Ammunition for WSA's

[IceNine]

I've come to a point where requesting that the wing WSA's assign permissions to each member of my unit is detrimental to the process, especially with the common malfunctions associated with the duty assignment permission utility.

Currently my wing has 2 assigned WSA's handling all of the application assignment through out the wing.

I am attempting to gather my thoughts as I begin the battle of change.  So a few questions for those in the know.

Are WSA's at the unit/group level assigned permissions on a single application basis or do they automatically have access to assign applications?

What are the Con's associated with this change?

Can the WSA permissions be assigned and then duplicated like the application permissions?

[SarDragon]

WSAs have "god" authority at their assigned level, and can assign permissions for any application to any member.

Certain permissions come with specific duty assignments, and other needed permissions are assigned by the WSA or the CC. There should be two members of each unit with WSA permissions - the commander, and a backup - particularly in large units, or in large wings. Smaller units/wings might get away with fewer WSAs at either level.

[Eclipse]

I'm not clear what your goal is here or what problem you are trying to fix.

[sarflyer]

SAR dragon is correct.  In on line services the WSA is "god".

WSA permission is assigned to lower levels by the wing wsa.  Each squadron commander is the default wsa and assigns permisions to those who need them.

That authority can be delegated by the squadron commander to another unit member he believes can handle the responsibility.  Cadet or senior, it doesn't matter.

That being said, you must be careful how many people you give wsa permissions.  My "opinion" is there should be one savvy wsa in a unit.  That person is responsible for giving permissions as needed.  In my unit I am the wsa.  When I was at Wing there were two of us. 

If you give everyone permissions you lose control of things.   Permissions are also awarded to people based on their assigned job in the Specialty Track Administration module on the right side of eservices.

The best way to think about it when giving permissions is, does the member have a need to have those permissions.  If the answer is yes, give it to them.  If not, don't.

Information is power! 

[Pylon]

But there are wings where squadron commanders, group commanders and everyone in between cannot act as WSA's - like New York.  There is only one WSA in the Wing of which I am aware, and every request must go up the chain of command from squadron, to group, to Wing and get acted on by the WSA at Wing - even for super-basic stuff like giving Asst. Squadron Personnel Officer Snuffy access to the Online Form 8.

[sarflyer]

Mike,

That's micro management and very inefficient.  Those permission should be a the squadron level.  A squadron level wsa can only give unit level permissions.  He probably couldn't do anything to hurt the wing or group level wsa.  Especially in a wing the size of NY it's even more necessary to delegate the authority.  I would have the squadron commander complain up the chain to change the policy.

[mikeylikey]

^ The same was true in PAWG, until people stopped doing their jobs, because it was taking two weeks to get permissions.  The Executive Director of the Wing and the PAID Emergency Services Officer had total control of granting permissions.  They used it like a fat kid uses a chocolate bar......to feel better about themselves.  THEN the Old Wing Commander left, and a new, better version came out and said......"that's crazy".  Now there is greater span of "permission givers".

YMMV!  

[Camas]

Each squadron commander is the default wsa and assigns permissions to those who need them.

That's not necessarily true. The unit CC still has to be provided those permissions. Not all unit CC's are WSA's

Cadet or senior, it doesn't matter.

Giving WSA permissions to a cadet? I don't agree with that at all.

Permissions are also awarded to people based on their assigned job in the "Specialty Track Administration" module on the right side of eservices.

That should be "Duty Assignment"

The best way to think about it when giving permissions is, does the member have a need to have those permissions.  If the answer is yes, give it to them.  If not, don't.

I agree completely. If there's a doubt as to whether or not a restricted application should be issued - don't issue it.  Those restricted applications are called "restricted" for a reason. They're restricted.

[IceNine]

But there are wings where squadron commanders, group commanders and everyone in between cannot act as WSA's - like New York.  There is only one WSA in the Wing of which I am aware, and every request must go up the chain of command from squadron, to group, to Wing and get acted on by the WSA at Wing - even for super-basic stuff like giving Asst. Squadron Personnel Officer Snuffy access to the Online Form 8.

Here's the problem I've been trying to fix

As for the duty assignment process, its broken.  My ES officer doesn't have access to any ops quals stuff, my safety officer doesn't have access to 78.

To get these assigned is a huge circular argument about how they should be assigned with the duty assignment.  Then I have to try to explain that the duty assignment system doesn't work properly...

While a majority of my issues may be caused by members with multi level staff positions (group and squadron) there is still an issue that should be easily correctable with a few clicks of my magic rodent

[Camas]

Are WSA's at the unit/group level assigned permissions on a single application basis or do they automatically have access to assign applications?

If I understand your question - yes - any WSA can assign any permission at their scope of permissions. By "scope" I mean that a unit-level WSA can assign any permission at the unit level only; a group-level WSA can assign any permission to units within his or her group and so on. Remember, there are a number of permissions that can be issued only by the unit commander such as OPSEC single and multi achievement entry.

Can the WSA permissions be assigned and then duplicated like the application permissions?

Yes - a WSA can assign WSA permissions to another member of the unit, group or wing depending on scope.

My ES officer doesn't have access to any ops quals stuff, my safety officer doesn't have access to 78.

ES officers should have "Single Achievement Entry" and Multi Achievement Entry" along with "Validations-OpsQuals ES" permissions automatically assigned. I don't believe safety officers are able to access the "78" and "79" permissions anymore unless they're assigned at wing or higher. Someone else might know something otherwise.

- even for super-basic stuff like giving Asst. Squadron Personnel Officer Snuffy access to the Online Form 8.

Form 8 permissions are automatically issued to commanders, administration officers and testing officers. A personnel officer could simply request what he or she needs from the unit admin officer.

[arajca]

Another part, and this where I frequently see problems, is making sure the member has the duty assignment in Eservices. I know a few units who use WMU for duty assignments and they don't understand why the members don't automatically get the permissions in Eservices.

[sarflyer]

It is probably because eservices is a work in progress.  Alot of it works.  Just like that big software company in Washington State that tends to release software before it's ready to go.  No names mentioned.

There are going to be glitches, no way around it.  I think I was the first one to find problems with the cropping feature for the uploaded pictures.  I sent in a help desk request, baam!  IT called me and worked it out within a day.

Nature of the animal unfortunately.  And just to say so I think the guys at NAT'L/IT bust their butts for us so here's a round of applause!  :clap:

[SarDragon]

FWIW, NYWG has three WSAs - Hughes, Vreeland,and Wojtowicz.