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380AEW Article

PERSCO accounts for wing manpower

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Amanda Savannah
  • 380th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Upon arrival at a deployed location, most military members know one thing stands between them and food, a hot shower and a bed - checking in to the base.

The office responsible for checking military members in to a deployed location is the personnel support for contingency operations, or PERSCO, flight.

PERSCO flights are responsible for accountability and casualty reporting, said Senior Master Sgt. Charlie Flores, 380th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron PERSCO chief.

"Accountability is important because the commander needs to know at all times how many manpower assets he has here," said Flores, a Chicago native deployed from the Presidio of Monterey, Calif. "He needs to know this wing is capable of completing its air tasking order mission."

This includes accounting for members of all services and all statuses here, including those in a transient status, Flores said. The PERSCO flight here, as well as at the person's assigned location, tracks the member for emergency purposes and commanders' accountability purposes.

Senior Airman Kirsten Rapp, PERSCO sustainment technician, recalled explaining to a transient member the purpose of the information PERSCO requires of any newcomer to the base. When asked to complete a checklist, the person neglected to fill out all the required information including blood type, religious preference and marital status.

"He said, 'Well what do you need that for?' I said, 'Alright sir, for religious preference, God forbid something happened, mortuary services would probably want to know what you might want to do with your body'," said Rapp, an Enola, Pa., native deployed from Schriever Air Force Base, Colo. "Marital status -- we might want to know if we have to notify a spouse. Blood type - if you need a blood transfusion.

"It's not just, 'Oh I just need to sign in.' From our side of the house, if something were to happen, it's incredibly important."

Rapp said the PERSCO flight is responsible for several tasks that come with accounting for military members here. They include inprocessing lines, the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing's initial and final informational group briefings, called Warrior Welcome and Warrior Finish, and issuing and updating ID cards when necessary.

Should a military member become a casualty by either serious injury or death, PERSCO is also responsible for reporting it.

"Casualty reporting lets the commander know who is hurt (or killed)," Flores said. "We have a certain amount of time to relay the information back to member's home station and the Air Force Personnel Center for Next of Kin notification."

Flores said it takes the people in his flight to make its mission happen.

"It takes positive attitudes, Airmen and a lot of flexibility," he said. "It takes perseverance, because you never know at what time of the hour an aircraft will come in with 250 people."

Flores said it takes planning and coordinating with several other agencies across the base to ensure members are properly accounted for, with the right information and in a timely manner.

"Our goal is to get them inprocessed the same day they get here (so they can) be ready for duty the next day," Flores said.

The flight chief said his Airmen are his favorite part of his job.

"Without the people, the Airmen and NCOs I work with, I think PERSCO would be boring," he said. "To me it's always about the people. I try to keep them motivated, keep them positive, keep them happy, and keep them going, because they keep me going."

Customer interaction is Rapp's favorite part.

"I know people from probably every unit here," she said. "After Warrior Welcome ... I feel like everyone knows me. It's nice if I go somewhere and I need something, sometimes people remember me."

Rapp said she also likes knowing she's important to the mission here.

"I might not be out there directly affecting the mission, but I'm helping the people that are doing the mission," she said.