F**ked Up Army Systems During Peace Time

A technological glitch in the Army’s new HR system, Integrated Personnel and Pay System - Army (IPPS-A), is affecting thousands of Soldiers.

This system is responsible for many things, like pay and DD214s. However, many Soldiers are not able to access the necessary paperwork for accessing post-service benefits. 

After continued delays, the new IPPS-A system was implemented in December. Before this glitch, another error in the system terminated Tricare benefits for over 17,000 soldiers and 8,000 family members. Although the Tricare situation was quickly rectified, it caused panic among those who temporarily lost their health care.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the Army recently held a virtual town hall meeting, where Soldiers commented that the IPPS-A outage is currently delaying the promotion of many Reserve Soldiers, and others claim they’re just flat out not getting paid.

As of Thursday, an IPPS-A acknowledged there were difficulties, citing the system has experienced 5,500 hours of system downtime. Furthermore, they acknowledge that inaccurate pay is causing Soldiers to go into debt. 

Soldiers affected by this lapse state they are receiving no help from the tech desk. One Texas Soldier, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed that she was unable to access treatment for her cervical cancer after transitioning from active duty to reserve. 

She recalls, “I was told to write my congressman, but what the fuck do I look like? It’s an Army-wide issue?” 

This glitch is keeping service members in a limbo between military and civilian life. They are unable to procure through paperwork needed to join reserves, the work force, or attend school. The DOD must work to swiftly fix this problem.