...for as long as it takes
By Maj. Donna Miles, USAR
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON -- The Year 2000 computer problem has dominated the headlines for months with alarmists warning of airplanes falling from the sky and banking and power systems going totally haywire.
One thing service members won't have to worry about, though, is their military records.
Rob Brandewie, deputy director of the Defense Manpower Data Center, said DMDC will face the new millennium with little more than a champagne headache. That's important news, because the center's holdings comprise the Defense Department's largest archive of personnel, manpower, training and financial data.
The center, based in Seaside, Calif., near Monterey, computerized in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It has literally billions of records that affect every service member and retiree, their families, all Reserve members and National Guardsmen, and all DoD civilian employees. Its largest "file," for instance, is the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, or DEERS, which verifies a person's eligible for medical care and a wide range of other benefits.
The Year 2000 problem, nicknamed "Y2K," refers to a past computer industry practice of writing years with just two digits -- 1999 would be "99." Because of this digital shorthand, some computer systems on Jan. 1, 2000, might treat "00" as "1900" or just shut down. Almost any computer system may be vulnerable and needs to be checked and then, if necessary, fixed to handle the year change or replaced. A computer system that recognizes the year 2000 correctly is called "compliant."
"In our line of work, just about everything is tied to dates -- the date of entry into the service, entitlements, benefits, pay longevity, and the date of eligibility to retire or separate," Brandewie said.
Because key events in service members' careers tend to revolve around dates, Y2K concerns are important, he said. DMDC got a jump on Y2K in 1995 by upgrading DEERS using a database that solved the problem before most people knew there was one.
"We've been sensitive to the century issue for quite awhile," he said. Center programmers routinely use four-digit dates because active data in the client base span three centuries, not just two. Some of DMDC's oldest "clients" -- people tracked -- were born in the 1800s, for example, and many others have retirement dates well into the 2000s, he said.
The change, he said, assured that military medical beneficiaries' care, whether in military facilities or through TRICARE or CHAMPUS, won't be interrupted because DMDC was unprepared for Y2K.
And the implications go beyond medical care, he said. Information in DEERS records also affects access to commissaries, exchanges and theaters, as well as educational entitlements under the Montgomery GI Bill. For example, the Real Time Automated Personnel Identification System uses data from DEERS to issue military identification cards.
Despite the center's progress on the Y2K front, Brandewie acknowledged it will be only as strong as its weakest link when the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31. The center relies on vendors and suppliers that use computers to provide commercial power, water and other services.
It regularly exchanges data with a large array of agencies inside and outside DoD, both to keep records up to date and to produce a wide range of reports for the Defense Department, Brandewie said. Some of these affiliates may be prepared for Y2K, but some may not be.
He outlined backup plans. DMDC has emergency power generators in case an power grid goes down. If its communications are cut off, installations will issue ID cards locally. The Defense Information Systems Agency stores a full backup file at its megacenter at Hill Air Force Base, Utah.
With its mission-critical systems readied for the new millennium, Brandewie said, the focus is on fine-tuning center support systems. Like other defense activities, it's upgrading or replacing date-driven hardware and software and then testing the systems to ensure they, too, are Y2K-compliant.
Testing is the toughest part of the effort, he explained, because DMDC's systems operate 24 hours a day and can't be stopped for what computer technicians call "end-to-end testing." This would involve watching what happens from the beginning a a process to the end when equipment and programs are manipulated and operated as if it were already the next century.
A contractor hired by DMDC is doing just that in what Brandewie calls "a parallel (computer) world." Basically, the contractor's testing separate, identical systems to those at the center while the real ones continue normal operations.
By June 30, Brandewie said all DMDC's critical systems will be fully Y2K-compliant. Some noncritical applications "will 'bug' us into the new year," he conceded, but no glitch will be so severe as to warrant service members and their families scurrying to make precautionary copies of their records.
"Trust that the systems will work," he advises DMDC's clients. "A lot of people in DoD have paid a lot of attention to this issue, so rest assured that your records are in good hands -- and will continue to be well into the next century."
Disclaimer of Endorsement:
Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by VNIS. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of VNIS, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. VNIS is not a government agency and is a sole proprietorship, own and operated by Christian L. Wilson USN/Ret
