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Help is on the Way: Changes coming to make travel voucher processing easier for Reservists

  • Published
  • By Philip F. Rhodes
  • Air Force Reserve Command Public Affairs
Citizen Airman/Feb. 2013 --  Air Force Reserve Command is adding resources and changing business practices to make travel voucher processing easier for Reservists.

Throughout this fiscal year, the command will increase the number of Defense Travel System travel technicians to assist Reservists with their travel vouchers, said Michael Burgess, AFRC chief of financial operations at Robins Air Force Base, Ga. Placing travel technicians at the unit level will help speed up the voucher process, Burgess said.

In addition, the Air Force Reserve Order Writing System will change some of its business rules used that allow travel orders to import into DTS for travel arrangements and subsequent voucher filing. Once these changes -- known as DTS: Phase II -- are implemented, nearly two-thirds of the AROWS-R orders generated each month will be imported into DTS.

"Right now, at our tenant locations, when a Reservist files a voucher it goes from the unit to the base financial services office and then to the Air Force Financial Services Center at Ellsworth AFB, S.D., for computation and payment," Burgess said. "If there is an error, the travel voucher gets sent back to the base for the member to correct the error. The process can be repeated several times before a Reservist can settle a travel voucher."

Using DTS will reduce the delay involved in correcting errors from weeks to days.

DTS Phase II is already in play at Headquarters AFRC; Barksdale AFB, La.; Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.; and Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. Beginning this month, the command will lift the AROWS-R business rules for five additional locations. Phase II implementation is expected to be completed at all units by mid-spring.

A potential roadblock to the plan is the filling of the 68 newly created travel technician positions at tenant units. As of early December, the Reserve had filled 31 positions, Burgess said.

He said travel voucher errors often occur because the Reserve travel process is more complex than the one for active-duty members.

"First, Reservists have to be brought on orders before they begin travel," Burgess said. "They sometimes operate under multiple sets of orders -- for example, back-to-back orders, overlapping orders, etc. -- and it can become a minefield of complexity."

Dedicated travel technicians, who understand Reserve travel peculiarities, will be able to spot issues and help Reserve travelers process their vouchers in DTS.

"There's no doubt having dedicated travel technicians at the units will reduce the time it takes for Reservists to settle their vouchers," Burgess said.

The Department of Defense has mandated that all travel be processed electronically through DTS by December.

"Our goal is to have all travel vouchers processed through DTS by the deadline," Burgess said. "Realistically, there will still be some unique travel situations -- PCS vouchers being one type -- that don't work under DTS. We want to make the travel voucher process as easy as we can for our Reservists."