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Thinking About Volunteering? VRS2 is the place to start
Posted 5/25/2012 Updated 5/25/2012
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by Senior Airman Danielle Purnell
Air Force Reserve Command
5/25/2012 - Citizen Airman/June 2012 -- Members of the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard looking to volunteer for a temporary duty assignment or deployment now have a single, online resource where they can go to find available opportunities.
The second generation of the Volunteer Reserve System, or VRS2, is available through the Air Reserve Component Net application found on the Air Force portal. After logging onto the portal, go to the Air Force Reserve Command page and click on the ARCNet application. From the top of this page, click on "Opportunities" and then select VRS2 from the list.
"If you want to volunteer, VRS2 is the place to start," said Lt. Col. Mike Stauffer, chief of the Mobilization Branch in the Force Generation Center at Robins Air Force Base, Ga.
Members of the reserve components can use VRS2 to identify volunteer opportunities most suited to their qualifications and grade, Stauffer said. It also allows them greater visibility on the permissions and vetting process, he said.
"VRS2 is going to change the world," said Col. Julio Lopez, chief of the Forces Division in the FGC. "Reservists and Guardsmen now have the power to do business on their own, whether during the unit training assembly or their off-duty time from a Common Access Card-enabled computer."
The new system gives reserve component members access to vacancies that were once only visible from their base's logistics readiness squadron.
"Users want more opportunities, filtered searches and access from home," Stauffer said. "They also want to know what is going on with their application, where it is in the routing process and how much further it has to go."
These are all enhancements the updated system now offers.
Members will immediately notice an increase in advertisements when they log on to the improved system, Stauffer said. There are currently more than 3,800 volunteer opportunities available globally to fill both air expeditionary force and non-AEF vacancies. Furthermore, when an Airman applies for a position, his or her application doesn't just disappear into cyberspace.
"The user gets a graphical picture of the status to track the request," Stauffer said.
The same is true for organizations as their posted volunteer openings get routed for approval.
The VRS application architecture was moved from a spreadsheet system in version 1.0 to a database-driven system in version 2.6.1. This platform change is what substantially contributed to the new and enhanced system capabilities.
Finalizing the updated system has been a long, yet rewarding, process for both the FGC and ARCNet teams, Lopez said.
AFRC received approval to update the system in the summer of 2010 after the need to track non-AEF temporary duty assignments was identified. Shortly thereafter, the new VRS2 template was created with some help from the Guard, and the AFRC Directorate of Communications began a yearlong programming effort.
Members of the FGC point out that VRS2 is still a work in progress as they continue to incorporate new enhancements.
"As you try VRS2, you will have ideas for future improvements, refinements or fixes,"
Stauffer said. "There is a feedback tab on the site, and our team would be happy to hear from you."
Stauffer said one enhancement that is already planned will allow members to tell the VRS2 system what types of TDYs (temporary duty assignments) or deployments they are seeking. When a matching opportunity becomes available, the system will automatically email a link to the vacancy.
"The goal was to create a more sophisticated, user-friendly product that would change the world," Lopez said. "The Reserve volunteer future is bright."
(Purnell was formerly a traditional Reservist assigned to the 94th Airlift Wing public affairs office at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga. She wrote this article while on a temporary duty assignment supporting Citizen Airman.) |
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