Sgt. Alberto Gonzalez, ESRB instructor with U.S. Army Reserve Command G-1 (right), assists Pamela Kone, unit administrator for the Army Reserve’s 399th Transportation Detachment (center) and Spec. Miranda Behringer, human resources specialist with the Army Reserve’s 432nd Civil Affairs Battalion, during Interactive Personnel Electronic Records Management System and Automated Record Brief training hosted by the Army Reserve’s 99th Regional Support Command Aug. 24-28 on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. Maintaining a Soldier’s iPERMS record and ARB can have a direct impact on readiness and is key to ensuring America’s Army Reserve remain the most capable, combat-ready and lethal federal reserve force in the history of the nation. Photo by Staff Sgt. Shawn Morris
Soldier records management is a critical component of Army Human Resources. Accurate records ensure Soldiers are paid properly, promoted on time, and marketable when broadening and developmental assignments are available.
One of the most valuable documents in every Soldier’s Official Military Personnel File (OMPF)/Army Military Human Resources Record (AMHRR) is the Record Brief. In the past, this document had multiple versions and form numbers. Now, the Automated Record Brief (ARB) has replaced the Officer Record Brief (ORB), Enlisted Record Brief (ERB), Personnel Qualification Record (DA Form 2A/B) and the DA Form 2-1 as the single source document for promotion boards and other Personnel Actions Guide (PAG) items.
In addition, the ARB and its accuracy will be crucial for a seamless transition to the Integrated Personnel and Pay System – Army (IPPS-A). Currently slated for a Q3 FY 2021 launch, IPPS-A will bring Army HR into the 21st century, updating many of our current procedures for the first time in half a century.
Updating an ARB is a three-step process: Review, Validation, and Certification.
Review
Soldiers review their ARB on the Reserve Component Management System (RCMS) Self-Service Site at https://selfservice.rcms.usar.army.mil. Once logged in, select My Record Brief, select View to open the ARB, and identify any missing and/or incorrect data. Soldiers provide their HR professional any source documents that are not in their OMPF/AMHRR. HR professionals upload any provided documentation IAW DA PAM 600-8-104 into iPERMS and make the necessary ARB corrections. HR Professionals will then forward documents to correct pay-impacting errors, such as pay grade or Pay Entry Basic Date (PEBD) mismatches, to the Unit Pay Center (UPC).
Validation
After their HR Professional makes corrections, Soldiers will review their ARB and validate the data’s accuracy. Validation is required within 60 days of corrections.
Certification
The HR professional certifies the ARB after required documents are uploaded and verified in the Soldier’s OMPF. All corrections noted by the Soldier are applied within the RCMS eSRB module. When applicable, the HR professional will also verify that corrections were made to the Soldier’s pay record. Certification is required within 30 days of validation.
Updating a Soldier’s ARB is an annual requirement, and is performed as part of a Personnel Records Review (PRR). USARC guidance in OPORD 19-042 (USARC RCMS ARB Maintenance) is that PRRs “will be prioritized by overdue reviews first in conjunction with Pay/Personnel discrepancies.” HR Professionals can identify those discrepancies by looking at the “SELRES Pay/Per Data Discrepancy Issues – Subset” report under Leadership Reports – Data Quality in the RCMS Commander’s Strength Management Module (CSMM). Overdue records reviews can be seen in the CSMM “SELRES Soldier Record Brief Certification Summary” report under Leadership Reports – eSRB.
If a Soldier’s ARB has not been validated and certified within the last year, their ARB will be reviewed and updated by the GFC-level Data Correctness team based on documents in the Soldier’s OMPF. The Data Correctness team will forward documents to correct pay grade and PEBD errors in the Reserve Pay system to the unit or RPAC for submission to the UPC.
The future of personnel and pay for the Army Reserve depends on Soldiers and HR Professionals working together to ensure each Soldier’s records are accurate prior to the Army Reserve’s transition to IPPS-A.