Personnel specialists provide support to deployed Airmen

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Alice Moore
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) --  "First in, last out" is the battle cry of the Personnel Support for Contingency Operations team, better known as PERSCO.

It's definitely the case during a deployment at Balad AB, headquarters to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, when you're responsible for processing more than 7,000 Air Force personnel coming in and out.

The members of the 332nd Expeditionary Mission Support Group's PERSCO team ensure accountability and a variety of other services are accomplished daily.
Made up of a team of personnel specialists, the team provides deployed Airmen with support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"Our No. 1 priority is accountability," said Senior Master Sgt. Tony Pinkney, the PERSCO superintendent who is deployed from Andrews Air Force Base, Md. "We are responsible for ensuring we have the right amount of personnel with the correct skills and Air Force Specialty Code to complete the mission."

PERSCO team members here are also responsible for casualty reporting and Red Cross notifications.

"We ensure headquarters and home stations receive all casualty reports in a timely manner so family members back home can be notified immediately the status of their loved ones," said 1st Lt. Jamie Fanning, the PERSCO team chief who is also deployed from Andrews AFB. "Red Cross notifications are equally important. Upon receipt, we notify the deployed first sergeants so they can assist the member with contacting home and obtaining emergency leave when necessary."

The team also acts as a miniature military personnel flight to support Airmen in all their personnel actions, including delayed and early reporting requests, processing re-enlistments and extensions and skill- and grade-level waivers and retirements, Sergeant Pinkney said.

The scope of their job doesn't end with helping fellow deployed Airmen. They are also responsible for helping customers who they're typically not used to assisting back at home station.

"The operations tempo is higher because we deal with a broader range of customers, which includes foreign nationals, civilian contractors and servicemembers from military bases around the world," said Staff Sgt. Channa Johnson, a team member deployed from Charleston AFB, S.C.

The 10-person team is made up of active-duty, Reserve and Air National Guard members. Despite the diversity, PERSCO team members said the working relationship couldn't be better.

"Overall the camaraderie of the shop is good and I think the working relationships that have developed will continue even though we come from different backgrounds," Sergeant Pinkney said. "We went through all the known group dynamic stages. To look back from day one, we can say that we have had an outstanding and professional deployment."

Now that the team's deployment is winding down, the team members are able to reflect more on their impact and accomplishments with a positive outlook.

"The unique thing about PERSCO is that many of the programs and daily job-related activities here are not the same as (at) home station," Lieutenant Fanning said. "Because of this, it was a bit of a challenge learning a new way of doing business. Fortunately, the entire team is made up of some of the best personnel specialists I've worked with and we all caught on fast. We've had a great rotation, learned a lot of valuable information and we are looking forward to bring our experiences and lessons-learned back home to share with other Airmen deploying in the future."

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