Center helping deployed airmen
1/22/2004 - RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) -- Deployed personnel specialists now have around-the-clock assistance in performing personnel actions for deployed airmen that previously may have taken days to complete.
The Air Force Contact Center will now provide one-stop customer support for deployed operations, said Lt. Col. Jacqueline Harry, chief of the customer support branch at the Air Force Personnel Center here.
"We're committed to supporting the warfighter by providing them with top-notch customer service at anytime, wherever they may be in the world," said Colonel Harry. "It just makes better sense with ops tempo, time zone differences and varied schedules."
While the contact center cannot yet fully replace a person's servicing military personnel flight, it can accomplish much of the work currently done at home station, said the colonel. This includes coordination with owning commanders and updates to the military personnel data system,
Historically, deployed commanders were required to reach back to their home station commanders, MPFs and commander support staffs to complete personnel services for people assigned to them, even though the airmen came from multiple locations.
This new partnership will essentially "cut" the middle man out of the process and, in many cases, speed up services for deployed airmen while eliminating unnecessary paperwork, Colonel Harry said.
Some specific ways the contact center will assist Personnel Support for Contingency Operation, or PERSCO, teams:
Update enlisted assignment preferences: PERSCO workers will be able to e-mail or fax an Air Force member's preferences to the contact center to accomplish the update in the Military Personnel Data System. Contact center workers will maintain the e-mail/fax in the database for historical purposes.
Update life insurance forms: If airmen change their Servicemen Group Life Insurance or Family SGLI election while deployed, PERSCO teams will fax the signed form to the contact center for update into MilPDS. The fax will be maintained in the center for historical purposes. The original form must be mailed by the PERSCO team back to the home station for filing in the airman’s personnel folder.
Assist with re-enlistments and career job reservations: Contact center workers here will now coordinate and resolve any re-enlistment/job reservation issues between PERSCO teams and military personnel flights.
Update personal info: If the virtual MPF is not available at the deployed location, the PERSCO team will e-mail/fax information to the contact center for update.
Correct officer/enlisted duty history: The PERSCO team will e-mail all required duty history corrections to the contact center. Center workers will use the Automated Records Management System resident at AFPC that contains the master personnel record group to get the required source documentation, and the center workers will update MilPDS. In the event no source document is found, the airman will be required to provide documentation before correcting MilPDS.
Update MilPDS on evaluation and decoration errors: The PERSCO team will e-mail all required evaluation/decoration corrections to the contact center. Center workers will use ARMS to get the required source documentation, and update MilPDS. In the event no source document is found, the airman will be required to provide documentation before correcting MilPDS.
The Air Force Contact Center offers one-stop shopping service for personnel information and can be reached by calling (800) 616-3775. Service is also available online at www.afpc.randolph.af.mil. (Courtesy of AFPC News Service) |
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