PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The 45th Force Support Squadron was presented with a Site Excellence award May 17th, 2018 at Patrick Air Force Base. The 45th FSS proves hard work does pay off, as they have won several awards at the Group, Command and Department of Defense level in the past two years.
The award is presented to squadrons that exhibit exceptional service and support of theDefense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System and Real-time Automated Personnel Identification System.
The squadron was judged based on the merit of their customer service, training, efficiencies, innovation and fraud reduction in the production of Uniformed Services identification and privilege cards from October 1, 2016 through September 30, 2017.
“Something you always have to ask yourself is why something is done the way that it is. Then you ask yourself how it can be done better,” said Tech. Sgt. Dominique Barrett, Noncommissioned Officer in Charge of Customer Support at FSS. “There’s technology out there that can help diminish waiting times for things like ID cards – why not use it? Instead of having customers wait two to four hours in our office for an ID, we thought it would be effective to reform old ways to new and faster processes.”
A large contributing factor to the success of the 45th FSS obtaining this award was the implementation of a new online process for obtaining ID cards. The process eliminated the appointment system and reduced the total process time from 38 days to less than 3 days. Additionally, customer wait time, phone-calls and face-to-face appointments decreased from 34 minutes to only 9 minutes.
Not only did the 45th FSS take into account the individuals calling or emailing, but they also thought of those who may not own computers – creating two self-service kiosks located at the Airman and Family Readiness Center to assist customers in completing the process for renewing an ID card.
When Capt. Jessica Jenkins, 45th Space Wing Military Personnel Flight commander, presented her team’s idea to Gen. Jay Raymond, Air Force Space Command commander – he invited her to go to Washington D.C. with him to present the idea to the Chief of Staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services, Lt. Gen. Gina Grosso. The ID card kiosk is now being looked at for not only Air Force-wide implementation but for our sister services as well.
The 45th FSS continues to go above and beyond when it comes to taking care of the wing’s Airmen and their families – exuberating innovation and dedication while they do so, as the several awards they’ve won can attest.
“By eliminating appointment systems and implementing the online process, that gives the bulk of our customers, especially our Active Duty customers, a shortened wait time,” said Barrett. “Almost everything that an Airman does while working involves use of their CAC. So, because of these changes we’ve made, now they are able to get a new ID and get back out to supporting our mission as soon as possible.”