U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps
DIRECT ACCESS (DA) UPDATE
Direct Access Shutdown from
December 20, 2016 at 0001 to January 3, 2017 at 0001 EST
DATE: 12/7/2016
Direct Access (DA) will be unavailable from December 20, 2016 to January 3, 2017 due to necessary maintenance by the U.S. Coast Guard. Pay will be unaffected during the outage. However, you will be unable to update self-service information in DA or enter and update absence requests. The outage will also impact processing of select personnel functions.
For this reason, the Division of Commissioned Corps Personnel and Readiness (DCCPR) would like to provide you with the following information:
- Services NOT Impacted
- Services Impacted and Deadlines
- Readiness Reporting Changes to Last Quarter 2016 and First Quarter 2017
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Reminder: Certain promotion related deadlines are extended. See the full list in the Commissioned Corps Bulletin and on the Promotions Checklist.
The Following Services Will NOT Be Impacted or Offline:
- 2017 Promotion Year processes
- 2017 Annual Commissioned Officer Effectiveness Report
- Policy Actions
- Fitness For Duty (FFD) requests
- Immunizations and Medical Exam Reviews
- Medical Waivers
- Payroll
Services Impacted and Deadlines:
Please see a list below of deadlines for submitting forms and service requests. DCCPR will start accepting service requests again on January 9, 2017. Requests submitted after January 9, 2017, should have process dates of February 1, 2017 and after:
December 12, 2016
- Form PHS 1662 – Request for Personnel Actions (for effective dates between December 12 – December 31)
- Form PHS 1373 – Separation of Commissioned Officer
- Name Change Requests
- New Board Certified Pay Authorizations
- Civil Service Retirement Credit Date Changes
- Memo – Requesting Personnel Action (i.e. Address Change, ADMIN Code Change, etc.)
- Lump Sum Leave Requests
- Call to Duty Applications: No PHS-1662s will be processed after December 12th.
December 19, 2016
- Absence Request and Self Service Information
- Please enter any leave into DA prior to December 20th. All leave requests should be approved prior to December 20th. For any leave requests initiated between December 20th and January 3rd, you must use form PHS-1345. All leave taken and not entered into DA must be entered when the system is back online.
Readiness Reporting Changes to Last Quarter 2016 and First Quarter 2017:
- Officers will not be able to access or enter self-reported information into Direct Access during the outage.
- DCCPR is required to run quarterly basic readiness checks. When the Commissioned Corps Management Information System (CCMIS) was disabled, we could not conduct the October 1, 2016 basic readiness check.
- The deadline for submitting documentation for the October 1, 2016 and January 1, 2017 readiness checks has been extended to February 17, 2017.
- Both the October 1, 2016 and January 1, 2017 basic readiness checks will be conducted after the February 17, 2017 submission deadline. This will give officers ample time to submit the required documentation.
- Officers are required to maintain readiness qualifications at all times.
- While CCMIS was disabled, officers were still able to update deployment roles and enter Annual Physical Fitness Test (APFT) results and Basic Life Support (BLS) recertification dates into DA.
- Immunization data and medical exams could not be entered while CCMIS was disabled. However, officers should have updated these readiness requirements as needed and submitted the documentation once CCMIS was back online.
- An officer’s readiness status is determined based on the date each readiness requirement is completed not when they were entered into DA and CCMIS.
- For example, if an officer’s medical exam expires on September 25, 2016 but they do not complete a new medical exam until October 25, 2016 they would be listed as not qualified for the October 1, 2016 readiness check.
- All readiness-related questions should be sent to RedDOG-Response@hhs.gov.
Possible changes and updates to this information will be emailed and posted on CCMIS.
DCCPR thanks you for your patience and cooperation. If you have questions, please email the Commissioned Corps Help Desk at CCHelpDesk@hhs.gov.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Question: When can officers and agency liaisons submit personnel action documents after the Direct Access shutdown?
Answer: DCCPR will accept personnel action documents beginning January 9, 2017. Expect a delay in the processing of the documents once the system is back online.
- Question: What if an officer is expecting to transfer during the Direct Access shutdown period?
Answer: If a request to transfer an officer is submitted by the deadline of Monday, December 12, 2016 and personnel orders have been processed before the DA Shutdown, officers can proceed to their duty station between December 20, 2016 and January 3, 2017. It is critical that agencies plan ahead and submit all transfer requests by the December 12th deadline.
- Question: Will personnel actions be processed if the effective date is after December 20, 2016.
Answer: Yes, personnel actions will be processed if the request is received by December 12, 2016. Requests received after December 12th will be processed after January 9, 2017.
- Question: Can officers submit their license and transcripts during the shutdown?
Answer: Yes. However, licenses and transcripts will not be entered into Direct Access until the system is back online. Expect a delay in seeing any updates to licensure and transcripts in Direct Access.
- Question: Will Awards be processed during the Direct Access shutdown?
Answer: No. Award processing will resume on January 4, 2017, once Direct Access is operational.