BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. --
The Headquarters Individual Reservist Readiness and Integration Organization has released a completely revised version of the Guide for Individual Reservists.
The document, which is an A-to-Z guide on how to manage an IR career, received its most extensive overhaul in three years. Over a period of 10 months, 500 revisions were made to five draft versions.
Changes include updated language reflecting last year’s transition of the program from the Readiness Management Group to HQ RIO and a visual makeover. The new version includes a fully-indexed and linked table of contents, allowing users to jump directly to their chosen topic.
The redesign was led by Senior Master Sgt. Deana Rossi, superintendent of IR Plans, Programs and Readiness. She said that the last revision of the guide was dated to 2012 and most of the information was outdated following the transition of the IR program from the Readiness Management Group to HQ RIO.
“We wanted to give IRs access to the latest information and technology available,” she said. “This guide is designed to be more user friendly, with links that connect [the IR] directly to the sites and forms they need.”
Another important aspect of the redesign was ensuring it was mobile-friendly and easy to navigate from a smart phone or tablet so it could be incorporated with the HQ RIO mobile app.
The new Guide for Individual Reservists was a collaborative effort between a wide variety of IR program experts, including the HQ RIO detachments and operating locations, the Air Reserve Personnel Center, and the RIO Academy, which is made up of subject matter experts from the different offices within the organization. The cover page was designed by Individual Mobilization Augmentee Master Sgt. Christian Michael.
Rossi said The Guide for IRs is one of the most powerful resources available for IR's, supervisors, commanders, and unit reserve coordinators.
“As a prior URC, my advice is ‘download the guide, read it, read it again, highlight it, and keep it handy.’ It will answer most of the questions that will come up along the way,” she said.
The Guide for Individual Reservists is available for download from the HQ RIO public website at http://www.arpc.afrc.af.mil/Portals/4/DRIO/TheIRGuide-1.pdf. It's also available through ARCNet and the HQ RIO iPhone app.