Airmen should verify deployment credit

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RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) --  Airmen not issued contingency, exercise or deployment orders should verify their personnel records include credit for those deployments.

A deployment is any temporary duty away from home station filling a validated combatant or component commander or supported major command requirement for forces in support of a named operation or exercise.

Airmen should ensure they received credit for these kind of deployments because, in some instances, units have deployed Airmen under Defense Department Form 1610s or NATO travel orders.

However, to receive deployment credit, Air Force Instruction 36-2134, Air Force Duty Status Program, requires CED orders to update temporary duty, or TDY, histories in the Military Personnel Data System.

"Because officer selection boards are charged by the secretary of the Air Force to consider the 'whole person,' officers need to ensure their entire record is correct to include deployments," said Lt. Col. Darlene Roquemore, chief of the officer promotions, appointments and selection continuation branch at the Air Force Personnel Center here.

The colonel said, "The officer selection brief -- which is a snapshot of the officer's career -- to include data such as decorations, duty history and developmental education, now reflects qualifying deployments since 9/11." 

Airmen can verify their Type 1 TDY deployment history has been updated through their commander's support staff or personnel employment section at their servicing military personnel flight. If an Airman's Type 1 TDY deployment has not been updated in their TDY history, a completed travel voucher and at least one of the following source documents are required to receive credit:

-- Certified CED orders.

-- Certified non-CED orders.

-- Approved decoration.

-- Officer or enlisted performance report.

-- Finalized letter of evaluation.

-- A letter of justification from a squadron commander or higher.

All source documents must identify the Airman and state the named operation or exercise supported for the duration of the TDY.

In the future, all Airmen who are not issued CED orders for eligible deployments should make every effort to notify their respective commander's support staff or servicing military personnel flight personnel readiness function before departure. If they cannot correct orders before leaving, they may do so after returning from the deployment.

For more information, call the personnel center's field activities office at DSN 665-2671 or commercial (210) 565-2671. 

(Courtesy of Air Force Personnel Center News Service)