SRBs turn to electronic format

Photo By Sgt. Erica Kirsop | Lance Cpl. Andres Contreras, an administrative clerk with Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron and a Los Angeles native, verifies various Marines’ units before separating service record books aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., Dec. 27. A team of 10 Marines has worked continuous shifts to ensure every service record book aboard the air station is converted to electronic format before being released to individuals.  

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, CA, UNITED STATES

12.27.2011

Story by Lance Cpl. Erica Kirsop 

Marine Corps Air Station Miramar

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRIMAR, Calif. -- While there are approximately 8,200 service record books held within the Installation Personnel Administrative Center aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., all are expected to not only be converted to electronic format but released back to Marines’ units for distribution by Dec. 29.

A team of 10 IPAC administrative clerks have been working in continuous 8-hour shifts since September scanning and sorting service record books.

“Every base Marine Corps-wide is now converting to an electronic format for SRBs,” said Master Sgt. Rachel R. Peralta, the IPAC customer service staff non-commissioned officer in charge with Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron and a Freemont, Calif., native. “One of the commandant’s planning guidances was to switch over to e-records. [All of the surrounding] bases have already switched and we are about to finish up as well. We are actually one of the last three bases left to switch over to the new format.”

The change is a lengthy process involving four phases. Administrative clerks must scan each book, sort them by unit, distribute and finally fix any errors within the books that are reported to the IPAC personnel.

“We only had two scanners to work with,” said Peralta. “Most other bases had anywhere from 5 to 50 scanners at their disposal. Each SRB is made up of anywhere from 20 to 52 pages. To make up for the difference, we worked 24 hours a day to get everything done as quickly as possible.”

To meet the time requirement of getting everything done before the holiday season was complete, Marines began scanning hundreds of SRBs for release during each 8-hour shift that they worked.

“We had a 300 count minimum for each shift, creating a minimum of 900 SRBs prepared for release each day,” said Lance Cpl. Jasmin A. Tovar, an administrative clerk with H&HS and a Pomona, Calif., native. “We have already scanned more than 8,000, and are now on to sorting them into units for distribution and release.”

The new system will allow every Marine to view their SRB each time they visit their Marine Online account.

“Marines will no longer need to visit IPAC to get copies of administrative records, they can just print them off,” said Peralta. “The e-record format also is a good tool for unit leaders and commanders to see your service record directly. There is even a slide-show on [https://www.manpower.usmc.mil/portal/page/portal/M_RA_HOME] to show commanders the benefits and accessing capabilities of the online format.”

To view a SRB, a Marine must click on the OMPF tab at the top of their MOL home page. Once the OMPF home page is visible, he or she must click the field tab followed by clicking the field service option. All SRB pages are visible at that point.

For any questions regarding retrieval of individual SRBs, Marines are to contact their unit’s administrative section.

• Date Taken: 12.27.2011
• Date Posted: 12.28.2011 13:10
• Story ID: 81817
• Location: MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, CA, US