by Tech. Sgt. Steve Grever
Air Force Personnel, Services and Manpower Public Affairs
4/20/2011 - RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) -- Air Force Personnel Center officials here are deploying a team to Southwest Asia at the end of April to examine personnel services and support for deployed Air Force members.
The six-person Total Force Service Center-Forward team will continue to conduct customer need assessments and provide direct personnel support to active duty, Guard and Reserve Airmen at its deployed location, said Capt. Paul Sortor, AFPC's program manager for this initiative.
"The (U.S. Air Forces Central) commander encouraged us to 'live the problem,'" Captain Sortor said. "Although we provide personnel services to customers from the Total Force Service Center, we are not always able to determine if personnel services and programs meet their intended objectives until we see firsthand how Airmen use them.
"We also need to understand our Airmen's comfort level with using online personnel services and self-guided applications to determine if those products are also effective," he added.
The research and continuous recommendations identified during the six-month deployment will provide AFCENT and the Air Force a comprehensive view of how deployed Airmen receive personnel services in the area of responsibility, said Col. James Davis, AFPC's TFSC director. Additionally, this initiative will provide a catalyst to revise programs and policies based on deployed mission requirements and feedback from Airmen.
"Once we've collected the information and data, we will be able to provide recommendations on the final solutions for providing enduring personnel support for the warfighter," Colonel Davis said. "We believe a large portion of personnel support can be achieved through reachback similar to unmanned aircraft launched and flown in the AOR, but operated remotely from thousands of miles away."
Colonel Davis said the deployed team will also help raise awareness for both the San Antonio and Denver TFSC locations and the Air Force Personnel Services website, as well as showcase how these capabilities are beneficial to deployed commanders and Airmen.
"The TFSC and (Air Force Personnel Services) are one entity that seamlessly ties together our telephone and online capabilities to provide first-class personnel support to total force Airmen," Colonel Davis said.
For more information on personnel services, visit the Air Force Personnel Services restricted website at https://gum-crm.csd.disa.mil.
Comments
4/22/2011 9:24:00 AM ET You mean the Total Force Service Center doesn't have anyone on it who has been on a deployed PERSCO team in the past year or so? There's the problem staring you in the face. Not enough personnelists are deploying nor understand the challenges of the PERSCO team.
Terri, IL
4/21/2011 1:44:15 PM ET Just more wasted money spent on a TDY for some folks that will come back with a few ideas on how to fix the problem but those ideas will never be implemented anyway. Oh well at least these folks will score a couple extra EPR bullets.
Retired, Ohio
4/21/2011 10:39:42 AM ET Sounds like a reason for a team to go tot the AOR and get a month's tax free pay.
RMA, SA
4/20/2011 12:29:18 PM ET I could have saved the AF the cost of this TDY with the following solution. There is a disconnect between PERSCO MPS and AFPC. Adding PERSCO into the mix convolutes things. Scale them back in the AOR and put the onus on home station to take care of deployed member's personnel needs. Research rarely results in changes. You're welcome.
