SANDSTON, Va. –
The Virginia Army National Guard is fielding a new personnel and pay system in 2019 that will have an easy-to-use online platform that provides more self-service capabilities for Soldiers. The Integrated Personnel and Pay System – Army, or IPPS-A, will go online in early 2019.
“Virginia is leading the charge to adopt this new system, which will be deployed to the 54 Army National Guard states and territories over the next year,” explained Warrant Officer Lionel Blair, the IPPS-A integration officer in the Virginia Army National Guard state personnel office. “Once fielded, our Soldiers will be able to self-initiate certain human resources tasks like updating your home address after a move. Soldiers will be able to make personnel inquiries using their cell phones on an IPPS-A application.”
According to the IPPS-A web site, the Army National Guard will be the first component to receive IPPS-A functionality, which will replace Standard Installation and Division Personnel Reporting System, or SIDPERS, capabilities once fully implemented.
All Virginia National Guard Soldiers will have access to self-service capabilities within IPPS-A, and training for the system will offer an orientation to this functionality prior to deployment. Commanders, leaders and HR service providers like readiness NCOs, administrative NCOs and battalion, brigade and division military and civilian support staff receive additional training, which will teach them how to process self-service transactions. This will ensure all Soldiers are able to utilize and benefit from IPPS-A regardless of their duties.
After training, all Soldiers will have access to training aides embedded into IPPS-A and customer support to guide them through a particular task or issue. Commanders need to take a two-hour distance learning course in order to approve human resources personnel actions requests.
Once fully deployed in 2020, IPPS-A will become the authoritative source for Human Resources, pay and talent management data, Blair said.
“The work of readiness NCOs and other HR service providers will be conducted in IPPS-A, and this is a huge change for the Virginia Army National Guard,” Blair said. “The IPPS-A team is going to provide support throughout deployment and beyond.”
Distance learning for commanders and HR professionals begins in the Fall of this year.
To prepare for IPPS-A deployment in Virginia, all Guard Soldiers must complete New Equipment Training. Soldiers, HR service providers and commanders and leaders all will have a role within IPPS-A. Orientations and help products will be provided for these new capabilities.
Blair said that to help prepare for IPPS-A deployment, Soldiers should support and complete record reviews conducted by their unit personnel office and report all changes in personnel status in a timely manner. Having the most current information in the existing system will make things much easier once IPPS-A is being used.