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Accountability is top priority for PERSCO Airmen

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Kia Atkins
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar --  Whether deploying or redeploying, if you travel through Al Udeid you will process through the Personnel Support for Contingency Operations team here.

The three main functions of the 379th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron PERSCO are: personnel accountability, casualty reporting and reach-back support for personnel actions.

“Our number one goal is accountability of everyone here, which includes all branches of service, contractors, civilians and coalition partners – we account for them all,” said Staff Sgt. Jieun Yi, 379th EFSS non-commissioned officer in charge of PERSCO customer support.

Although accountability of all personnel here is their top priority, the PERSCO team also assists servicemembers with customs and immigrations processing, processes Common Access Card replacements, coordinates with home stations to obtain reenlistment paperwork, and process emergency leave requests.

“We try to take care of personnel with any administrative items they may have,” Yi said. “Although we are not a fully-functioning MPS [Military Personnel Section], we do what we can within the realm of our ability here.”

Without the accountability that PERSCO provides of personnel here, other services on base may face some challenges.

“If we don’t have accountability of everyone then accurate numbers cannot be reported to leadership and other sections of the 379th EFSS,” said Senior Master Sgt. Brian Potvin, 379th EFSS PERSCO team chief. “If agencies don’t know accurately how many people are here, they’re not going to know if there are enough dorm rooms, how many meals they need to prepare, or if they have sufficient manpower to adequately support our folks. Accurate strength reporting is vital for all the support agencies that are here.”

PERSCO Airmen are some of the first people deploying personnel encounter when they arrive here, which is why they do their best to make it as stress-free as possible.

“We see everyone who arrives and departs Al Udeid, we have eyes on everyone,” said Senior Airman Charisse Starr, 379th EFSS PERSCO. “We really do everything we can to help out everyone who comes through here, and because we are a 24/7 operation there will always be someone here to help.”