(This was sent to all IMAs and PIRRs 21 Oct 2020. If you did not receive it in your personal email, please log in to the vMPF and make sure you have a good personal email in that system.)
RIO Buzz Vol. 16
Welcome teammates! We are 3 weeks into the new FY and that is always an extremely busy time at HQ RIO. I ABSOLUTELY hear you about your struggles with pay and the team is working night and day to process over 2000 requests that came in this month alone. At this point I’m working diligently to add manpower to this office (if you’re an FM expert and want RPA orders, please let me know) and find help any way we can get it. For additional pay related topics and to keep you “in the know,” here’s the Buzz:
RESERVE PAY PROCESSING TIMES AND HOW YOU CAN HELP
The new FY makes for additional challenges in pay processing. As you can imagine, there is a sharp increase in final certifications and a glut of pre-certifications for long tours, as well as a myriad of pay actions that require detailed manual calculation and processing. This is with 12 civilian technicians for almost 8,000 IRs.
I’d like to give you a better idea of what timeline you can expect from submission to the generation of an LES. Below is a list of submissions and (assuming what you submit is complete and correct) the number of days on average:
Short Tours (29 or fewer days) certified through AROWS-R TODC: 12-14 days
Short Tours certified by PDF and submitted through myPers: 20-25 days
Long Tour pre-certification to begin bi-weekly pay: 16-18 days
IDTs turn “black” in UTAPS: 14-20 days
You may notice the big discrepancy for the two types of certifications for short tours. This is why it’s SO important for you to certify short tour orders through the AROWS-R TODC process. It takes our technicians a few minutes to verify a TODC. However, it takes them more than 10 minutes per submission to process a certification submitted into myPers because they have to manually start from scratch and build your case for pay. That time could have been spent processing something that HAS to be done manually, like long tour pre-certifications. By using AROWS-R TODC, you’re not only going to get paid much faster, but you’ll assist your fellow IRs getting paid faster by allowing our technicians to focus on other submissions.
For this reason, use of the AROWS-R TODC process will become mandatory beginning 1 Dec 2020. To help you, HQ RIO published a Quick Guide (https://www.arpc.afrc.af.mil/Portals/4/AROWS-R%20TODC%20Quick%20Guide.pdf) and will hold a virtual training on 13 Nov covering all types of orders certification and the best practices for getting paid as quickly as possible. More info on that soon!
NEW CRITICAL AFSC LISTING FOR IDT TRAVEL REIMBURSEMENT
If you have been or were on the critical skills AFSC listing which qualified you for IDT travel reimbursement, please know that a new list was recently published and the program is moving from a CY to an FY cycle. The new guide is at this link: https://www.arpc.afrc.af.mil/Portals/4/DRIO/FY21%20Inactive%20Duty%20for%20Training%20Travel%20Reimbursement%20Guide.pdf?ver=DaoXeuYf0DIRwfgG5VF0Zw%3d%3d.
AFRC/A1 is the OPR for the critical AFSC listing.
SAPR TRAINING AVAILABLE ONLINE/RENTAL CAR WORKSHEET UPDATED
Finally, I want you to know about two new releases from HQ RIO that aim to make it easier for you to serve. To help you complete your annual SAPR training, we’ve made this video version available for those of you who can’t train in person with your unit. https://youtu.be/l6UnqBXhhaA (Keep in mind that YouTube videos are blocked on .mil networks, so you’ll need to access the video from a personal computer or device.)
In the video description you’ll find a link to a certificate you can give your training manager. We’ve also streamlined the Rental Car Request Worksheet to make it simpler. You can check that out here: https://www.arpc.afrc.af.mil/Portals/4/DRIO/RIO-Rental-Car-Justification.pdf?ver=2015-02-23-154753-693.
That’s the buzz for now. Thanks for ALL you do!
v/r,
Col Amy Boehle, HQ RIO Commander