WASHINGTON - Roland A. ("Artie") Arteaga, former head of the Army's Finance Command and new president of the Defense Credit Union Council (DCUC), combines the dogged grit of an infantry officer with the guileless fervor of a credit union pioneer. His handshake is the first tip-off. His manner, however, is the clincher. "I prefer being more on the operational side," Arteaga said of his military finance career, "being out there with the soldiers, and doing those kinds of things." "I know for a fact," Arteaga went on, blasting stereotypes before they could form, "in the Army finance corps, we're warriors. We're out there leading from the front....We're not just paymasters. We're there to support the operational side. We're there to ensure that the monies are available when you need to buy something...to build up your infrastructure...." Arteaga (pronounced "Arr-tee-ahga"), who took over DCUC on March 1 and is raring to "get his hands dirty" on the job, extols his ties to the "ground-pounder" ethic and says his infantry experience taught him both the value of hard work and the importance of teamwork. His concern for people and passion for service, he said, came later-at the hands of a mentor named Bill Hill, during his first stateside tour as a finance officer. "I was a `blood and guts' kind of guy," Arteaga recalled his 1975-1978 tour as deputy finance officer for the Army's 27th Finance Company at Fort Hood, Texas. "And people would come into the finance office looking for...a loan of some sort...because they couldn't make ends meet during the month." "I'd look at their record and (disapprove the request). (I was) hard core, really hard core." In what Arteaga described as a "pivotal point in his career," Major Hill quickly took him aside and told him to "look at the (application's) details" and "pull back every layer you can, and help people." Otherwise, Arteaga was told, not only would the individual suffer, but also the individual's commander and "this great country of ours." That embryonic credit union lesson, Arteaga said, was later reinforced in him by a charismatic, Army deputy assistant secretary named Ernie Gregory, who taught by example that "you can't ever forget about caring about people." It was a lesson set that Arteaga-who lives in Fairfax with his wife and three children-now seems to have taken to heart; but it is one that he believes must nevertheless take a close back seat to a unit's operational mission. "I want to be able to hook up with the Department of Defense...," Arteaga said of his plans for the CUNA-affiliated DCUC and its $300,000-a-year budget, "and let them know that the Defense Credit Union Council is their point-of-contact for issues associated with (Defense) credit unions' (and their) support of their community. And I need to be very proactive in that area to make that happen...." A top priority of Arteaga's, this "primary liaison" status with DOD is really only a means to an even higher priority for him: being able to influence government policy in matters affecting DCUC members. And this, he said, really runs a close second to his highest priority of all: that of enhancing the value of active DCUC membership and encouraging some of the 100-plus associate, non-dues-paying members to join the 181 active members currently enjoying benefits beyond representation. "I want to add a little more value (to the active membership)," Arteaga said. "I want to grow the membership." "I want them to know out there that the staff that we have here in Washington, D.C. is here working their issues hand-in-hand with the people of the Department of Defense, passing information...up, down, left, and right. It's just got to happen that way." And one of the issues that Arteaga passionately wants to work is that of the financial plight of junior enlisted personnel-considered by some to be an unsung "low-income" group because of low pay and occupational circumstances that further strain family budgets. "I want to help every soldier, sailor, airman, and marine," Arteaga declared, hoping the "people helping people" CU philosophy will encourage council members to help out his three-person staff. "I want to help that junior enlisted individual ensure that their personal finance readiness is up to par." He added, however, that as yet he had no plan specifics-other than the need for a personal finance education component-as he was still reviewing the groundwork of his predecessor, Dave Lundahl, and interim caretaker, Pentagon FCU's Steven Eisenberg. But the educational component is especially important, Arteaga said, because payday and predatory lenders continue to crop up outside military bases, exploiting the hardship and financial ignorance of junior enlisted personnel. Arteaga, who received his ROTC commission and an economics degree from his hometown St. Mary's University in San Antonio, Texas in 1971 and later a Master of Business Administration from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, is familiar with the junior enlisted's financial plight (the frequently transferred E-1s through E-4s make up 55% of the military's enlisted force and earn only about $1000 to $1400 per month) and he is convinced Defense credit unions can help. The obstacle, however, he said, is not with the willingness of DCUC member credit unions; it's with the base commanders' failure to take advantage of the credit union resources at their disposal. "There is some DOD instruction on the street...," Arteaga pointed out, "that says (that) credit unions on base..are there to provide financial counseling." "But we don't see-from the DCUC community-that commanders are out there taking advantage of this....it's just not happening." "I can assure you....We're leaning forward in the foxhole...," Arteaga said of the issue. "But we don't want to impose ourselves on that commander." "That's surely going to be one of my objectives," he continued. "I want to be knocking on some doors. I want to be very proactive." And on another "hot button" issue, currently undergoing DOD review within Instruction 1000.10 and which actually split DCUC's five-member board-that of base ATM surcharges-Arteaga is equally forthcoming. "I think there's a win-win (here)," he said. "The DOD should know that credit unions know the credit union business....(And if base commanders) feel that the credit union there is charging too much on ATM machines, let them work it out. Let's power it down....If there's an issue at that site, then let those people deal with that issue. And I can assure you that the credit union folks on that installation...will do the right thing." It is technology, however, and not swirling controversy within the Defense CU community or at NCUA, that concerns Arteaga most-and to which he brings his typically proactive manner. "I'm in the service support business...," he said. "I have a fear...(that) with all the technology we have today....I want to make certain that we as credit unions don't lose that service piece to our philosophy." "We've just got to figure out...how to do that without losing what we've built on (over) many, many, many years. And that is, we're here to provide a service." -
gmcorrigan@mindspring.com
