FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. -- As peak permanent change of station season approaches, Soldiers at Fort Leavenworth are encouraged to take early action and complete their orders packet in the Army’s new Integrated Personnel and Pay System-Army to ensure their PCS move is completed in a timely manner.
With peak PCS season fast approaching, being proactive in their orders development on IPPS-A is key to completing the crucial first step in the PCS process and ensuring a timely transition.
IPPS-A consolidates dozens of separate processes into one electronic system, completely changing the way Fort Leavenworth's human resources staff does business. To complete an orders packet, Soldiers must complete the tasks and elections in the "Self-Service" section of IPPS-A.
“IPPS-A completely changes how the human resources community and Soldiers interact,” said Brett Rosene, the Military Personnel Division Chief for Fort Leavenworth. “It gives Soldiers much more say and responsibility in guiding their career.”
Getting orders quickly is essential to a successful summer move from Fort Leavenworth due to the proportional volume of moves that occur in June and July - locally referred to as "summer surge."
Fort Leavenworth and the surrounding area have one of the highest per-capita turnover percentages in the Army, with approximately 30% of housing residents and 20% of overall military personnel and their families moving between the first week of June and the last week of July.
This year, national and global shipping, cost-of-living, and employment challenges in the private sector also present risks of creating delays affecting military moves. Service members must have orders complete to book their transportation.
Generally, a Soldier can complete an efficient move out of Fort Leavenworth with diligence and planning. Three years of historic PCS data suggests that a move completed in the peak weeks can be successful with orders to create a transportation shipment on or before the 120-day mark from the report date at their future installation.
In the past, installation personnel worked to coordinate the execution of each service member's move, tracking assignments, transportation, housing, and other service support functions. With the new IPPS-A system, installation personnel have little control over the timing without service member action to develop the digital assignment packet. Once all Soldier-controlled functions are completed in the assignment system, Army Human Resource personnel generally produce orders within a few business days.
“Soldiers must be much more proactive in the assignments process,” said Angela Holifield, Human Resources Systems Branch Chief. “Our office cannot complete any orders until the Soldier signs into IPPS-A and completes their elections and other options. The quicker that a Soldier on assignment completes their actions, the quicker our office can publish the orders.”
For assistance in managing reassignments in IPPS-A, Soldiers are encouraged to contact their Unit’s S1 or review the IPPS-A self-service web portal training resources at https://ipps-a.army.mil/training-aids/.
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