Reservists required to register civilian employment info

  • Published
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFPN) --  Time is running out for about 15,000 Air Force reservists in the Selected Reserve to comply with a Department of Defense directive.

Oct. 31 is the deadline for reservists who are paid for training to register information about their civilian place of employment. About 60,000 of these Airmen, roughly 80 percent of the force, provided that information as of May.

The civilian employment information program is the first mandatory disclosure by reservists of the Selected Reserve and Individual Ready Reserve of their civilian employers into a common database. The program began in March 2004.

"This past year we've made significant progress in employment-related data collection," said Lt. Gen. John A. Bradley, chief of Air Force Reserve and commander of Air Force Reserve Command.

"Senior-leader support, commander involvement and the personnel community's effective program management have resulted in a continual and steady increase in the Air Force Reserve's compliance numbers," he said. "However, despite our collective efforts, we fell short of the established Department of Defense goal of 75 percent for the Selected Reserve by December 2004."

The Air Force Reserve fell short primarily because of system problems during the program startup, which caused inaccurate data files and an ineffective management tool for commanders, officials said.

The general and his staff said they believe these problems no longer exist and urge reservists to register online as soon as possible by going to www.afrc.af.mil/reserveInfo.htm and clicking on “Civilian Employment Info Program.” An air reserve component Web site is in development to streamline this process even more.

After clicking on the Web site, reservists enter their employment status, employer's name, mailing address, civilian job title and total number of years in their current civilian occupation.

Unlike previous military service efforts to voluntarily gather employer data, the program is mandatory. Reservists who knowingly fail or refuse to provide their employment-related information, or provide false information, may be subject to administrative action. If on duty, they could face punishment for dereliction of duty under Article 92 of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice.

About 76,100 reservists in the Air Force's Selected Reserve train on full and part-time duty, ready for immediate tasking from higher headquarters. Since Sept. 11, 2001, about one in three of them has been called up at some point. About 2,700 Air Force reservists are currently mobilized -- on full-time, active-duty status by order of the president. Many other reservists volunteer to deploy worldwide for missions three months or longer.

DOD officials require reservists to update or revalidate their employment information annually. (Courtesy of AFRC News Service)