Army Launches App for Checking Personnel Records

The U.S. Army recently launched the Integrated Personnel and Pay System-Army, the service’s first app that allows soldiers to access personnel records without the need for a Common Access Card. The IPPS-A is available on Apple’s App Store and is expected to have roughly 1 million users among active-duty personnel and members of the Army National Guard and Reserve by December, FedScoop reported Wednesday.

Col. Gregory Johnson, IPPS-A functional management division chief, called the app a “force multiplier” that will serve as a modern hub for the Army’s human resources system, allowing users to send in help requests on personnel matters, updating records and monitoring personnel actions.

Johnson added that IPPS-A is the first paperless app where soldiers can connect to Army HR systems and avoid a trip into a personnel office. Soon, the app will also be available from the Google Play store and Android users can also download it through the Army Training and Doctrine Command App Gateway.

Meanwhile, the IPPS-A website claims that it has the same level of the same level of sophistication and security that secure banking and personal service apps today possess. The IPPS-A is touted to modernize Army human resource management by reducing IT and military pay costs, and “improving soldiers’ lives through transparency and mobile capabilities.”

The app was introduces in response to a lack of connectivity in legacy systems. The Army considers the IPPS-A critical enabler for the Army’s “people strategy” and service’s transition to a talent management system and a data-rich environment. The app promises to improve access, timeliness and will provide auditability of personnel and pay information for the Total Army as it integrates more than 30 current systems while eliminating more than 300 interfaces, the IPPS-A website said.