DECEMBER 1, 2023 – If you’ve ever gone to administration or the S1 shop to check on your leave packet just to be told they have no idea what you’re talking about and it’s likely your packet is lost, you’re not alone.
This is a common woe and nightmare other Soldiers have experienced throughout the Army. The Integrated Personnel and Pay System – Army is here to change that.
“IPPS-A is the Army’s new interactive Human Resources system for processing and handling a myriad of HR subjects,” said Fort Jackson IPPS-A Manager, Eugene Serrano. “It can process things like awards, strength management, personnel actions and requests, finance, personal accountability and more.”
IPPS-A has been rolled out in stages, called releases, and is currently on Release three.
“It is being introduced in increments and the National Guard was the first to use it during Release Two, because they’re managed by the state,” explained Serrano. “So, it was easy to stand up IPPS-A one state at a time.
Release Two was live in all 50 states and 6 territories in March 2020. In Jan. 2023, Release Three was opened to more than 1.1 million Soldiers and provides capabilities for all three components of the Army.
“R-Three of IPPS-A incorporated actioning personnel action requests, or PARS, which included financial transactions being submitted to the Defense Finance Accounting Service,” Serrano said. “However, it does not process transactions from them, but that’s to be expected with Release Four.
Serrano elaborated that R4 is expected to allow HR professionals to do more with financial transactions, such as submitting pay inquiries, Basic Allowance for Housing requests, divorce and marriage actions, birth of a child, and so on.
According to the IPPS-A website, at full deployment, IPPS-A will provide complete visibility of the total force in one human resource system; enable the Army to better manage the talents of all Soldiers based on their knowledge, skills and behaviors; and better the lives of all Soldiers by reducing pay and personnel errors while providing full transparency of actions just to name a few.
“It has reduced the time it takes for processing an action as well as the amount of paperwork that’s involved with that action,” Serrano said.
Statistics on how much time and waste have been reduced aren’t available yet, as the program is still in its infancy. However, Serrano said the Army reviewed numbers earlier this year and discovered more leave has been charged in the Army than ever before, because it’s being processed much quicker and paperwork isn’t being lost along the way.
“Some Soldiers are still reluctant and not positive with the new system, but others love it,” he said. “They love it because they can be at home on the weekend or after work and check on their actions or absence requests.”
Not only has IPPS-A reduced waste and processing time, but it’s also helped to decrease the time a Soldier takes away from training or their job to figure out where their actions are, because they can simply check them anytime from their phone or personal computer.
“IPPS-A is a work in progress, but it’s moving forward and is taking better care of the Soldier,” Serrano said. “It’s not just an HR thing or an S1 thing. It’s a Soldier thing. It’s for the everyday Soldier.”
Story by Emily Hileman
Fort Jackson Public Affairs Office