The Navy's Command Financial Specialist (CFS) program relies on a cadre of specially trained service members to act as financial peer counselors to complement the more formalized financial counseling and advice provided through Fleet and Family Support Centers. The Navy sees them as "the first stop for the Military member who has questions or issues about financial readiness." At Naval Support Facility (NSF) Dahlgren in Virginia, the CFS counselors are overseen by financial program manager, Carol Allison.

As with other bases, Dahlgren's Command Financial Specialists are appointed by a commanding officer to provide financial education and training, counseling, and information referral at the command level. The specialists are also trained to establish, organize and administer the command’s personal financial management (PFM) program. Although CFSs are generally slightly higher in rank than their peers (E6 for enlisted), have demonstrated financial stability and must be able to speak publicly or facilitate forums, they must also go through training to be properly equipped for their collateral duty.

Allison sees ample need for a grassroots force of informed financial counselors because of the unique military population. Some of the sailors who work next to CFSs are "highly astute when it comes to money and have already started looking at investment plans," she says. However, in many cases, financial management is a new concept: "For the vast majority, it's like, 'I've got my first paycheck and I can go out and buy things!'"

When providing financial counseling and education Allison uses Money Habitudes cards to help people see, understand and talk about their habits and attitudes around money, and how these "habitudes" affect their financial situation. It may be working with brand new sailors who've just left home, spouses dealing with the pressures of deployment, or more mature service members looking to retire and seeking help with transitioning to a new career and lifestyle. Although such counseling is done one-on-one or with couples, Allison has also integrated Money Habitudes into her group training classes for Command Financial Specialists

The CFSs are not expected to be financial experts, but need to have expertise so that they are comfortable engaging their peers on the topic of money – and then acting as first responders to potential financial issues within their ranks.

"We are training them to be peer financial counselors, to help people with basic finance problems like how to do a budget," says Allison.

So that they become trusted resources, she knows that her counselor corps must get past what may be judgmental or inaccurate notions about how others view and use money. This is especially true of those seeking the help because they may be younger, less experienced and less educated about money. Therefore, they may be facing financial difficulties that are embarrassing and hard to talk about.

Allison has her counselors do Money Habitudes during their training classes to "get them to look at the differences that they may have just within the group about how they feel about money." She says that the exercise opens them up to the fact that, "Just because you feel this way, it doesn't necessarily mean that all your [peer] clients will feel the same way, because of their background or their heritage, or, as we say, 'the baggage that people carry with them.'"

To produce non-judgmental, open-minded counselors, Money Habitudes' simple but powerful explanations of the strengths and challenges of different money personalities help trainees see the various sides of people's habits and attitudes related to money. As Allison says, "We all have different philosophies on everything in life and money is just one of them; we might be raised with preconceived ideas that we don't realize."

When the group of trainers-to-be uses the cards in a class setting, Allison notes that some come away with new insights about themselves and their financially-stable fellow counselors.

"It's interesting to see the communication open up about 'Why do you feel that way?' or 'I didn't realize you felt that way,'" she says, noting that it's not uncommon for a sailor to see his rigorously controlled spending as a strength and call it "thrifty" while those around him may see those same traits as a negative and brand him a "tightwad."

The cards are available as a resource for the specialists to use with their peers at the Dahlgren base if they choose. Some have taken the lessons to heart and brought the packs home to do with their families

"They're pretty unique cards," says Allison. "I really don't know that I'd be using anything else [in their absence] because I really haven't seen anything else that does the same thing."