MilPDS upgrade: Stay ahead of the curve Published Oct. 18, 2012 By Staff Sgt. Chad Warren 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- For 23 days in December, the Military Personnel Database System (MilPDS) will be unavailable to users while it undergoes a complete system upgrade. MilPDS is used to accomplish all personnel actions for Air Force members, ranging from assignment applications to retirements and separations. These functions, along with several other capabilities, will not be available during the much-needed upgrade. "There hasn't been an upgrade since the system officially came online in 2001," said Master Sgt. Felisha Boyd, Military Personnel Section superintendent. "The upgrade will improve the system's sustainability and reliability. It will also better integrate with our pay system." The new system, known as "MilPDS R12", will bring the program up to industry standards and fix underlying security issues. Also, the new system will cost less to maintain than the one currently in place, added Boyd. For members needing to complete personnel actions, it's highly recommended to complete those as soon as possible to avoid any delays during the system down time. "We have been going around and briefing different professional organizations, and my advice to them is to pay attention to the deadlines," said Boyd. Boyd also recommends keeping hard copies of all personnel records before the upgrade takes place. With the migration to a new system, unanticipated glitches may occur. "I advise all members to keep copies of everything they do just in case, so we can use that source document to assist them and get them corrected if we have issues," she added. According to an information release on the Air Force Portal, the following personnel programs will be affected: Promotions, reenlistment/extension, officer Mandatory Separation Date (MSD) extension, voluntary retirement, changing your effective date or withdrawing your approved retirement application, voluntary separation and discharge or resignation application processing. For Team Barksdale, local deadlines for personnel actions are as follows: Applying for reenlistment, extension or separation - Oct. 29 Scheduling OPI test for Foreign Language Proficiency Bonus - Oct. 31 Completing a Base of Preference application - Nov. 1 Completing an In-Place Base of Preference application - Nov. 1 Applying for voluntary retraining - Nov. 15 Scheduling DLPT for Foreign Language Proficiency Bonus - Nov. 15 Updating SGLI - Nov. 16 Reenlisting - Nov. 16 Extending current enlistment - Nov. 16 For more information on the MilPDS upgrade, contact the 2nd Force Support Squadron customer service section at 456-3710.