MARIETTA, Ga. – For helping the Georgia Army National Guard migrate from the Standard Installation and Division Personnel Reporting System to the Integrated Personnel and Pay System-Army (IPPS-A), Warrant Officer Brian Sexton is an IPPS-A Best of the Best Soldier.
Sexton, Georgia Army National Guard systems integration branch (SIB) chief, said he and his team began their migration by using lessons learned from other states.
"We started with permanent assignments, making sure all of our Soldiers got permanent assignments," said Sexton. "We would make sure all the data elements lined up, ran the scripts and if it didn't work, we would start back over and do it again. We basically tested and proved theories until all our Soldiers were correct."
Sexton said the biggest challenge he and his team faced was the re-slots assignment – the temporary assignments within IPPS-A. A difference in the use of language is what made the re-slots challenging, said Sexton.
"The explanations of certain processes prior to cutover can be difficult to understand for someone using the system for the first time," he said. "So, when we reviewed several rosters prior to cutover, understanding all of them was a challenge."
Despite the challenges, the team completed the migration and went live with IPPS-A.
"All the hard work gives you a certain expectation," said Sexton. "So, when you complete the first transaction in IPPS-A, you feel like you know what you're doing. This is day one and everyone is ready. That makes me proud."
Now that Georgia is live in the system, Sexton says Soldiers have some control over how quickly their Human Resources actions are completed.
"I joined the military as an infantry Soldier," he said. "Nothing frustrates me more than when a 42A looks at you like you're crazy when you fill out a document wrong, or I wanted to update my records. I am excited Soldiers will now have some sort of control over their HR stuff."