RIO Buzz                                                                                            Vol 59

I hope you all had a great Veteran’s Day. I know it is late, but I want to thank every one of you for your service to this great nation. I hope you were able to get out in the community and be a beacon for military service (and enjoy a free burger while you were at it).
This will be our last Buzz before Thanksgiving, so here is wishing you a wonderful holiday!  Now, the Buzz:

POTENTIAL GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN PREPARATION THURSDAY 1100 MST
The “800-pound gorilla” that has been hanging out with us since 30 September, is the looming threat of a government shutdown. Prior to the end of FY23 we fielded lots of questions on social media and directly to the Dets. We thought important to do a HQ RIO “Shutdown” Contingency Information Session to give a brief synopsis and have our SMEs online to answer your “eaches.” You can find the link HERE. In addition, here is a brief recap of what we sent out in the Buzz that came out before the new FY:

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.

Nearly all Annual Tours and IDTs 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. 

For RPA orders, any new orders or extension of current orders must be in support of excepted activities.  Unfortunately, nearly all RPA orders are not in support of excepted activities.

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 coordinate with the MPA unit. 

WORK IS BEING DONE TO STANDARDIZE ORDERS AND DET PROCESSES
WE HEARD YOU: I have heard from many of you that, depending who you ask, you are getting different answers, processes, and approaches. HQ RIO has not provided a standardized process/response to your issues/concerns that is consistent across all the Dets. In order to address this, HQ RIO Ops Division is planning on rolling out a series of standardized processes. We will initially begin with the orders process. We will address a normal, expedited, and VOCO timelines. In addition, we will standardize rental car requests, deviations to orders, split AT, and Non-Local IDT Travel reimbursement.
For many this standardized process will ensure consistency and help ensure timely processing. For some, however, this may be a departure from how you are currently operating. Ultimately, our goal is to provide you a better product. Thanks for ability to adjust to these upcoming process changes!   

NEW ORDERS REQUEST AND LOCAL MILEAGE QUICK GUIDES NOW AVAILABLE
We’ve added two new quick guides to the HQ RIO Portal to assist you.  The much anticipated and now updated Orders Request Quick Guide is available, as is a quick guide on filing a Local Mileage voucher in DTS.  More coming!

WHEN UPLOADING ORDERS TO DTS, SELECT “RETAIN AS PDF”
One of the things you must do when creating a DTS authorization is upload your orders or 40As.  It’s important that you tick the box that says “retain as PDF” when you upload these documents or any other PDFs.  The DTS settings make it difficult for the AOs and reviewers to read PDF documents unless that box is checked.

DTS Q&A CAFÉ EACH THURSDAY AT 1100 MST
We hope you’ve taken advantage of the recorded training and quick guides on the HQ RIO Portal.  If after watching the training and checking out the guides you still have questions, join our weekly HQ RIO DTS Q&A Café held every Thursday (except Thanksgiving) at 1100 MST/1300 EST.  HQ RIO and detachment staff members will be there to assist you. 

RETIREMENT ROUTING FOR IRs 
With the new myFSS application for retirements, the first coordination after the member initiates is the Retention Office Manager/Talent Management Consultant. Unfortunately, there is not a Talent Management Consultant role in myFSS, so instead IRs will need to input the name of the HQ RIO TMC, MSgt Russell Clayton-Cornell.  (Note that myFSS and hyphens don’t mix, so search “Russell Clayton Cornell or use his email: russell.clayton_cornell.1@us.af.mil.)

Very respectfully,
Col Nathan “N8” Day
HQ RIO Commander