Web tool lets Airmen build online career path Published Oct. 19, 2007 By Monica D. Morales 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. (AFPN) -- An Air Force officer's career goals now get broader exposure and move more efficiently through routing thanks to last month's launch of the Airman Development Plan capability, developed by 554th Electronic Systems Group officials and available now through the Virtual Personnel Services Center. "Bringing this capability to pass wasn't an easy road, and there was a lot of work involved," said Jim Jaworski, the ADP project manager. "It was definitely a team effort," he said. The ADP is an online career planning tool that helps officers map their career development plan, specifying their top choices for assignments. The capability also allows Airmen to detail, for instance, whether or not they want to be considered as candidates for advanced professional military education or as a commander. In early 2008, the ADP will expand to let Air Force civilians follow suit and build their career plans via the same online tool. "If an officer wants to go to a senior school, a specialized Air Force school or even a Ph.D. program, it can be specified through this officer development plan," Mr. Jaworski said. The ADP capability is designed to pick up where the Defense Integrated Military Human Resources System leaves off, and replaces the same function previously accomplished by the Assignment Management System. Accomplishing the online plan through vPSC preserves the document's overall format, and also enables it to gain added reach. Once an Airman completes the ADP, it can be forwarded to a mentor or reviewer -- before the normal review chain -- for additional comments or review before it ultimately reaches the Air Force Personnel Center. And rather than relying on a phone call to alert another individual that the document is awaiting review, ADP provides e-mail notification to specified recipients. "Using this system, you can have a lieutenant colonel who has a mentor who is a brigadier general," Mr. Jaworski said. "The colonel can then forward his ADP to the general and say, 'Take a look at this and let me know if there's something else I should add or consider.'" The ADP can also be sent to an officer's regular review chain, and is automatically sent to the senior rater. Once the rater's comments are added, it reaches AFPC for use by a development team board that makes decisions based on the Airman's projected career path. Having taken to the Web in just a little more than a month's time, the tool has already provided the ADP team with enough user feedback to know that the capability is going global. An officer due to rotate out of an assignment in Afghanistan, for example, was able to use the ADP to express a desire to request another tour there. "At the very least, this capability allowed for the assignment team to be aware of what he wanted to do," said Maj. Patrick Bowar, vPSC program manager. Major Bowar said that, in addition to delivering the capability to users, the warfighter stands to benefit on a much broader level. ADP and vPSC's ability to let supervisors retrieve employee records will eventually translate into a reduced need for the five to six slots every base requires for records management personnel. "At the end of the day, the purpose of all this is to provide some self-service human resources functions that let the Air Force free personnelists' slots and return them to more traditional warfighting roles," he said. The civilian ADP capability is expected to go live in February 2008. Also slated for next year is incorporating the enlisted equivalent of the officer's online tool, called MyEDP, or My Enlisted Development Plan. The ADP is accessible via the Air Force Portal and through the Air Force Personnel Center's secure Web site. Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link) View the comments/letters page