text: Provide Human Resources Services
  Note: The IMCOM will not have a role in promotions once IPPS-A is live in December 2021.
  Home station units will have visibility of Soldiers across installations and will be able to generate
  reports and perform transactions associated with promotions. Additionally, the IPPS-A will allow
  an HR professional in the member’s S-1 pool or a unit commander to initiate a suspension of
  favorable personnel action for Soldiers not co-located with their home station unit.
  4-2. To provide effective and prompt HR services, it is critical that actions affecting Soldiers be processed
  or routed promptly by the chain of command and HR professionals. All EPS actions are processed, verified,
  or routed by HR professionals at each level of command (battalion, brigade, division, corps, and ASCC), less
  those items updated through Soldier self-service capabilities. While brigade-centric operations are the norm
  for HR support, some EPS actions do require processing by command and control elements above brigade.
  Common actions normally processed above brigade include awards and decorations, congressional inquiries,
  deletions, officer procurement, and developing EPS policies and priorities. While EPS actions are normally
  executed at the brigade S-1 and below, the G-1/AG at all levels has staff responsibilities for EPS actions and
  maintains oversight for all EPS functions.
  4-3. With limited HR resources in G-1/AGs and S-1s, determining the proper HR organization to provide
  EPS support to assigned or attached personnel is crucial to processing efficient and timely EPS actions. This
  determination is also affected by whether the unit is deployable, deployed, assigned to garrison, or
  geographically separated from the brigade.
  HR CUSTOMER SERVICE
  4-4. Customer service is a critical service performed by all S-1 sections as it affects a Soldier’s status,
  readiness, career management, benefits, and quality of life. The S-1 section is the responsible office for
  ensuring that assigned and attached personnel receive assistance with EPS actions and answering their
  questions or concerns. The S-1 section must ensure they provide the time and resources to meet the customer
  service needs of the personnel they support. Unit personnel expect HR systems and processes to be responsive
  to meet their needs. As such, S-1 sections must strive to provide the best customer service possible. At a
  minimum, consider the following items when developing customer service support:
  * Consider the time necessary to process certain EPS actions. Some customer service functions are
  more time consuming than others and may require research or further explanation by S-1
  personnel.
  * Develop a plan of action for equipment failures (for example, ID tag machine not operational).
  The plan of action should include an alternate point for support. Units can coordinate with other
  units to issue ID tags when ID card machines are inoperable.
  * Ensure knowledgeable HR professionals are available to answer HR questions or to process EPS
  actions. This includes knowledge of specific documents requiring submission by the Soldier.
  * Adjust the customer service plan as needed. Talking with Soldiers and leaders can determine if
  HR customer service is adequate.
  * Provide a workstation for Soldiers to use. Not all Soldiers have access to HR web-based services
  at their unit.
  * Customer service hours should be sufficient in length to ensure personnel do not have to wait long
  for service and should not routinely change. Consider training or operational availability issues
  when establishing customer service hours and stagger lunches to remain operational all day.
  AWARDS AND DECORATIONS
  4-5. The awards and decorations program enables the Army to provide Soldiers, and DOD and DA Civilians
  tangible recognition for valor, meritorious service, and achievements. The awards program also provides a
  mechanism for recognizing veterans and the primary NOK of Soldiers, members of sister Services, military
  personnel of multinational countries, and civilians for their meritorious contributions. Multi-name award
  orders should be limited in number due to privacy issues. See AR 600-8-105 for detailed information