The 1980s - mobilization exercises, musters, quality Published Dec. 30, 2013 By Mark Nelson Air Reserve Personnel Center Historian BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- (This feature is the fourth of a monthly series celebrating ARPC's 60th birthday. Each month will highlight a new decade until ARPC's 60th birthday which is March 1, 2014.) The advent of the total force policy in the 1970s gave an added importance to mobilization planning of the reserve forces. Furthermore, the United States discontinued the draft in 1973, moving to an all-volunteer military force. Thus, reserve forces became the primary augmentation of the active force, a huge change from the Vietnam experience with its reliance upon draftees. As the 1980s began, Air Reserve Personnel Center leadership recognized they had an increased role in future conflicts. To prepare for this, members of ARPC participated in mobilization exercises, created the individual ready reserve muster, and improved their processes through various quality programs. Since mobilization of Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units was managed by gaining major commands, ARPC's primary responsibility in a mobilization was the recall of individual reserve members, primarily individual mobilization augmentees. ARPC members wrote and implemented several plans including mobilization operations, continuity of operations, and an IMA guide. To assist with these plans, the base IMA administrator program was launched. Starting in 1982, ARPC participated in Air Force mobilization exercises as well as conducted quarterly mobilization systems tests. By October 1984, ARPC staff took part in their first Joint Chiefs of Staff exercise, Powder River 85. That same year, ARPC mobilization specialists implemented push-pull mobilization exercises, which remained a fixture of mobilization planning for a number of years. In these exercises, ARPC mobilization planners pushed selected IRR members to Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, as they would in an actual mobilization, and then pulled them to fill various taskings at different bases. These exercises were generally held in odd-numbered years. In 1983, in order to maintain critical personnel data functions in the event of an emergency, Air Force leaders selected ARPC as the alternate computer and communications location for the Air Force Manpower and Personnel Center (now Air Force Personnel Center) at Randolph AFB, Texas. As part of that transition, in November 1984, ARPC received a state-of-the-art Honeywell DPS 870 computer system identical to the AFMPC system. Once the new Honeywell system became operational, ARPC leaders recognized that most of their computer equipment was outdated and Air Force leaders projected an increase of 20,000 ANG and AFR members through the end of the 1980s. To meet these future needs, ARPC established a Future Information Systems division. Members of the new organization studied the latest automation advances and designed new electronic systems that were compatible with ARPC's labor-intensive work processes. By the end of 1984, they had taken delivery of nine Zenith Z100 micro systems and installed them in various offices. Leadership also launched a series of computer literacy seminars to introduce the workforce to computerized technology. The emphasis on constant process improvement and increasing role of technology became a permanent part of ARPC's culture that continues to this day. In December 1985, Assistant Secretary of Defense James H. Webb Jr. mandated that all members of the IRR report for screening beginning in January 1987. In January 1986, ARPC was designated as the Air Force Field Operations Center for IRR screening, which became known as the IRR muster program. Technicians prepared a formal planning guide that outlined responsibilities of major commands, laid out base-level requirements, and provided detailed instructions on reporting procedures, pay and benefits, and other items for IRR members. Because of ARPC's thorough planning, the first screening, which took place in January 1987, was a success. In 1983, ARPC leaders adopted a people-oriented management philosophy based on Thomas Peters' book, In Search of Excellence. The idea was to improve customer service, product quality and the working environment. As part of the emphasis on total quality, ARPC leaders instituted formal and informal employee training programs as well as implemented a civilian employee recognition program that paralleled the military quarterly and yearly recognition programs. These initiatives illustrated the importance of all ARPC members, civilians and military, to the center's mission accomplishment. By 1988, ARPC launched the Excellence in Management Program, which was specifically customized to ARPC's mission, needs and requirements. One of the goals of the EMP was to give supervisors better management and leadership tools which would increase job satisfaction and productivity among their subordinates. In 1989, ARPC launched the Total Quality Management system which was designed to achieve customer satisfaction through the involvement of all managers and employees. TQM utilized quantitative methods to continually improve work processes throughout ARPC and it continued well into the 1990s. Even though ARPC was not involved in contingencies or mobilizations during the 1980s, the decade saw ARPC grow and mature in its processes. Technology became vital in daily operations and the center planned and exercised its mobilization mission to ensure plans worked well. As a result, when the nation called upon ARPC and its people in the 1990s and 2000s, they were ready to perform their wartime mission.