Command Sergeant Major / Sergeant Major,
I will lead with my apologies for this lengthy message. However, there is a lot to talk about with this update and it is crucial you give this a good read.
First and foremost, thank you for continuing to encourage your Soldiers to learn their craft in this modern system. Leaders like you are doing an excellent job of making sure every Soldier trains on how to use IPPS-A, and every HR Pro fully understands their weapon system. Your encouragement is empowering Soldiers which helps them drive the change we need in our Army!
Submitting enhancement requests is critical to enhancing the system and making IPPS-A work best for your Soldiers.
Just recently, CPT Alysa Nantarojanaporn, 89
th MP BDE (my old stomping grounds!), CPT Timothy Donegan, B CO 1-13th AvnCoE, and SSG Nathalie Orion, 10th MTN DIV, brought to our attention an issue that is preventing supporting documentation from being attached to Career Skills Program (CSP) absence requests.
Because of these enhancement requests, our team will be able to assess the issue and identify the best possible solution. You will see an update on this in a future release.
Thank you all for truly making IPPS-A a Soldier system!
Please make sure your Soldiers provide their enhancement requests to the Team through Customer Relationship Management (CRM).
As we continue to make progress, I want to provide you with some updates, guidance, and resources to share with your units:
Personnel Asset Inventory (PAI) Extended
Please ensure your units are aware that the deadline for submitting PAI statuses is now
15 May 2024 for the Active Component and
31 May 2024 for COMPOs 2 and 3. HR Professionals and Leaders
must prioritize this effort to improve the accuracy of data in IPPS-A and to enhance projected strength reporting within IPPS-A and the Defense Readiness Reporting System – Army (DRRS-A).
Help your NCOs understand that this effort is critical to Soldier promotions, professional mobility, and aligning
them with the right mission.
The following job aids can help with the PAI:
- Account for the Army Checklist
- Pay-Absences-Incent-Ded (PAID) and In-Transit Grid (ITG) User Guide
- Personnel Accountability & Strength Reporting (PASR)
- Retirement and Separation Personnel Action Request (PAR)
You may find all job aids here:
Resources,
S1Net, and the
Training Aids.
We need everyone’s help to make this a success.
Army Organization Server (AOS) Playbook
The AOS Playbook Version 1.4 provides users with an introductory overview of the AOS system along with the knowledge required to view, edit, and validate organization structure data. It offers a consolidated source of AOS roles and responsibilities and step-by-step instructions to use common AOS tools and capabilities.
Please make sure your NCOs know they can find the playbook in the
AOS Data Quality teams channel (under the training and collaboration tab > files > AOS Playbook > v1.4 pdf file).
We have received some questions about the process for
exporting AOS Unit Identification Codes (UICs) and Billets.
Training Environments
Please ensure your NCOs are aware that we will be shifting towards using a single Operational Training Environment (OTE), as supporting one environment will allow for a faster refresh rate while still providing trainees the learning experience they need.
The Institutional Training Environment (ITE) also provides users a way to conduct training, and supports Army Human Resources Command (HRC), Soldier Support Institute (SSI), and all United States Army Reserve (USAR) and Army National Guard (ARNG) Adjutant General (AG) schoolhouses.
*
NOTE: there is a planned ITE outage 24–25 April 2024 and the environment will not be available during this time.*
Please remember that the IPPS-A training environments (practice sites) are used to practice or create test transactions, while only
real transactions are to occur on the IPPS-A live system (production site).
Self-Service:
https://my.ippsa.army.mil
Elevated User:
https://hr.ipssa.army.mil
Operational Training Environment (OTE):
https://hr.ippsa.army.mil/upk/r3/resources/help/Publishing%20Content/PlayerPackage/data/toc.html
Timing of Awards/Departures
It is critical for your NCOs to understand how and when to submit awards. Awards must be completed prior to a Soldier’s departure from a unit. After a Soldier has left a unit, a Buddy Personnel Action Request (PAR) can still be submitted for their award (though that unit no longer has permissions to the Soldier). The Buddy PAR then routes to the approval chain of the awardee — not the recommender. This means the Soldier’s new organization is responsible for approving the submitted award, which is transferring the responsibility and not taking care of Soldiers. This is an option but it means that Soldier’s leadership failed them.
While this is an ages-old issue, IPPS-A is now holding us all responsible for timely award submissions. The DA Form 638 after the fact is not the right answer because this goes against the regulatory guidance of the Soldier’s current chain of command approval. As this is a known timely issue, I also ask that you are empathetic to the Soldier receiving the award if it happens to come your way and requires an approval. Pushing back an award or disapproving it because they were not in your unit might not be the best for the Soldier. Keep pushing for timely submissions but I implore you to also take that Soldier in mind when making those decisions!
You will find a Buddy PAR job aid on the
website; please share this with your HR personnel so they know how to submit one for members in and/or outside of their organization.
Medical Operational Data System (MODS) and IPPS-A
We have received many CRM cases pertaining to the inconsistencies between MODS and IPPS-A. We are aware of the issue and a repopulation of the MODS data will occur shortly.
Your NCOs should understand that submitting further PARs or CRM cases will not expedite the process at this point. I appreciate everyone’s patience as the team resolves the data discrepancy.
Army Training Requirements and Resources System (ATRRS) Data and IPPS-A
Barring any irregularities, IPPS-A typically updates daily with inbound data from the ATRRS.
The inbound processing of data into IPPS-A drives transactions in the system, and it is critical to let the process run its course. Manually adding data that will eventually come over from other systems (e.g., data for Enlisted Professional Military Education [EPME], Military Occupational Specialty [MOS] qualifications, Advanced Individual Training [AIT], etc.) can have negative impacts.
I am attaching
Interface Timelines to help the field understand when IPPS-A is scheduled to pull information from other systems. Based on this schedule, users can anticipate data updates and make CRM Cases if data is not available. This document is also accessible on S1Net.
Please ensure your NCOs are aware of the inbound data schedule and how the timing of inbound data may impact their actions.
Single Evaluation Processing System (SEPS) Data Missing
We have identified an issue where IPPS-A is not receiving the entirety of SEPS data, which is causing these values to remain blank within some SM’s records. We are actively evaluating the problem to implement a fix.
Please note that field users should not manually enter data in blank fields, as this information may be lost due to system updates.
Drive the Change Channel
If your Soldiers are looking for more IPPS-A information, join the
Drive the Change channel on MS Teams! They will get updates, training information, and job aids for new releases.
This channel also offers New Release Training every Friday following a release. During these events, the IPPS-A team will walk through items released into production the night before and explain where the updated training packages reside.
Please access the channel here:
https://dod.teams.microsoft.us/l/channel/19%3adod%3a1fc38b9ba1714261a5e2e78bddbb92d3%40thread.tacv2/1.%2520Drive%2520the%2520Change?groupId=a0f79218-9101-4c6c-863b-84c8c14309e9&tenantId=fae6d70f-954b-4811-92b6-0530d6f84c43.
Resources
Ensure your NCOs have the information and materials they need to succeed and support their Soldiers. User guides, manuals, and job aids are available to assist
all users, and are here:
https://ipps-a.army.mil/Training/Training-Aids/.
Encourage your Soldiers to listen to the IPPS-A Podcasts to hear the latest information from subject matter experts (SMEs) and learn what is going on with the program.
In our recent
“All-Enlisted” episode, I chat with MSG David Minder, IPPS-A’s Training and Deployment team NCOIC, MSG Anre Hall, IPPS-A’s Design and Development Lead, and MSG Robert Simmons, IPPS-A’s Senior Finance NCO about Army-wide personnel accountability, training for NCOs, enlisted accessions and pay prioritizations, and MilPay updates.
You can find the IPPS-A Podcast on
YouTube,
Apple, Spotify, and Castbox.
For additional information and resources, your NCOs may also visit our website at
https://ipps-a.army.mil/.
IPPS-A is helping our Soldiers meet the mission requirements of today and of the future. Thank you for continuing to inform and support your units throughout this process.
Please let me know if you have any questions or need help — we are here for you!
V/r,
SGM Paul J. Smith
Senior Enlisted Advisor
DCS - G1, IPPS-A FMD
Learn more about IPPS-A