Quantitative expenditure deviation comparison based on Canadian Navy logistics officer qualification results and type of military operation

The Royal Canadian Navy employs Logistics Officers at sea, who possess a financial management specialty; financial resources are accounted and managed by Naval Logistics Officers in Her Majesty’s Canadian Ships. The annual, deployed, financial expenditures, managed by Naval Logistics Officers, have consistently deviated from planned mission allocations for maritime units deployed on international operations. The problem is that even though there are programs in place to train Naval Logistics Officer on the use of financial resources, it appears that there is a lack of accurate operational fund management. The purpose of this quantitative, non-experimental, ex post facto research study was to compare the differences between financial expenditure deviations within Her Majesty’s Canadian Ships (HMCS), based on Royal Canadian Navy Logistics Officer Qualification Board results attained between 2000 and 2010, categorized by the nature of Canada’s military operations in Afghanistan (OPERATIONS APOLLO, ALTAIR, or SAIPH) between 2000 and 2010. Findings presented in this study demonstrate that there is statistically no difference in mean RCNLOQB score and financial deviation. However, based on observed differences, RCNLOQB results were found to have a statistically significant effect on financial expenditure deviation within Her Majesty’s Canadian Ships that deployed in US-led military operations with multiple nations compared to HMC ships that deployed in operations with only the US or in multinational campaigns. The effects of qualitative subjective factors were not included in this study and require further research to determine their degree of influence on financial management performance outcomes