RIO Buzz                                                                                            Vol 56
 

We are entering this final weekend of the year not knowing what Congress will do with regards to the next FY budget.  Please watch the news this weekend, especially if you are scheduled to perform duty.  Now, the end-of-FY Buzz:

WHAT HAPPENS IF WE START NEXT WEEK IN A GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN

We understand that there are a lot of questions concerning orders, status, and duty effective 1 Oct 23 if there is a lapse in appropriations, also known as a government shutdown.  Per current AFRC guidance, reserve personnel will not perform active or inactive duty (AT, IDT, RPA) resulting in obligation of funds (including IDTs for points only), except where such training directly supports an excepted activity and may not be ordered to active duty or begin an active duty tour after midnight on 1 Oct 2023, except in support of those military operations and activities necessary for national security, including fulfilling associated pre-deployment requirements. 

Unfortunately, nearly all Annual Tours and IDTs beginning 1 Oct 2023 or scheduled to perform early Oct 2023 are not in support of excepted activities.  In addition, Annual Tour and IDTs are sourced from AFRC’s Reserve Personnel Appropriation, for which the command will not have authority to execute.  Therefore, expect to cancel or modify the dates of early Oct 2023 Annual Tours and IDTs if there is a shutdown.

For RPA orders, any new orders or extension of current orders must be in support of excepted activities.  Unfortunately, nearly all RPA orders beginning 1 Oct 2023 are not in support of excepted activities.  Anticipate that if there’s a lapse in appropriation, you will be directed to NOT report.  It’s possible that RPA orders could be cancelled, curtailed, or modified.  This is contingent upon a continuing resolution (CR) or appropriations bill passed by Congress and signed by the President.  If orders are cancelled, curtailed, or modified you may be able to begin new RPA orders as early as the time a CR or appropriations bill is passed.      

Reserve members may be called to active duty in support of MPA tour.  An M4S authorization must be obtained prior to certifying orders for duty.  However, recommend any member scheduled to begin MPA orders on 1 Oct 2023 or early Oct 2023 coordinate with the MPA unit.  Anticipate that if there’s a lapse in appropriations, you could be ordered to NOT report.   

SOME SYSTEMS WILL BE DOWN AS THE NEW FY BEGINS

As we transition from FY23 to FY24, the systems below will either be offline or have limited functionality, potentially until mid-Oct 2023.

AROWS-R - AROWS-R will not be available for RIO to final approve/certify orders.  You may be able to access AROWS-R to review historical orders or status of a pending order.  Anticipate that AROWS-R will resume full functionality no later than mid-Oct. 

Reserve Travel System (RTS) - RTS is the system used to compute and process hard copy (1351-2) travel vouchers for disbursement.  RIO’s Travel Reimbursement Office will continue operations and prepare vouchers for disbursement.  However, disbursement will be paused until the system comes back online.

Defense Travel System (DTS) - DTS will retain some functionality.  However, approving authorizations and vouchers will be paused until mid-Oct 2023 because the accounting systems DTS interfaces with will be down to complete FY23 closeout and roll over operations to FY24. 

DTS TRANSITION BEGINS 1 OCT – TRAINING AND GUIDES COMING

HQ RIO has provided some training already for the upcoming DTS transition.  You can view it HERE.  More guidance, quick guides, and training will be posted there soon.  If you have any questions, please contact your detachment DTS Approving Officials or ODTAs.

IMA STRATEGIC REVIEW TEAMS NEEDS YOUR HELP ASSESSING IMA ADMIN WORKLOAD

The IMA Strategic Review Team needs your help to capture pertinent data about the administrative workload and time it takes our IMAs to complete various tasks. THIS IS AN ANONYMOUS QUESTIONNAIRE (Yes, we know it's in Google, but we're only tracking the data). It's important for us to capture as many part-time IMA responses as possible between now and Oct. 15th. We appreciate your time! Survey HERE.  (Please note this link will not work on a government computer, but can be accessed from a personal computer or device.)

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Finally, the team at HQ RIO understands this is a stressful time with the unknowns of a government shutdown. We also anticipate normal operations to be significantly interrupted both here at HQ RIO as well as our seven Detachments if we do experience a lapse in appropriations. The team will remain reachable, but please be patient with us as we work through anticipated back-logs of functions that we will experience as a result of both systems downtimes due to the FY change-over, as well as shortfalls in staffing as a result of a shut-down.

Thank you all for everything you do every day!  

v/r,

Col Dixie “Jinx” Duke

Acting HQ RIO Commander