped into my seat in P&R 00:37.443 --> 00:39.610 in November of last year, I was 00:39.610 --> 00:41.666 able to witness firsthand the effort 00:41.666 --> 00:43.777 and teamwork that went into achieving 00:43.777 --> 00:45.943 our audit opinion. I remain in awe of 00:45.943 --> 00:48.105 the professionalism, commitment and daily focus across the enterprise. 00:48.360 --> 00:51.259 Your success during FY23 moves the 00:51.270 --> 00:53.326 auditor's focus away from evaluating 00:53.326 --> 00:55.326 our historical balances and focuses 00:55.326 --> 00:57.750 them on current-year activities. Going 00:57.759 --> 00:59.870 forward, we need to continue to work 00:59.870 --> 01:01.981 smarter, not harder, by placing focus 01:01.981 --> 01:04.148 on lessons learned. I'd like to focus 01:04.148 --> 01:06.760 on three lessons. First, we learned 01:06.769 --> 01:08.991 that if we document some of our current 01:08.991 --> 01:11.102 internal controls a bit differently, 01:11.102 --> 01:13.047 then we won't have to count things 01:13.047 --> 01:15.047 again when the auditors visit. 01:15.047 --> 01:16.936 I need you to be diligent as we are 01:16.936 --> 01:19.213 building new institutional-wide habits. 01:19.213 --> 01:21.325 Second lesson is that we learned we 01:21.325 --> 01:23.380 still have too many manual processes, 01:23.380 --> 01:25.547 often when passing information between 01:25.547 --> 01:27.380 systems and accreditations. This 01:27.380 --> 01:29.849 creates more work for you and increases 01:29.860 --> 01:32.089 our potential for errors. Continue to 01:32.099 --> 01:34.321 be relentless in the details. But what 01:34.321 --> 01:36.389 we owe you, and what we're working on, 01:36.400 --> 01:38.511 are the right technological solutions 01:38.511 --> 01:40.567 to automate these processes. At the 01:40.567 --> 01:42.678 same time, if you have any ideas for 01:42.678 --> 01:45.011 process improvement, please share them. 01:45.360 --> 01:47.471 The last lesson is that we learned it 01:47.471 --> 01:49.638 was critical to lean into planning for 01:49.638 --> 01:51.582 and supporting the auditors during 01:51.582 --> 01:53.804 their site visits. Please reach out to 01:53.804 --> 01:55.749 them before they come so you can 01:55.749 --> 01:57.693 align your internal processes with 01:57.693 --> 01:59.638 their visits. A well-planned site 01:59.638 --> 02:01.749 visit ensures that auditors' requests are 02:01.749 --> 02:03.940 met on time and on target, which can 02:03.949 --> 02:06.060 help prevent us from all having to do 02:06.060 --> 02:08.171 extra work. Before I turn it back over 02:08.171 --> 02:10.171 to the Commandant, I'll remind you 02:10.171 --> 02:12.282 that success comes from brilliance in 02:12.282 --> 02:14.589 the basics. Working through an audit 02:14.600 --> 02:17.009 is dynamic and circumstances will 02:17.020 --> 02:19.242 change that we will have to address in 02:19.242 --> 02:21.187 stride. We will work through this 02:21.187 --> 02:23.409 together, as a team. Raise your hand if 02:23.409 --> 02:25.631 you need help, and I thank you for all 02:25.631 --> 02:27.742 your hard work. We will work hard to 02:27.742 --> 02:29.964 support you from the headquarters and, 02:29.964 --> 02:32.131 in return, I ask for your support and 02:32.131 --> 02:34.353 feedback as well. - Marines and civilian 02:34.353 --> 02:36.409 teammates, let me close with this. 02:36.409 --> 02:38.409 You make our Corps proud every day. 02:38.409 --> 02:40.631 What you do is incredibly hard work and 02:40.631 --> 02:42.853 it's vitally important to getting a war 02:42.853 --> 02:44.964 fighter what they need, where they 02:44.964 --> 02:47.252 need it, when they need it. Keep it up and I look forward to sustaining our 02:47.252 --> 02:50.721 success in Fiscal Year '24. Semper fidelis.