Cadre, training teams provide face-to-face service

  • Published
  • By Mike Molina
  • Editor
DENVER --  The Air Reserve Personnel Center cadre continues to deliver the latest in personnel news and information directly to Guard and Reserve Airmen. 

In 2008, cadre team members spoke to more than 9,000 Guardsmen and reservists at 37 conferences, and unit and combined training assemblies nationwide. 

"We're there to brief personnel issues that are important to that audience, and what it means to them as a Guardsmen or reservist," said Linda Berkey, ARPC director of staff and cadre leader. "We want to really bring it home for everyone we speak to." 

Units and conference coordinators contact ARPC to request cadre briefings for their audience. 

Last year, cadre teams were dispatched to everywhere from Kulis Air National Guard Base, in Anchorage, Alaska, to Barnes ANG Base, in Westfield, Mass. 

"The Guard is taking us to locations that we've never been to before," Ms. Berkey said.
The prevalence of the virtual Personnel Center - Guard and Reserve has also sparked interest in the cadre's message. 

Last year, ARPC's directorate of future operations and integration, or DPX, began sending representatives with cadre members to conferences and UTAs to provide Guardsmen and reservists with hands-on practice on the vPC-GR. The training is typically given in a computer classroom where attendees receive step-by-step guidance on Web-based processes such as completing performance reports and decorations. 

"We explain to them what the applications are and take them through a demonstration," said Senior Master Sgt. Melody Mohigh, DPX Personnel Services Delivery change management. "They get to see and feel how it works." 

The combination of the cadre teams and vPC-GR training allows Guardsmen and reservists a chance to apply the personnel information they've just received. 

"They get the biggest bang for the buck," Sergeant Mohigh said. "They get the personnel information about their careers, and then the hands-on training. Working together with the cadre is a logical combination." 

Requests for the cadre and training teams are already piling up for 2009. The teams have 18 visits scheduled through July. 

"This is a team effort," Ms. Berkey said. "It's the hard work and dedication of the men and women at ARPC who make it possible for the cadre to bring Guardsmen and reservists the most accurate and up-to-date information."