Action line 80901 - MPF concerms

  • Published
  • By Anonymous
  • 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  Complaint:

I have multiple concerns with Incirlik's Military Personnel Flight.

First, inprocessing appointments being walk-ins for a one hour block of time between 8-9 a.m. Our new member and I arrived at MPF only to be told the in processing was full for the day and would not be able to accommodate anymore people. This was at about 8:25 a.m. Since the new Airman would not be able to inprocess he could not attend right start the next day. I understand the block scheduled time is there for organization, but one hour is obviously not enough time on days after the rotator lands. There were numerous people turned away that day that showed up after us. We came within plenty of time to be seen that day, travel vouchers and residency permits can't be done until Right Start. This became a hindrance on being proactive about in processing.

Second, I needed a new Common Access Card. I went in on a Monday to schedule an appointment for a new CAC card. I was told the next available appointment wasn't until the following Thursday, a week and a half wait for a new CAC card. At the time I scheduled the appointment, the MPF appeared to be vacant.

On the day of my appointment I arrive at the MPF 10 minutes prior to my appointment. I was not seen until 30 minutes after my scheduled appointment time. I do not fully comprehend the reason for having to wait nearly two weeks for an appointment and have them overbook the scheduled time that I was to be seen. This is again a poor showing of their organization.

I am a shift worker and as many know we have crew rest responsibilities to adhere to. During the time I was working mid-shifts, any appointment that is not early in the morning after a mid-shift is impossible to attend that appointment due to my crew rest. Other Airmen in my facility working mid-shift would not be able to get a CAC card or other basic MPF duties due to the inconvenience that it would impose on the MPF. I understand we are a very small part of Team Incirlik, the fact of the matter is they do not bend these rules for anyone.

There is a serious scheduling problem with the MPF and everyone just "deals with it." The consensus around the base is; if you even mention the MPF you hear people sighing or rolling their eyes saying they are feel sorry for you. That is because of the lack of customer service at our MPF. While the people are very pleasant and did apologize for the delay of my appointment, it did not negate the fact that I was forced to wait, on their behalf. It has gotten so bad that you can't walk into the MPF with any sort of problem and have it fixed right then. You have to go schedule an appointment for a week later during a specified block time to have your problem fixed.

Response:

Thank you for the feedback. We are continually looking at ways to improve our customer service and always welcome suggestions.

We have recently changed our in-processing guidelines by extending the walk-in hours to 0730-0900 each duty day. Unfortunately, there is no way to predict the number of members who will in-process on a given day and thus the process may be longer for some. We will monitor and look to further extend hours during periods of peak arrivals, especially during the summer PCS season.

General CAC appointments are scheduled following the in-processing walk-in hours. As with newcomers, it is difficult to predict how many CAC cards we can issue in a given day because there are different types of CAC appointments. New CACs can take up to 30 minutes to create; CAC updates as little as 15 minutes. During the past few weeks, CAC appointments have been limited due to the mass issuing of cards to 40+ local national contractors. The average wait for a routine CAC appointment is normally two days or less but the contractor issuance has pushed that to a week. Remember: members experiencing a work stoppage are seen the same day if available to wait.

Despite the CAC appointment system, there are times when the processing of a CAC takes longer than expected due to system issues. Waiting members are informed of any problems delaying their appointment so they can make adjustments to their schedule and/or inform their work centers of the delay. For significant delays, members are informed telephonically so they can adjust their arrival time. Members who inform us of unique scheduling problems with CAC appointment are afforded options to meet their mission needs. Shift workers may contact the MPE Customer Service Section (6-3280) to schedule an appointment that works for their schedule.

Our goal is to provide quality, efficient and timely customer service to the members of the Incirlik community. As with any issues, if you feel that is not happening, the flight's leadership is there to address any problems and/or concerns.