When any Department of Defense member readies themselves for official travel, their first and last steps of action most likely include three words: defense travel system.
The DTS program is not only vital to every servicemember, it’s also at times complicated. The DTS team at Joint Base Andrews works to ensure that all DTS issues that are brought to their attention are solved, and that the member takes away more than just knowledge for the future.
‘‘If you have a problem with your travel documents, you should call us,” said Grace Ann Conroy, Air Force District of Washington chief of the DTS team here at Joint Base Andrews. ‘‘Whether you’re from Andrews or Ramstein, and not sure who to go to, we will help you and then point you in the right direction with a point of contact for the future. Customer service is one of our main missions.”
The DTS team solves problems members may have concerning their travel as well as provides training from approving officials to Airmen who just want to learn the system.
‘‘We hold training classes every week for travelers, approving officials and organizational defense administrators,” said Ms. Conroy. ‘‘We train Department of Defense members how to manage their travel.”
‘‘Some of the common problems we deal with are issues where the member’s DTS profile is not up to date or does not include their travel card information,” said Ms. Conroy.
This DTS profile isn’t connected to MyPay or any other account a servicemember may have in their military service.
‘‘DoD civilians as well as servicemembers have a profile with the DTS system that is completely separate from any other they may have,” said Sam Zhang, AFDW lead defense travel administrator.
At times, DTS issues do not only lie with members not updating their profile, it can also be out of their hands and into the hands of the approving officials of travel documents.
‘‘A typical problem we come across is when travel documents are stuck at an approving official,” said Mr. Zhang. ‘‘Occasionally this could include members within an organization.”
With a wide range of an area of responsibility, the AFDW DTS team puts their knowledge to the test daily.
‘‘We take care of the National Capital Region,” said Ms. Conroy, ‘‘as well as anyone connected with the NCR.”
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