Funding your training

Chaplain Corps in the army now have a simple way to fund CORE Recon training

Don’t get stuck in contracting

Let us guide you with these simple steps

Overview

The Chaplain Corps recently procured a large, centrally managed contract that already has all the legal reviews and competitive bids. Now commanders can simply fund a line item on the contract and apply that money directly towards training at no charge to them.

Event planning & logistical support (EPLS) contract

Centrally managed contract that already has all the legal reviews and competitive bids. Compare to Strong Bonds (Building Strong and Ready Teams) programming.

There are 3 criteria that must be met to use this contract...

  • Will the event be chaplain-led?

  • Will the event build teams?

  • Is the curriculum pre-approved?

If your training meets all these criteria, your two-star command (or higher) can add funds quarterly, 30 days before the quarter starts.

This is a great way to obligate 4th quarter funding that can be executed in the first quarter of the next fiscal year.

Follow these steps

1 - Command approval

The Commander approves the funding for chaplain-led events to be supported by the Event Planning and Logistical Support (EPLS) contract as part of the Command Master Religious Plan (CMRP).  The Commander can approve additional funds and programs throughout the year, but step 3 must be complete at least 30 days prior to the quarter of execution.

2 - Sub-WBS established

The US Army Institute for Religious Leadership’s (USA-IRL’s) Religious Support Division (RSD) manages the EPLS contract.  The Program Analyst and Budget Analyst are the point of entry to establish a Subordinate Work Breakdown Structure (Sub-WBS).  This is effectively a debit account for your command to use to fund events on the EPLS contract.

3 - G8 funds the Sub-WBS

The Resource Management Directorate (G8) will create and approve a Purchase Request (PR) within GFEBS (government accounting system) for you as the requiring activity.  They “L1” it (used as a verb) meaning that the requirement is legitimate. Another employee will review the PR, and if funding is available, “L4” it.  L4 is effectively the final approval for the PR.

4 - Contract modification

30 days before each quarter, the RSD and Mission and Installation Contracting Command (MICC) will obligate the funds from the Sub-WBS.  MICC modifies the contract and creates Subordinate Contract Line Item Numbers (Sub-CLINs) for each Sub-WBS.  NOTE: Q4 funding is used for events in Q1 of the following fiscal year under the Bona Fide Needs Rule.

5 - Event execution

Immediately after contract modification, the RSD will authorize all funded events.  An Event Planner from the EPLS contractor will make contact to begin execution of the authorized events.  The unit will work with the EPLS Event Planner for all financial obligations regarding the training.  The unit is required to utilize OS56 to capture all execution data.

Have more questions?

Reach out to our team to see how you can implement CORE Recon training via the EPLS contract!