Army Shifts to Web-Based Promo Point Updates

WASHINGTON, D.C (Army Human Resources Command) - The Army announced the first dramatic change to the active-duty enlisted promotions system since the Vietnam era.

The Army sees this Web-based program - the "Soldier Self-Service DA Form 3355" - as a bridge to Defense Integrated Military Human Resource System or DIMHRS, and a way to empower Soldiers to directly affect the management of their careers.

The Army uses an 800-point system that allows Soldiers to distinguish themselves from their peers by accumulating points among performance categories such as physical fitness, weapons firing, civilian education, military education and awards.

"This new program has numerous advantages over the current system, and the majority of those benefits stem from three key features," said Sgt. Maj. Tom Gills, chief of Enlisted Promotions at Human Resources Command.

"First, this system eliminates the need for Soldiers to accumulate 20 or more points before adding them to their file," Gills said. "With this new program, as soon as Soldiers earn points, they can add them to their file, making them immediately more competitive with their peers."

The accumulation rule, a personnel workload management requirement for more than 34 years, has long irritated Soldiers and their families. The elimination of the rule translates into faster promotions.

The second key improvement is also related to speed. Currently, when Soldiers update their files with new points or are newly recommended for promotion, they must wait until the first day of the second month before those points become effective in the system, approximately two months. With the self-service application, Soldiers recommended for promotion or those adding points by the eighth day of the month will have those points in the system the first day of the following month.

"We have to take a snapshot of the current points across the Army, while allowing time to forecast accurately how many Soldiers we need in a given MOS. According to the experts who developed the program, the eighth is that pivotal day," Gills said.

Finally, because of the self-input capability provided to Soldiers for some of their administrative points, recomputation evaluations at human resource offices every month will immediately become a thing of the past. This requirement was time-consuming for Soldiers and managers.

"This is just one more example of how the Army is transforming into a more agile force, and improving processes using existing technology," Gills said.

While the Army continues toward the DIMHRS solution, this program provides some of the DIMHRS-type improvements now, and will help Soldiers by ensuring their records are accurate when the Army makes the DIMHRS transition in October 2008.

Some have expressed concerns about Soldiers putting in false data.

"We actually have a fairly robust verification process built into the system," Gills said. "When a commander recommends a Soldier for promotion, he is doing so based on the chain of command's recommendation as well as his own observation of the Soldier's character and performance over time. A command sergeant major and panel of senior NCOs then certify that Soldier in a formal board process. Once those two actions have occurred, the human resources specialist adds the points into the system and the Soldier is at that point allowed to add points to roughly half of the measured areas of performance."

Items such as certificates of achievement, certificates of military education and completion of a college course, after certification by an education center or personnel officer for that university enrollment, are examples of point areas a Soldier may modify. The Army Achievement Medal and higher awards, Army Physical Fitness Test scores and weapon qualifications will remain the responsibility of the unit for input to a Soldier's record. The system will automatically tally all points.

Additionally, each month the commander will receive a report on all promotable Soldiers within the unit, their previous month points total compared to their current points and the amount of points added, if any. First sergeants know their Soldiers, and unusual or suspicious activity should be readily apparent. All Soldiers must electronically sign a statement that attests to the validity of the points they have added. Those who attempt to cheat will face possible administrative or other actions.

Finally, Human Resources Command will randomly audit a percentage of promotable Soldiers across the force each month. Soldiers selected for audit will be required to produce all supporting documentation.

Soldiers in the grade of specialist and sergeant can access the application at the Human Resources Command Enlisted Promotions Web site at www.dimhrs.mil/.

Non-promotable specialists and sergeants may access the program for viewing and update, but will not be able to affect point changes to the Army database until they have been recommended by their commander and appeared before a promotion board. Promotable specialists and sergeants can access and update their files, which will affect points beginning Dec. 1.