TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --
From buying items at the Base Exchange to logging into a computer, members of Team Tyndall constantly utilizes their Common Access Cards. It is the Airmen at the Military Personnel Section customer support center who continually work to ensure everyone who needs a CAC has one.
The mission of the MPS is to provide quality personnel support through the administration of personnel programs, in both peacetime and wartime, to commanders, Air Force members and their families, said Master Sgt. Sujan Martin, 325th Force Support Squadron MPS superintendent.
Handling these tasks and assisting customers is a team lead by one senior NCO, two junior NCOs and six Airmen.
"In a given week, customer support technicians can assist about 120 to 350 customers," Martin said. "The customer footprint tends to grow during the summer and around the winter holidays."
Airmen at the MPS customer support section help their customers in a variety of ways.
"The customer support section issues Common Access Cards to the total force, this includes sister services, contractors and civilians," Martin said. "Additionally, we issue ID cards for dependents, retirees and reservists. This office also implements, manages and oversees the base Individual Newcomer Treatment and Orientation or INTRO program."
Customer service also maintains the LeaveWeb program for 21 units assigned to Tyndall, processes Line of Duty Determinations, aids member's in acquiring U.S. Citizenship and updates dependents information in Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System or DEERS. The functions and processes within this element focus more on the customer's individual needs, Martin added.
The customer support center is usually the first point of contact for those in-processing. As more Airmen arrive to Tyndall, the MPS customer service will continue to help all those who walk through their doors.
"When we have a lot of customers, we have an Airman at the front desk that will assist them," Senior Airman James Johnson, 325th FSS customer support floor supervisor. "That Airman will get people taken care of as soon as possible. If they have issues with an ID card, CAC, DEERS or something along those lines we solve their issues here. When problems arise that are better handled by another section of the MPS, we direct customers there."
Whether new to Tyndall or a long time resident, Airmen, retirees, civilians and dependents will eventually always have to visit the MPS.
This is one of the few jobs in the Air Force that deals with every single person that comes through the base's gate, Martin said.
"When the Airmen within customer support help a customer, it is a gratifying experience," added Martin. "We know that when most customers leave our office, we have taken care of them to the utmost of our capability and have provided them with a necessary service."
In order to make an appointment, customers can call (850) 283-2242. Furthermore, customers can perform walk-ins from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.