New and Improved myDecs Now Available for Use by Air Force

An Air Force Achievement MedalPhoto byAir Force

Welcome to the new year! I've made some changes to myDecs.

An updated version of myDecorations, the online center for processing award nominations, is now available for airmen and guardians to try out, according to a release from the Department of the Air Force on Thursday.

Seeking credit for excellent activities that can help them climb the professional ladder has become an arduous work for airmen and guardians due to numerous technological issues and an unpleasant user interface. Improved functionality in myDecs will make it easier to nominate troops for multiple awards at the service level and joint awards, and to add these nominations to a service member's official military record.

The redesign is a part of a larger initiative to modernize the more than a hundred apps used by the Air Force and Space Force's human resources department to store personnel records and personal information.

"Our goal is to make the system more intuitive and create a smoother process for users," stated Lt. Gen. Caroline Miller, head of uniformed personnel for the Air Force, in the press release.

With the new "myDecs Reimagined" software, troops can now request decorations with the touch of a single screen, eliminating the need to navigate through multiple pages. Salesforce manages the interface; they also host the myEval performance review system for the Air Force.

Nominators can now specify which personnel will review the decoration request on myFSS, the Air Force's central HR portal, and service members can direct the application to any user they like.

Users can make comments and alter decorations up until they are signed. Once the honors are approved, they will be immediately added to a person's official military record.

Members of different units had a hard time working together on award nominations on the prior software, and users couldn't go back and fix mistakes after they submitted a draft. Airmen have encountered several issues, including difficulties in withdrawing filed requests and difficulties in getting myDecs to save changes in drafts.

"Our pilots would be dead if planes were built like myFSS, myEval, myDecs," someone anonymously wrote on the fake "Air Force amn/nco/snco" Facebook page in November 2022.

Steps that were once handled by local teams, sometimes known as military personnel flights, are now automated as part of the update. Airmen have voiced their displeasure that their chances of advancement were jeopardized due to the delays caused by requests that had to be routed through HR personnel.

Air Force officials stated in a news release that they would "strengthen their advisory and audit role" and be free to concentrate on improving "recognition programs" if they no longer have to vet each approved nominee by HR personnel.

Restoring trust and responsibility to the approval authority has resulted in the record updating automatically upon signature, according to Miller.

A document from last November issued by the Air Reserve Personnel Center advised that nominations that had been waiting in queue prior to the launch of the new myDecs system would not have transferred to the new system and would have to be resubmitted.

According to Air Force spokesperson Master Sgt. Deana Heitzman, "All decorations that were in the legacy myDecs application will be lost and unrecoverable upon sunset, which was Jan. 14." That information was confirmed on Friday. To clear their current queue and hold any additional decorations until the myDecs Reimagined launch, all force support squadrons were charged with developing local rules.

Requests for the Air and Space Meritorious Service Medal, Air and Space Commendation Medal, Air and Space Achievement Medal, Aerial Achievement Medal, Military Volunteer Outstanding Service Medal, Combat Readiness Medal, and Military Volunteer Outstanding Service Medal can currently be made through myDecs by airmen and their guardians.

As the program develops, the Air Force Department has indicated that it may grant troops the authority to request more honors.

Edited by Newsbreak Contributor Denys Shybinskiy