JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas (AFNS) — Officers and enlisted Airmen getting promoted in March will experience pay delays because of the Military Personnel Data System upgrade occurring that month.
“Individuals to promote from Mar. 4 to 26 will not get their promotions updated in MilPDS because of the upgrade,” said Lt. Col. Shelley Strong, the Air Force Personnel Center operations division chief. “Their promotions will be projected in MilPDS and will automatically update as soon as the system is back online.”
Airmen are authorized to sew on their new rank on their respective promotion dates, but they will not receive an increase in pay until their promotion is updated in MilPDS and processed by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.
“Unfortunately, until MilPDS is back online, promotions that become effective during this window will not be able to be processed,” Strong said. “Once the system is available, they can view their promotion data in the virtual Military Personnel Flight application to ensure their promotion information is accurate and updated.”
Airmen should contact their base military personnel section if their promotion information is not updated in vMPF within 10 days after the MilPDS upgrade is completed. Base military personnel sections will track local personnel records to avoid overpayment for Airmen who received a promotion cancellation or delay. AFPC officials are also requesting that base commanders accomplish Stripes for Exceptional Performer promotions before the MilPDS upgrade to avoid pay delays.
The Air Force is upgrading and transferring the Military Personnel Data System to the Defense Information Systems Agency’s Defense Enterprise Computing Center in March. The upgrade project is scheduled to take approximately 23 days to complete, during which time, MilPDS will not be available.
The information above also applies to Reserve promotions. Reserve members should contact their MPS if their promotion information is not updated in vMPF within 10 days after MilPDS upgrade is completed.
Guard members should review the “MilPDS Upgrade and Migration Guidance — Unit Assigned Members” section on the myPers website, under the “Alerts” or “Announcements for Airmen” sections.
MilPDS is the primary records database for personnel data and actions that occur throughout every total force Airman’s career. MilPDS is also used to initiate Airman pay actions, maintain Air Force accountability and strength data and support a host of interactions with other Air Force processes and systems that rely on personnel data.
Officials will continue to release additional information and guidance to the Air Force’s manpower, personnel, services and pay communities and total force Airmen to continue to educate them on how the service will perform critical personnel and pay tasks during the MilPDS upgrade.
