Soldiers: Have you reviewed your records yet?

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WA, UNITED STATES

08.01.2014

Courtesy Story

19th Public Affairs Detachment

JOINT BASE LEWIS MCCHORD, Wash. – All Soldiers will be required to complete a Personnel and Finance Record Review with the assistance of their unit human resources section to assist the Department of the Army in complying with congressionally-mandated deadlines.

Soldiers should ensure the correct documentation is present in their files to support their awards and achievements in the military and the receipt of entitlements. For example, a Soldier who is married and receiving the basic housing allowance must have a marriage license on file.

“This is a combination of Soldiers taking personal accountability for their personnel and finance records and working with their respective human resources managers to ensure the records are ready for the 2017 audit,” said Col. Alan Kellogg, I Corps human resources chief.

“It’s a big process. It’s very time intensive for the human resources specialists, because it takes anywhere from 30-90 minutes, per Soldier, to complete the personnel and finance review. At Joint Base Lewis-McChord, human resource specialists have temporarily been assigned to the reception center to help complete the review of incoming and outgoing personnel,” Kellogg said.

Units are also including this as part of the Soldier Readiness Program, or SRP, and have allocated additional personnel to help their human resources sections complete the large volume of reviews.

Once the initial PFRR is completed, the Army will continue to hold annual audits of Soldier files, which demonstrates its ongoing commitment to being good stewards of taxpayers’ dollars, Kellogg said.

“It is important that the Army is fiscally responsible with the money it is allocated, and part of that is making sure Soldiers are getting paid the correct entitlements,” he said.

Another benefit to the review is the opportunity for leader development, because it forces Soldiers to be proactive in managing their careers.

Master Sgt. Reuben Ferguson, I Corps human resources operations noncommissioned officer in charge, said past trends had shown that Soldiers do not take the time to update their records and that this type of behavior had to change if they were looking to set themselves apart from their peers.

“Their records are a quick snapshot of what they have accomplished throughout their career and their potential for promotion. Promotion rates will not remain as high as they were in the past,” Ferguson explained.

“While human resource managers will help update your records, no one knows these Soldiers better than themselves. It is their responsibility to ensure that, whenever a change occurs, they’re getting that record updated,” he said.

Soldiers will be required to complete the finance review by the end of September and the personnel review by the end of December.

• Date Taken: 08.01.2014
• Date Posted: 08.15.2014 13:46
• Story ID: 139475
• Location: JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WA, US