1775, The Journal of the Adjutant General‘s Corps Fall Regimental Association, (ISSN 1775 1551-8205) is published by the Adjutant General‘s Corps 2012 Regimental Association, a non-profit organization, The Journal of the Adjutant General’s Corps Regimental Association headquartered at Fort CONTENTS Jackson, South Carolina, and The Adjutant General‘s Corps Regimental Association Officers 2 is devoted to the advancement SECTION I: REGIMENTAL LEADERSHIP and professionalism of the Notes from the Chief of the Corps 3 Adjutant General‘s Corps COL Garlick‘s Biography 5 Regiment members. Articles Notes from the Chief Warrant Officer of the Corps 6 appearing in the journal do Notes from the Regimental CSM 7 not necessarily reflect the CSM Culbertson‘s Biography 8 opinion of the officers and members of the Regimental SECTION II: ARMY HR PROFESSIONAL READING, DEDICATED TO “ARMY HR SYSTEMS” Association, nor the Army‘s HR leadership. Articles AG Officer Branch Update 9 submitted by members or AG Warrant Officer Branch Update 11 civilian employees of the U.S. AG Enlisted Branch Update 12 military services are The Enlisted Distribution & Assignment System (EDAS) 13 expressions of personal TOPMIS II 15 opinion, unless otherwise Managing Casualty & Mortuary Affairs Information for DoD 16 stated, and should not be Casualty System Documents: Understanding Their Importance 18 interpreted as reflecting the The Deployed Theater Accountability System (DTAS) 20 official opinion of the Interactive Personnel Electronic Records Management Department of Defense. System (iPERMS) 22 1775 is scheduled to be 369th AG Battalion Validates New eMILPO Training Database 24 published three times a year. IPPS-A, Simplifying Army HR to Better Serve Soldiers 25 Articles for submission are DIMHRS versus IPPS-A: A Closer Look 27 welcomed and should be sent SECTION III: ARMY BANDS to the address below. The Band Leader Serves 40 Years in the Army 30 editor and publisher of 1775 US Army Bands Picture-Grams 31 also invite the submission of SECTION IV: AROUND THE CORPS photographs and illustrations US Army NATO Brigade – A 42‘s Hidden Gem 32 to accompany articles. HR Company Relationships 34 The editor reserves the XVIII Airborne Corps G1 Participates in Ulchi Freedom right to reject any articles Guardian 2012 36 and/or to modify articles for The 2012 National AG Ball 38 clarity or space limitations. Requests for authorization to AG Corps Regimental of the Year Winners 39 reprint 1775 articles should be Casualty Operations 41 sent to the address below. KATUSA‘s Impact on the Brigade S-1 43 Contact Information: The HR Professional Certification Challenge 44 VP, Publications, AGCRA The Army Medical Department HR Manager 47 PO Box 10026 The LTG Timothy J. Maude Reception Complex Dedication 48 Fort Jackson, SC 29207 SECTION V: AGCRA Email: AGCRA Award Presentations 49 [email protected] Six New AGCRA Chapters 50 Activation of the AGCRA Rocket City & Iron Soldier Chapters 51-52 Visit us on the web 2012 AGCRA Scholarship Winners 54 at: www.agcra.com 100% AGCRA Membership 55 AGCRA Award Winners 56 Not Getting Your Mailed Copy of 1775? / Sutler Store 60 1775 Fall 2012 1 The Adjutant General’s Corps Regimental Association Officers www.AGCRA.com Officers President: COL Todd Garlick Senior VP: COL (Ret) Michael R. Molosso Senior VP: CW5 Coral J. Jones Senior VP: CSM Christopher D. Culbertson VP, Awards: CW5 (Ret) David A. Ratliff VP, Membership: SFC (Ret) Kenneth M. Fidler, Jr. VP, Publications: COL (Ret) Robert Ortiz-Abreu, Jr. VP, Sales and Sutler Store: CSM (Ret) Teresa Meagher VP, Plans and Programs: MAJ Troy W. Worch VP, Community and Corporate Affairs: COL (Ret) William (Al) Whatley Adjutant: COL (Ret) Robert Ortiz-Abreu, Jr. Secretary: MAJ (Ret) William Villnow Treasurer: CW4 (Ret) Richard L. Beard III AGCRA Webmasters: CPT Michael Skiff & SFC (Ret) Paul C. Hessert Honorary Officers Honorary Colonel: MG (Ret) Patricia P. Hickerson Honorary Warrant Officer: CW5 (Ret) Daniel J. Logan Honorary Sergeant Major: CSM (Ret) Michael L. Armstead 1775 Staff and Support: Editor, Layout and Graphics Design: COL (Ret) Robert Ortiz-Abreu, Jr. Assistant Editor: LTC (Ret) Ward D. Ward Printing Services provided by Colonial Printing, Columbia, SC 1775 is prepared with PowerPoint and Adobe Acrobat 9 Professional Software From the Editorial Staff: This edition of 1775 is dedicated to ―Army HR Systems.‖ eMILPO, EDAS, TOPMIS, DTAS, DCIPS and iPERMS are just some of the many Army HR systems that AG Soldiers and HR civilian employees continue to work with on a daily basis supporting commanders, Soldiers and their Families. These systems have been around for many years now; however, significant change is coming as the Army is about to embark on a five year IPPS-A incremental fielding plan that will eventually subsume many current systems that we now refer to as ―legacy.‖ The coming transition will result in a paradigm shift in how Army HR professionals conduct their business using a single personnel database of record for all three Army components (Active, ARNG and USAR), which has never occurred in the Army‘s history. We hope you enjoy this edition of 1775 where we will tell you where we are today and where we are headed with Army HR Systems. Bob Ortiz, VP Pubs & Editor, 1775 Colonel (Retired), US Army, [email protected] 2 The Journal of the Adjutant General’s Corps Regimental Association, www.AGCRA.com SECTION I: Regimental Leadership Notes from the Chief of the Corps By COL Todd Garlick, Commandant, AG School, Chief of the AG Corps, and Chief, Army Bands critical information stored within. More importantly, we need to package the information and provide to our leaders, in a timely and efficient manner, so they can decide which best course of action to execute. I remember while attending the Operations Research-Systems Analyst Military Applications Course at Fort Lee and being told that, at all costs, not to get pulled into becoming a programmer after graduation. After all, the Army was sending us to school to teach us how to be analysts, not how to be programmers. Upon arrival at Fort Knox and Soldiers and Civilians of the Corps, First, the United States Army Recruiting Command let me say that I am humbled to be assigned and being assigned to their Program, Analysis as the Commandant, Adjutant General School; and Evaluation Directorate, I was assigned as Chief of the Adjutant General‘s Corps; and an analyst, but given software and told to Chief, Army Bands. In the short time that I learn programming ASAP. When I resisted, have been on board, I have an immense one of my mentors pulled me aside and appreciation for the width and breadth of explained the following – you can be the best issues that the Adjutant General School and trained analyst here, but if you don‘t know the Soldier Support Institute undertake for how to gather the information, determine our Corps. I had no idea of the span that the relevant information, and provide the Institute, our Corps, and our Bands have command with information to act on, you won‘t across our great Army. The tentacles of the be a very good analyst. Programming gets you Corps reach everywhere, and at every location that information. It is a tool to data mine our that I travel to. I continue to be amazed at the systems of record for that nugget of quality of our HR professionals and the information that gets at the solution to the respect that we have as a Corps. problem. This edition of 1775 is dedicated to Army I liken being an S1 to being an analyst. We Human Resources Systems. This nests with have numerous HR data bases of record and the emphasis we place here at the schoolhouse systems available to us as AGs. Our job is to on training our Soldiers, Noncommissioned find out which information is accurate and Officers, Warrant Officers and Officers on how which is relevant, and then put that to provide timely, relevant and accurate information into a useful format for others to information to the Commander so the use. This clearly falls inside our HR core Commander can make informed decisions in competency of Man the Force under the key all areas related to HR and personnel. That is function of Personnel Information the crux of what we do as human resources Management. In today‘s Army, an professionals. understanding of our HR systems is crucial. So how do we get that information? An accurate personnel record is the basis for Through understanding the capabilities of our so many actions today – promotions, pay and HR systems and knowing how to get the entitlements, assignment considerations and 1775 Fall 2012 3 others – that we cannot underestimate the importance of records accuracy and updating them as a Corps. During my career, I‘ve seen a multitude of programs and mediums for the display of personnel information. TACC-S, SIDPERS 2.75, SIDPERS 3.0, V Corps VIPER Program, and a multitude of stove-piped ACCESS based programs, each designed to take data from one source, confirm the accuracy, and place it into another format so that we can utilize. The most vocal complaint on all these different systems, whether it is in the institutional or operational Army, is the lack of adequate training programs. Whenever a new system or version is fielded, the associated training packages fielded often appear to be an afterthought, or they were lacking in the ―how to‖ to conduct our business. This is why the schoolhouse has invested so much time and effort into training simulators and devices for our HR systems of record. Within the last two years, program developers at the Soldier Support Institute have created detailed hands-on training packets for EDAS, DTAS, DCIPS, TOPMIS II, and eMILPO, with iPERMS currently in final development.