The Integrated Personnel and Pay System-Army (IPPS-A) has been live for the Total Force for almost three months. Since Go-Live, the system has helped to maximize the potential of the Army’s greatest asset, the Soldier, to enhance Army Readiness.
As we continue to focus on system stabilization and address defects, we are counting on NCOs to ensure that Soldiers become fully trained in IPPS-A. This is a Soldier system, so please encourage your teams to learn how to use it and give us their feedback.
I want to provide you with some updates, guidance, and resources to share with your units as they continue to navigate this new modern HR system.
IPPS-A Demo for SMA
Last month, Team IPPS-A conducted a successful demonstration of IPPS-A for SMA Grinston. The demo showcased many features that benefit Soldiers, such as the ability for them to submit and track absence requests from their phones. We also highlighted how Soldiers can easily update their talent profile and improve their Army career opportunities.
IPPS-A is in the business of taking care of our Soldiers — personally and professionally. It was an honor to show the SMA how this system has progressed, and how it will continue to grow and better support Soldiers and their Families.
New Enhancement Request Feature
Since Go-Live, your Soldiers have provided us with valuable feedback. Please let them know that we have implemented an easier way for them to share their input.
When users put in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Case, there is a new dropdown category titled “Enhancement Request.” Any user can select this category. We are working an update that will allow direct routing to the FMD team, however, in the meantime, the case will route to your S1 Pool. S1s should select the “FMD Enhancement Request” provider group and the request will come to us at FMD.
*Though we can’t make immediate changes based on every request, we still want to capture and analyze this valuable feedback for potential enhancements in the future.
Absences and PCS
When submitting an absence in conjunction with a PCS, the end date must be the day prior to the report date. Previous regulatory guidance indicated the absence ended on the report date, however, this has changed. In accordance with the attached SECARMY memo, IPPS-A users should refer to the user manual for guidance to avoid any outdated regulations. We are aware that there is conflicting guidance in the user manual and the request to provide the clarification is in for update. The latest version of the guide is now available on S1Net at https://www.milsuite.mil/book/docs/DOC-1235870.
Assignment Change from PCA to PCS
For Soldiers who are seeing assignment revocation orders sent to their iPERMS, please share the following:
HRC revoked approximately 7.5K assignments with report dates later than 1 July 2023 that were previously loaded as PCA assignments. This is the action that is triggering the revocation order. As a follow-up, HRC has pushed new PCS assignments for these Soldiers. This change alleviates the MPDs from having to do legacy orders and allows more rapid processing of assignments. Soldiers will receive a follow-up notification when placed back on assignment with instructions to complete elections in IPPS-A.
Please pass this information throughout your formations proactively since Soldiers will see these revocations.
“P” Status on the Soldier Talent Profile (STP)
For Semi-Centralized Promotions, the “(P)” next to rank indicates the SPC or SGT is on the Promotion Recommended Roster (PRR).
For SSG and above, NCOs/Units should disregard the “(P)” as it does NOT indicate the NCO is promotable, and we are putting in a fix to remove it. The Promotion Consideration Code (PCC) indicates if the NCO is either most qualified “(MQ)” or fully qualified “(FQ)” as a result of their placement on an Order of Merit List (OML) stemming from a HQDA NCO Evaluation Board. The PCC doesn’t mean they will be promoted, but they are otherwise eligible (from a board perspective) to be potentially selected for promotion.
Virtual OTSS
Though In-Person Over the Shoulder Support (OTSS) has ended, the IPPS-A Team is continuing to conduct Virtual OTSS. The participation and feedback in these sessions has been critical to transition support. If you have any questions or want to participate, please reach out on the MS Teams Channel in whichever group is applicable to you: 1) CONUS; 2) Ft. Knox; 3) Ft. Hood; 4) Ft. Bragg; 5) JBLM; 6) USAR; 7) ARNG; 8) USAREUR AF; 9) USFK; 10) AMC IMCOM; 11) Ft. Belvoir; 12) Transfers and Separations; 13) NETCOM; 14) RA.
Positive Feedback
Lastly, I’d like to share some feedback with you that really highlights how well this system is working for Soldiers. We recently received the following messages from IPPS-A users:
—“Shout out to everyone trying to make an impact and make this system work! I consistently see individuals from all compos and all levels of command responding to questions on Facebook, creating and sharing products, reaching out on TEAMS, and collaborating. R3 has its fair share of issues, I get it, but understand there are a lot of people working tirelessly behind the scenes to fix those issues. The best thing R2 did was force all 54 States/territories to network and work together. The best thing R3 is doing is forcing all 3 compos to network and try to make this system work for everyone. It’s a beautiful thing to see!”
—“One thing I love about IPPS-A is award PARs. Imagine manually typing in someone’s name, DoD ID, rank, previous awards, and unit into a DA 638. The admin data takes longer than writing the dang award recommendations!! Phew.”
—“I’m an AGR in the Army reserve. I had three Soldiers come to me last month saying that they were being paid as E1 when they are E3 everywhere else in IPPS-A. After validating that they should be getting paid as an E3, I submitted a special promotion PAR for each one of them back dating the effective data promotion to the date they enlisted. After some shenanigans involving s1 pools and approvers, my commander approved the PARs. 5 days later, the Soldiers have an LES in my pay for the entire amount of their back pay for the last year to year and a half, to include the leave they sold when they got out of AIT … this one simple thing which saved me weeks of frustration dealing with manual transmittal letters to finance, has really won me over.”
Thank you for continuing to inform and support your units throughout this process. Your leadership is helping Soldiers become more empowered.
V/r,
SGM Gary A. Krese
Senior Enlisted Advisor
DCS – G1, IPPS-A FMD