[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 5 (Monday, January 26, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S243-S244]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             TRIBUTE TO HUMAN RESOURCES COMMAND--ST. LOUIS

 Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I wish to pay special tribute to the 
U.S. Army's Human Resources Command--St. Louis, formerly known as the 
Army Personnel Command, AR-PERSCOMD. On October 2, 2003, ARPERSCOM was 
deactivated and merged with the U.S. Army's Total Army Personnel 
Command to form the Army's Human Resources Command, headquartered in 
Alexandria, VA. Although its name has changed, the organization's proud 
legacy of selfless service to Army Reserve Soldiers, veterans, and 
their family members continues.
  The mission of Human Resources Command--St. Louis, HRC-St. Louis, is 
to ensure the full spectrum of human resources programs, services and 
systems are executed to support the readiness and well-being of Army 
personnel worldwide. HRC-St. Louis and its predecessor organizations 
have a long and distinguished history of service to the Nation. Located 
in the Charles F. Prevedel Building at the Federal Records Complex in 
suburban St. Louis, the command was officially activated on October 1, 
1998, with the mission of providing the highest quality life cycle 
management and services resulting in a trained and ready force in 
support of the National Military Strategy. Formed provisionally on 
October 16, 1997, AP-PERSCOM replaced the former U.S. Army Reserve, 
USAR, Personnel Center on ARPERCEN.
  HRC-St. Louis traces its lineage back to 1919, when the Demobilized 
Records Division was established in Washington, D.C., as an activity 
under the Adjutant General's Office. Its mission was to store and 
maintain the records of soldiers demobilized after World War I. After a 
number of moves, the division came to St. Louis in 1945. First located 
at the Federal facility at 4300 Goodfellow Blvd., the division moved to 
its present location on 9700 Page Avenue--1 Reserve Way--in 1956. 
Through the years, the organization underwent a number of name and 
mission changes, including the establishment of the Reserve Components 
Personnel and Administration Center or RCPAC in 1971, and ARPERCEN's 
establishment as a field operating agency under the Chief, Army Reserve 
in 1984. In 1994, a U.S. Army council of colonels convened and 
determined that USAR personnel management, service and policy functions 
should be streamlined and consolidated under one command: AR-PERSCON.
  Serving as the single focal point for the supporting Army Reserve 
Personnel life cycle management in peacetime, mobilization, and 
demobilization environments, HRC-St. Louis provides efficient and 
seamless human resource support to Army Reserve Soldiers who are Troop 
Program Unit, TPU, members, drilling Reserve unit members; Individual 
Mobilization Augmentees, IMA; Individual Ready Reservists, IRR; and 
Active Guard Reserve, AGR soldiers, reservists on extended full-time 
active duty. The command supports almost 329,000 Ready Reserve 
Soldiers, approximately 212,000 in the Selected Reserve--TPU, IMA, and 
AGR, and over 115,000 IRR Soldiers.
  HRC-St. Louis is a highly innovative organization; maximizing the 
talents of its combined military and civilian work force over 1,100 
members. It serves as a leader within the Department of Defense in 
maximizing use of advanced technology providing personalized, e-care--
electronic--to customers. Its award-winning HRC-St. Louis, formerly 
2xCitizen, website, with its numerous applications, informs Reserve 
soldiers and the public on Army personnel matters. In 2002, alone, 
there were over 28 million visits--logins--to the website. Soldiers can 
access and update their records online at any time via the Internet 
through their own individual self-service web portal--a significant 
innovation and major evolution in soldier personnel service support. No 
longer do Reserve soldiers have to wait extended periods for hardcopy 
documents or microfiche copies to arrive through the mail to review 
their records or prepare for promotion boards. In providing responsive, 
real time e-care for soldiers, HRC-St. Louis contributes significantly 
toward the Army's readiness to engage in support of the implementation 
of the National Military Strategy on behalf of the Nation's security 
objectives.
  The command's merger with the Total Army's PERSCOM, and incorporation 
as part of the new U.S. Army's Human Resources Command, is part of an 
overall Army transformation effort to streamline and enhance 
integration of all personnel functions--making them more efficient and 
responsive in meeting a wide range of missions--while enhancing 
personnel service for the soldier.

[[Page S244]]

  This proclamation recognizes and salutes all those who currently 
serve as members of Human Resources Command--St. Louis--soldiers and 
civilians alike--and all who have gone before them who have made 
countless contributions to the United States of America. As the Army's 
Human Resources transformation continues, the soldiers and civilians of 
HRC-St. Louis will continue to make many more significant contributions 
to the soldiers and our Nation as a part of the U.S. Army's Human 
Resources Command.

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