Photo By Lt.Cmdr. John Stevens | JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii (Nov. 8, 2023) Jim Belviy, right, and David...... read more read more
MILLINGTON, Tenn. – Travel Processing Center (TPC) Memphis, the Navy’s center of excellence for travel claims and advances, paced the Navy’s peak travel season in 2023.
Each year, the Navy experiences the most permanent-change-of-station (PCS) transfers among its Sailors from June to September, a period known as “summer surge,” which historically causes travel processing backlogs because of above-average case volume – but not this year.
“Keeping pace with the summer surge is a landmark achievement for TPC and the entire team,” said Rear Adm. Stu Satterwhite, Commander, MyNavy Career Center (MNCC). “This proves our center-of-excellence operating model is working, and I could not be more proud of the team’s hard work.”
TPC is one of seven human resources centers of excellence (COE) in the MNCC enterprise, replacing the Navy’s legacy Personnel Support Detachments. Each COE specializes in a major HR transaction type. While PSDs gave Sailors a physical customer service storefront, COEs process transactions – like travel claims – faster, with less work for Sailors.
At peak efficiency, TPC processes 700 travel claims a day, according to Lt. Cmdr. David Petersen, TPC’s officer-in-charge. TPC also processes travel advances, manages PCS travel debt, and provides customer service. No matter the line of work, TPC’s business is paying and reimbursing Sailors during a relatively frequent but no less stressful career event: changing duty stations.
“Our goal is to receive travel claims on Monday, process by Wednesday, and the Sailor sees that money in their bank account by Friday,” said Capt. Jason Grose, commanding officer of Navy Pay and Personnel Support Center, the command in charge of TPC. “We are already well within Defense Department (DOD) standards for processing travel.”
The DOD processing standard for PCS travel claims is 30 days. TPC averages eight days.
“We’ve been laser-focused on paying Sailors as quickly and accurately as possible,” said Petersen. “This latest push has been an ‘all hands on deck’ effort to put as much money as we can into the pockets of Sailors before the winter holidays.”
Since the 2022 summer surge, TPC eliminated 3,500 travel claims outside the 30-day DOD standard, cresting this summer’s bow-wave within the standard.
“This year was the best production year for TPC since its establishment in 2015,” said Robert Delossantos, TPC’s deputy OIC. “We are processing claims within the 30-day DOD timeline, and we’re driving our mission forward to stay well within this standard.” Delossantos stressed “submission of all actionable claims” triggers this five-day turnaround, which means TPC can only work accurate, timely submissions from Sailors and commands.
“TPC has come a long way in the last two years,” said Master Chief Personnel Specialist Molly Bergeron-Conway, TPC senior enlisted leader. “We know we still have areas we need to improve, but we have overcome a lot of obstacles in a short time.”
Bergeron-Conway said technology has helped. New capabilities within the Navy’s enterprise customer relationship management (eCRM) application allows clerks better capability to prioritize and work cases.
She also said while most Transaction Service Centers gave more clerks to help shoulder TPC’s burden, TSC Great Lakes instead provided “bots,” artificial intelligence to automatically assign cases in eCRM. Without waiting for a human to manually assign their work list, each clerk can process 10-to-15 claims a day.
As workflow improves, Sailors will see the results, Bergeron-Conway said. “As TPC gets better, Sailors will reap the benefits,” she said. “Our mission is to pay Sailors.”
TPC comprises 120 Navy civilians, 50 contractors, and 16 uniformed military personnel at three sites: Millington, Tenn., headquarters, and detachments in Jacksonville, Fla., and Oceana, Va.
“It’s the people who make the difference – their grit and accountability,” said Petersen. “Technology has gotten better and processes have improved, but our people’s dedication to customer service got us through the summer surge and continues to carry us forward.
“Everyone at TPC recognizes each transaction is more than just a number in a database – it’s a Sailor and their family,” Petersen added. “We go into each day looking to pay Sailors, not just close cases.”
Taking care of Sailors’ pay is a team effort between MNCC and the Fleet, demanding attention from unit leadership and their designated command pay and personnel administrators. Feedback and two-way dialogue with TSCs and Regional Support Centers help commands identify and solve pay problems faster.
“We have yet to find a pay problem we could not solve,” said Satterwhite. “The only issue we can’t solve is the one we don’t know about. We’ve given leaders the tools to own and monitor their units’ financial health. When they see a potential issue, they need to let us know, and let us help.”
MNCC’s mission to provide exceptional HR services to Sailors and their families continues to adapt and evolve. Through Sailor feedback, MNCC constantly strives to provide more resources and accurate resolutions. Contact MNCC at (833) 330-MNCC (6622) or AskMNCC@navy.mil. Find online self-service options on MyNavy Portal at my.navy.mil.
| Date Taken: | 12.18.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 12.18.2023 10:09 |
| Story ID: | 460215 |
| Location: | MILLINGTON, TN, US |
| Web Views: | 96 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Travel Processing Center surfs past “summer surge”, by LCDR John Stevens, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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