DENVER -- Information kept within personnel records in the Military Personnel Data System can have a significant impact on an Airman's career. Inaccuracies can affect timely pay and benefits, and can mean the difference in a promotion or assignment.
Air Reserve Personnel Center leaders are making reliability of MilPDS data a top priority for the organization.
"If a decision is going to be made that impacts an Airman's career, we ought to make sure the data we're relying on is accurate," said Steve Hannan, director of ARPC's Directorate of Communications and Information.
Mr. Hannan is leading ARPC's Data Reliability Team. The team recently updated the ARPC instruction governing correction of data in MilPDS and has submitted it to directors for finishing touches.
"We think this is a great start," Mr. Hannan said. "Getting procedural guidance is the first step."
The team is a result of a three-day Enterprise Value Stream Mapping event held in July at Buckley Air Force Base, where ARPC senior leaders met to discuss the organization's strategic goals and priorities.
"(Data reliability) is one of the items we came away with as being a priority," Mr. Hannan said.
The data reliability team was charged with ensuring ARPC directorates are providing "Citizen Airman and ARPC action officers with accurate MilPDS data" and establishing a "defined policy requiring proactive management of data."
The next step to ensuring ARPC maintains accurate data within MilPDS is to identify the information that ARPC Airmen and civilians are actually responsible for inputting.
"I look at it as if it were my record," said Master Sgt. Laramie Reece, ARPC's Directorate of Personnel Data Systems superintendent. "I wouldn't want my pay or promotion held up because the information wasn't correct."
Sergeant Reece is responsible for monitoring missing or improperly formatted data in MilPDS and providing reports to individual directorates to allow them to correct it.
"We look at data items that are in an error condition," Sergeant Reece said. "I know a pay date can't be blank, so we find and monitor these types of items."
At commander's call Aug. 6, Brig. Gen. Eric Crabtree, ARPC commander, discussed ARPC's strategic goals and priorities. General Crabtree presented several tentative goals including, ARPC becoming the "standard bearer for personnel accuracy and excellence."