JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
The 802nd Force Support Squadron is helping service members transition to the United States Space Force by issuing Space Force Common Access Cards at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph.
JBSA-Randolph was selected as one of the initial BETA sites to test and create these cards. This allowed Air Force Personnel Center and Defense Manpower Data Center to acquire the necessary system information they need to formulate a smooth transition process for USSF members and their Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, or DEERS, profiles.
“AFPC identifies all Space Force members and notifies their servicing Military Personnel Flight to inform them about DEERS migration and coordinate to make an appointment,” said Tech. Sgt. Bryan Tagaan, 802nd Noncommissioned Officer In Charge of Customer Support. “Once appointments are made, these names are then filtered back to AFPC for DEERS profile migration.”
When a profile is migrated in DEERS, the member will have 48 hours to get their USSF CAC before their current certificates expire.
As more members transition to USSF, the 802nd Force Support Squadron is working diligently to ensure these cards are processed before the new deadline.
“As of right now, we are projected to have 12 more USSF personnel be issued their new CACs,” Tagaan said. “All USSF members will have to be migrated in DEERS by Dec. 30, 2021.”
Service members with dependents do not need to worry about the process of getting them a CAC.
“The process is the same for dependents,” Tagaan said. “Once we migrate the USSF service member, their dependents will be issued USSF USIDs as well.”
For Airman Roxanna Horjescu and Senior Airman Charleigh Townsend, 802nd Force Support Squadron customer service technicians, challenges have shown up in the process but they have found ways to overcome those challenges.
“One of our biggest challenges is when a USSF member has not been migrated successfully. When the system fails, this causes an unexpected inconvenience for the member and their families,” Horjescu said. “We remain as transparent as possible with the process to the members and are ready to assist the personnel when the migration is successful.”
“Occasionally, there are station and system issues that cause issues,” Townsend said. “But as trusted technicians of DEERS, we overcome these challenges by troubleshooting and performing maintenance.”
For the team, helping personnel transfer from the USAF to USSF has both been exciting and a learning experience for them.
“I always enjoy learning about what people do for work and with this opportunity, I have learned a little bit about the mission of the USSF which has intrigued me enough to consider a commission with them,” Horjescu said.
“For me, doing this for the newest branch has been exciting because it is refreshing to hear the member’s experience thus far and their new mission under the USSF,” Townsend said.
The CAC serves as a standard identification card for active duty uniformed service personnel, Reserve, Selected Reserve, Department of Defense civilian employees and eligible contractor personnel.
It is also the principal card used to enable physical access to buildings and controlled spaces, and it provides access to DOD computer networks and systems. The DOD estimates more than 10,000 cards are made daily.