Government Credit Card for every Soldier, good idea or bad idea?

I think it is a good idea. At the bare minimum it allows units to be flexible and rapidly dispatch soldiers on missions and training with a short suspense. As for the opportunity for abuse, I personally think it is an excellent tool to weed out the irresponsible and untrustworthy. I wish the military entrusted service members with more room to maneuver and then allowed the bad apples to hang themselves with the slack...

Not sure if it's a blanket policy, but from an AF Reserve perspective, we had to apply for our GTC as part of in-processing. Regardless of rank, it's "required" for any travel.

This isn't mandatory for just E-5s and above or those who travel less than twice a year.
Absolutely awful and a horrific headache. I've had too many problems with this, between the inefficiency of DTS and this card, I would prefer to hitchhike next time.
Unless I specifically apply for a CC, I don't appreciate having Citibank in my business.
This is a very financially risky compact, among between younger soldiers who aren't perfectly clear on how this system works.

CPT Brian Maurelli,

I was the APC, along with being Detachment Sergeant, for my unit and 100% of my Soldiers (all NCOs and Warrant Officers) had GTCs. I never had a delinquency issue, never had a purchase of an item or anything else which was questioned, and never had a GTC suspended.

Did I mention we were all CID Special Agents? Sorry sir.

Other units were obviously observed by me, due to issues which arose. Consequently, I would say, as long as the program is well managed, supported by leadership, and Soldiers know they will be held individually accountable for any unauthorized purchases during travel, then the program SHOULD work.

Thank you for the opportunity to post.

SFC Joseph M. Finck USA (Ret)

That's a grey area in my opinion. There are soldiers with very responsible habits that have the common sense to know what they can and cannot use the government credit card for. But unfortunately some individuals ha e that lapse of judgement and.just do.stupid crap. Personally I dont touch Mine I leave it in my wallet and use my own money and close.my dts out no questions asked.

If the person that holds the GOVCC uses it right and submits their travel voucher like they are supposed too it is a great idea, but we know that at least 75% of people don't submit their voucher and at times when we have someone else do the voucher for the soldier the people that review or approve the voucher find something wrong with it and return it for correction. Then we get into the case were the people that do the voucher for the soldiers are not checking on the approval of the voucher and are not aware that it was returned for corrections over a week or month ago causing the soldiers to be delinquent on their GOVCC. But the soldiers are also wrong because they fail to say anything about it to the individuals that do the vouchers for them.

Oh CPT, CPT, CPT... have a got a huge NEGATIVE for this one...

Our Bde was down at Bliss back in the 90's (presumably you were in grade school by now as opposed to when I went to OBC) We had a medium truck company under us as part of our RI force structure and they were doing long ammo hauls (2-3 days each way). A few soldiers and NCOs started taking multiple $300.00 (then the ATM max) withdrawals and then entertaining themselves at strip clubs. Apparently like RI's own Foxy Lady, the "legs & eggs" breakfast deal is something else. if that wasn't bad enough, they also stayed at higher priced hotels.

After the expense reports all came in and the investigation was completed, a few soldiers became civilians, a few NCOs became privates and all became liable for $12K+ in unauthorized expenditures.

It is a good idea as long as the Soldiers are properly educated on the use of the card. The cards are issued to protect both the service member and the Government. Having a Government travel card is supposed to keep the service member from going broke while in a TDY status. It is also supposed to make paying off travel vouchers in DTS much easier since the split disbursement automatically pays the credit card bill when used properly which decreases the paperwork burden on the government and makes account reconcilliation easier. The issues arise when a service member frivilously uses their card on unauthorized items. We trust our service men and women with weapons once they are properly trained; the same should be true for credit cards.

One can only imagine what problems and misuse would happen if every Soldier had a GCC.

I have first hand experience at seeing the success and of course the failures of the GTCC program.  I have to say the majority of users "get it" and understand how to use the GTCC and how to complete their DTS vouchers that go along with it.  Having said that, there will ALWAYS be those individuals who fail to "get it" and misuse or don't pay the card and so forth.  These few do add a lot of extra work for the DTS and GTCC managers but in the end individual cards to help lesson the load and places responsibility on the individual Soldier instead of the manager.  In my opinion, if you are not responsible enough to manage 1 credit card that aids in your personal training then you shouldn't be in the military, that is not someone I want next to me going into battle, unreliable.