The Air Force Personnel Center, with headquarters at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas, is a field operating agency of Headquarters U.S. Air Force Personnel and has responsibility for managing the personnel programs and policies affecting Air Force active-duty and civilian members. It was formed during the realignment of military and civilian personnel functions Oct. 1, 1995.

Mission

The Air Force Personnel Center's mission is to provide quality service in worldwide personnel operations with integrity, responsiveness and sensitivity to commanders, Air Force civilian and military members, families, retirees and other customers. Its primary means of accomplishing this mission is to ensure the right numbers of people in the right grades and skills are available to perform the missions of unit commanders worldwide. Closely aligned with this task is caring for Air Force people and their families, and managing programs for individual career development.

The center's responsibilities include overseeing performance evaluations, promotions, retirements, separations, awards and decorations, uniforms, education, personnel procurement, disability processing, and the Air Force's voting program; planning for contingencies; maintaining active-duty personnel records; providing transition assistance; and providing support to Air Force retirees. The center also manages and operates Air Force civilian personnel data and information systems and career management, recruitment, development and placement programs.

Personnel

The approximately 1,500 military and civilian personnel who work at the Air Force Personnel Center perform a wide variety of tasks. The center implements personnel programs affecting the nearly 400,000 active-duty members and 185,000 civilian employees through major commands and a worldwide network of military and civilian personnel flights. Personnel matters affecting more than 116,800 Air National Guardsman and 78,842 Air Force Reservists are also managed at the center.

Organization

The Air Force Personnel Center is comprised of eight directorates, each managing several key programs.

The Directorate of Assignments has the task of managing the assignments for all enlisted members and officers below the grade of colonel, with the exception of chaplains and members of the staff judge advocate. In addition, the directorate handles humanitarian and exceptional family member assignments; joint duty, officer advanced academic (Air Force Institute of Technology) and professional military education, and officer career broadening assignments.

The Directorate of Civilian Personnel Operations lists the planning, development and integration of all actions necessary for establishment of the Air Force Regionalized Civilian Personnel Office, also known as PALACE COMPASS, among its duties. Once established this directorate will manage centralized civilian personnel processes for all Air Force installations to include: centralized external and internal staffing, data systems, official personnel folders and linked processes, certain benefits and entitlements, standard position description library, and a call-in help center. These programs affect approximately 150,000 employees throughout the Air Force.

The Directorate of Personnel Data Systems takes care of the life-cycle management and the sustainment of personnel data and records management systems for the military and civilian members of the Air Force. In addition to supporting Air Force users from the Pentagon to the unit level, the directorate supports more than 100 other federal agencies. Among the directorate's recent accomplishments are the Personnel Concept-III and Automated Records Management System programs. PC-III is an interactive computer network that connects all levels of personnel operations with each other, while the completion of ARMS has allowed the center to store more than 13 million images onto optical disks.

Previously known as the Civilian Personnel Management Center, the Directorate of Civilian Career Management manages and operates the Air Force career management, recruitment, development and placement programs for the more than 50,000 civilian employees in officer-equivalent positions worldwide. Through various programs, the directorate is responsible for identifying, managing, training and filling civilian executive positions for 19 civilian career areas. The directorate also serves as the focal point for civilian personnel data and information systems management for the Air Force, and works with field activities in developing and implementing civilian policies while keeping in touch with changing technology and improving systems.

The Directorate of Personnel Program Management has the responsibility of overseeing more than 200 officer and enlisted personnel programs affecting every active duty and retired Air Force member, such as accessions, retraining, evaluations, promotions, awards and decorations, separations, retirements, transition, retiree activities and the Air Force Disability Program.

The Directorate of Customer Assistance provides centralized assistance and information on the management of the total force including military personnel flight, orderly room, social actions and call center operations; entitlement, commander, and fundraising programs; surveys, research and analyses; functional management for Personnel and Personnel Systems Management career fields; personnel training; the automated records management system; and the functional requirements of personnel data system modernization. The directorate is the center's "face to the customer."

The Directorate of Personnel Accountability has primary responsibility for the implementation of personnel policy affecting wartime and contingency operations for total force accountability, including active and Reserve components as well as DOD civilians. In addition, it is responsible for developing readiness systems and functions supporting wartime operations such as mobilization and demobilization. The directorate also is tasked with providing worldwide casualty reporting, notification and assistance to the next of kin, and are also the focal point for status determination and follow-on actions regarding Air Force members missing, captured or imprisoned.

The Directorate of Mission Support provides internal support to the Air Force Personnel Center by managing its budget, manpower, contracting, supply and information management resources as well the center's overall physical facilities. The directorate also serves external customers in responding to White House, Congressional and Inspector General inquiries.

History

The Air Force Military Personnel Center began operations July 25, 1963, and in 1971 became a separate operating agency. Its name was changed to the Air Force Manpower and Personnel Center in 1978, when the Air Force integrated the manpower and personnel functions at U.S. Air Force headquarters level.

In October 1985, the manpower function was realigned and separated from personnel. This resulted in the center being renamed the Air Force Military Personnel Center, Jan. 1, 1986. The center became a field operating agency Feb. 5, 1991.

The former Civilian Personnel Operations was established on July 1, 1976 and was a direct reporting unit of the Air Force Directorate of Civilian Personnel until Feb. 5, 1991 when it was renamed the Air Force Civilian Personnel Management Center and became a field operating agency. It became a directorate within the Air Force Personnel Center and consists of three divisions: Career Management, Integrated Systems Management and Operations Support.

The Air Force Personnel Center began operations Oct. 1, 1995, after the Secretary of the Air Force combined the personnel operations of the Air Force Military Personnel Center and Air Force Civilian Personnel Management Center.

Point of Contact

Air Force Personnel Center
Public Affairs Office; 550 C Street West Suite 43; Randolph AFB, Texas 78150-4745
DSN 665-5000 or (210) 565-5000 * Toll-Free: 800-616-3775

July 6th, 2005

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