2006 WVNG Annual Report PDF - West Virginia Army National Guard

West Virginia National Guard Annual Report 2006WEST VIRGINIA ARMY NATIONAL GUARDJoint Forces HeadquartersJoint StaffJ1 - PersonnelThe West Virginia Army National Guard Office of Manpower and Personnel (J1) ischarged with providing high quality, value added services to all members of the Army NationalGuard extended family. This includes soldiers, family members, and retirees of the ArmyNational Guard, as well as members, families and retirees of our sister services. It is our goalto provide customer focused solutions that provide for timely personnel transactions. Takingcare of soldiers, families, and retirees is our way of showing our commitment, which we hopecauses soldiers to remain in the National Guard. Soldier care equals retention, and the J-1shop is charged with a number of tasks that directlyimpact soldier care, including promotions/reductions,awards/decorations, military occupation specialtyqualification, civilian education assistance, civiliantesting services, Montgomery GI Bill services, familysupport programs, youth programs, orders, discharges,transfers, non-validation pay, officer andenlisted boards, weight control, incapacitation pay,medical and dental bill processing, security clearances,officer/enlisted evaluation reports, officer/enlisted records management, data base tracking,identification card production, military member thriftsavings program, bonus payment, student loan repayment, and mobilization and deploymentassistance. The J1 office helps to ensure maximum personnel readiness.In Fiscal Year 2006, the Education Services Office processed $576,102.08 in federaltuition assistance applications. ESO staff also worked with the National Guard webmaster todevelop a website to make educational information more accessible to soldiers and airmen.Many different types of educational exams were administered in greater numbers than everbefore at this location, saving large amounts in tuition assistance dollars and providing greateropportunities to service members of all branches. Education services also organized twocollege and career fairs and an education administrator's workshop to improve communityrelations, improve educational opportunities, and aid in the recruiting effort. Kicker bonuses,GI Bill, loan repayments, and bonuses were also expertly processed. During Fiscal Year 2006,1,451 bonuses were processed. From that total, 602 were for non-prior service enlistment;214 were for prior service enlistments; and 570 were for reenlistment. ESO staff processed33 military occupational specialty bonuses and 28 officer accession bonuses. Total bonuspayments were $8,202,172.79.In 2006, the Health Systems Office workload increased dramatically with the number ofmissions at home and abroad. HSO staff must identify and help resolve medical and dentalissues of all Army National Guard soldiers. If issues cannot be resolved, the Health SystemsOffice assists the soldier through the evaluation process so he/she will receive all compensationdue him/her.27