Unit Support function playing key role in restructured Center

  • Published
  • By Chuck Paone
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. --  When the Electronic Systems Center re-structuring took effect July 1, most everyone took note of the fact that wings, groups and squadrons had been replaced by directorates led by new program executive officers, or PEOs.

The stand-up of a Unit Support function that enables the changes to work might not have been as immediately evident. While many supervisory chains remained intact, in most cases command authority went away with the numbered units.

Many actions previously completed by unit commanders now must be staffed through the new Unit Support office known by its three-letter organizational designation, CSH. There, newly appointed Section Commander Lt. Col. Danielle Bernard is authorized to take actions and make decisions on a host of military personnel matters.

"Our goal is to always work closely with the individual unit managers and supervisors," Colonel Bernard said. "We're not doing anything without their input."

Colonel Bernard emphasized that CSH is in place to support the PEOs and functional managers, not to supplant their authority. In fact CSH was created, in part, to help busy acquisition managers stay focused on acquisition by taking on some of the major administrative burdens they'd formerly borne in-house.

ESC also will have detachment commanders covering the two geographically separated units with the most military personnel, one at Maxwell-Gunter AFB, Ala., and one in San Antonio (covering ESC military personnel at Lackland and Randolph).

Though CSH has been formed to take on and help with myriad tasks, it is not a one-stop shop for all military personnel and administrative matters, Colonel Bernard said

"There are some major items that are clearly in our basket and many others that, while we often have a role, are still primarily the responsibility of individual units," Colonel Bernard said.

For instance, each unit is still responsible for scheduling fitness tests, though CSH plays a central review role and becomes involved in individual cases following failures. Similarly unit supervisors still generate decoration requests and enlisted performance reports, but CSH performs quality control checks.

"We're not here to change 'fantastic' to 'super-duper,' though," Colonel Bernard said. "We're just looking for anomalies like someone being listed as a top-performer while he or she also has a UIF (unfavorable information file)."

One "large rock" that CSH is working to move fully into its grasp is center-wide deployment readiness. The office already has taken possession of most Unit Deployment Manager (UDM) files, and a Phase One plan calls for its Readiness Cell to take the lead on nearly all deployment preparation processes by the end of this month.

CSH's Phase II plan would have the office performing significant roles on things like performance reports, assignment actions and Unified Code of Military Justice (non-judicial punishment only) matters by the end of September. By October 31, CSH officials hope to add in the full slate of activities - more than 20 additional ones - including AEF assignments, combat skills training and much more.

All of this depends on the ability to fill the 15 positions allotted, most of which will be civilians, and on the experience levels of the people hired.

"Both types of people (those with a lot of experience and those without) can help us; it's just that one type can help us sooner," Colonel Bernard said. Either way, she hopes the staffing process will be complete by year's end.

Right now CSH is getting by with "lots of help from the people who've been detailed to us," Colonel Bernard said, singing the praises of her small and mostly temporary current office staff.

Regular meetings between CSH team members and the front office administrative staffs and UDMs in the directorates and functional offices are helping smooth things out. A SharePoint site is also helping. It provides standardized instructions for units looking for guidance on numerous processes, such as permissive temporary duty assignments. Another aid is a workflow feature (ESC/CSH Workflow) that allows unit staff to ask questions and receive answers from CSH staff.

CSH is also planning to hold informational sessions in the Base Theater later this month. Staff members plan to discuss roles, responsibilities and changes and will also field questions.

This sort of information flow is critical, Colonel Bernard said, especially in these early stages when CSH staff members are working to "define processes and do the work at the same time."

Clearly, erecting a new functional office, especially one serving the entire center, is challenging, and CSH is still a work in progress. But Colonel Bernard is optimistic that her office, with continuing support from individual units, will be able to provide all the support the center needs.

"My biggest concern is our military members. I do not want anyone falling through the cracks," she said. "We're committed to making sure they don't."