Fort Leonard Wood HR personnel training on new IPPS-A system

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — A four-person Army Functional Management Division team is here this month conducting training on a new personnel system in preparation for a “go-live” event toward the end of this year.

Called the Integrated Personnel and Pay System — Army, or IPPS-A for short, officials said the software is a web-based human resources system that provides integrated personnel and pay capabilities and a comprehensive HR record for all Soldiers in all components of the Army.

Once IPPS-A is fully deployed, the system will enable HR transactions to automatically trigger Soldier pay. In addition, Soldiers will have access to their own personal information 24/7 via the IPPS-A self-service web portal.

“In the legacy environment, the Soldier would have to do an HR action on a piece of paper,” said Col. Gregory Johnson, director of the IPPS-A functional management division. “The Soldier would turn that in and then wouldn’t have any idea on what the status of that action was, where it was at or when it would be approved. Now, the Soldier can turn in a personnel action request from a personal mobile phone and then they will have complete transparency of understanding where that action is.”

Johnson said IPPS-A sets the groundwork for future features like a talent marketplace, which allows Soldiers to upload resumes and proof of skills outside their occupations, so they can match with commanders and positions that best suit their abilities. The talent marketplace assesses 25 different attributes to match Soldiers with the right jobs.

Felesia Herron-Bryant is Fort Leonard Wood’s IPPS-A coordinator. She said the system gives Soldiers “a one-stop shop” for their personnel records.

“I think it will be a wonderful improvement,” she said. “Everything’s live, so once we do the actions, it goes straight forward. We don’t have to worry about sending a hardcopy. It is all in the system; it’s time-stamped.”

Lauren Hill works in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, or DEERS, ID office and is one of 30 HR civilians and Soldiers enrolled in the class. She said the training has been very thorough.

“The teachers know what they’re doing; they ask questions and it’s very step-by-step,” she said. “They don’t gloss over anything. They make sure each section is understood before moving forward. So, we really get a good, intricate picture.”

Hill said the self-service options for Soldiers add convenience to the process of updating their records.

“If they, let’s say, had a baby, they’ll be able to scan those documents that we need and then IPPS-A will talk to the DEERS system,” she said. “So, they won’t necessarily have to bring those document in when they come to the DEERS office. It will already be there.”

Also, the IPPS-A app modernizes the way Soldiers can access their information.

“It’s right on time as far as this generation and how they use technology for everything,” she said. “Everybody wants everything at their fingertips right now.”

While training continues here, Herron-Bryant recommended all Soldiers perform an enhanced personnel records review prior to the Thanksgiving timeframe in order for the IPPS-A transition to take effect smoothly. She said common concerns include birth information entries that can be corrected with a birth certificate and service date data entries that can be corrected with enlistment/reenlistment documents.

For more information on IPPS-A, call 573.596.0136 or visit https://ipps-a.army.mil.