Doing more with less: new MPS to combine all personnel support on Offutt

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Danielle Grannan
  • 55th Wing Public Affairs
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. --  Air Force personnel support as people know it on Offutt Air Force Base is changing. The five Military Personnel Activity Centers, located at various group headquarters around the base for the last year, will consolidate into one Military Personnel Section in Bldg. C. The change is meant to ensure the best in customer support and increase training for junior Airmen in the face of ever-decreasing manning.

As many Team Offutt members may have noticed, the 55th Communications Group MPAC has already closed its doors in order to open the section of the MPS that processes retirements and separations. Members of the 55th Communications Group now go to the 55th Mission Support Group MPAC until the MPS is completely functional.

According to officials, no other MPACs are scheduled to close until the MPS is fully staffed in late Feb. Instead, with the formation of each office of the MPS, manning in each MPAC will be slowly reduced to fill these offices. MPACs will continue to support customers, said Capt. Scott Smith, 55th Force Support Squadron military personnel element chief. As each personnel function office is formed in Bldg. C, customers will be directed to that office to accomplish the associated task. As part of the last phase, staff remaining in MPACs will be added to the MPS, allowing MPACs to close completely.

The rest of the transition is scheduled to occur in phases between now and March 1. The first of such transitions was the Retirements and Separations Office which was established Oct. 31. This function was chosen first because it directly impacts a member's entitlements, said Capt. Smith. On Nov. 30, the office handling assignments will be set up followed by accessions and in processing Dec. 30. The remaining functions, including adverse actions, dress and appearance, leave, duty changes and reenlistments will be centrally located between Jan. 1 and Feb. 15. The entire process is scheduled to be finished by March 1.

There are several reasons for this change after only a year in the MPAC structure. One of the main reasons is a decrease in the number of experienced non-commissioned officers in the personnel career field, according to Staff Sgt. Louisa Vanourney, 55th Force Support Squadron non-commissioned officer in charge of retirements and separations. Many of the most experienced NCOs have been lost to retraining, deployment or retirement. Added to that is a large number of Airmen coming straight from technical school. These Airmen require a large amount of training and supervision that just wasn't possible under the MPAC construct she added.

In an MPAC, all new personnelists are expected to have a working knowledge of all functions, meaning junior Airmen do not get the opportunity to focus on each task individually, said Capt. Smith.

"The tempo and variety of services provided does not allow our personnelists to develop a deep understanding of how each process works, and creates a situation where mistakes can be made more easily," said Capt. Smith. In the MPS system, Airmen will each be placed in one section, performing one function, until they have mastered it. Then they will be moved into another section to master another task. This will allow a smaller number of NCOs to provide the necessary amount of supervision and training added Sergeant Vanourney.

While this change brings with it some minor inconveniences, it also brings some great advantages. Better training and more supervision for new personnelists means a better product and better customer service for all Air Force members on Offutt.