Beginning mid-March, Reserve Airmen will be able to access and change their duty history through the virtual Personnel Center Guard and Reserve, or vPC-GR, a 24/7 customer service Web portal operated by the Air Reserve Personnel Center here.

ARPC continues to centralize processes once located at unit level military personnel flights, or MPFs. The most recent process to be centralized is Reservist duty history. Before now, Reservists had to visit their local MPF to change or request a copy of their duty history. Now, Reservists can log on to the vPC-GR at arpc.afrc.af.mil/support/default.asp. Airmen can establish an account by answering a few questions.

Once logged in, members can click on “Duty History,” where they can add, edit or delete data. Supporting documents can be attached while logged in to the Web portal or by a separate e-mail.

The customer will be e-mailed a tracking number once the submission is received. They will receive an e-mail letting them know when the actions are completed.

“The ultimate goal is to improve how we deliver services to our Reservists,” said Col. Ann Shippy, ARPC commander. “It is time that we stop making people drive across base to go to the military personnel flight to do their updates.”

The service delivery transformation team at ARPC continuously studies which processes handled by local MPFs can be centralized and automated at ARPC.

Since the launch of the vPC-GR in mid-2005, several processes have been automated or centralized, including the 20-year letter, mortgage letter, letters to officer promotion boards, pre- or post-promotion board counseling requests, and more. Overall, the team is studying more than 100 processes for automation and centralization.

The goal is to bring as many “front-line” personnel services from throughout ARPC and the Reserve into the contact center or on the Web.

“Sure, change is hard, but inevitable,” said Dave Aldrich, director of personnel service delivery here. “Businesses across the globe use Web-enabled tools to deliver goods and services to their customers; our Air Force ought to be no different. Let’s keep Airmen on the flightline, in training or ensuring their readiness -- not sitting on a customer service bench.”

In the future, centralized services should account for nearly every aspect of every Reservists’ personnel actions, from initial enlistment to far beyond retirement.

(Courtesy of Air Reserve Personnel Center News Service)