Christopher Tamayo

• Works under the supervision of the Chief, Military Personnel Division who provides general administrative guidance and relies on incumbent to independently plan, design and carry out casualty assistance support; manage casualty operations; mortuary operations; military funeral honors; Casualty Assistance Center (CAC) fatal accident brief support; mass casualty support; open allotment; training; and line of duty programs. Incumbent carries out assigned responsibilities independently within guidelines provided by HQDA, HQ Installation Management Command (IMCOM), and local policies, precedents and procedures. Work accomplishments are reviewed for conformity to program guidelines and overall impact on the success of the CAC.
• Develops and supervises an operation involving approximately three civilian employees who are engaged in professional, technical and administrative work. Supervises a Branch, which is operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Incumbent and subordinates are subject to on-call 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Incumbent serves in an extremely sensitive and high visibility position directly involved in all casualty incidents, involving notification of death, casualty assistance, mortuary services and burial honors. Incumbent provides direction, continuity and guidance to General Staff, ACOMS, subordinate commands, Reserves, and National Guard. Provides training to all organization pertaining to casualty assistance and funeral honors on a monthly basis or as needed basis. Quality of work affects every family of deceased. Soldiers in terms of veteran’s entitlements, monetary and other statuary entitlements and final honors for interment. Supervises the Contract Officer Representative in the execution of duties with relation to mortuary services contracts. Responsible for notifying and providing assistance to the Line of Duty (LOD) Officer of all incidents that may result in a formal or informal LOD.
• As Chief, plans, coordinates, and directs the mission of the garrison Casualty Assistance Center (CAC). Manages and provides Quality Assurance for the Army’s Casualty program in an Area of Responsibility (AOR) that touches several states, and supports Soldiers, Army Veterans, Spouses, and Retirees. The Army’s Casualty Program is inclusive of Casualty Operations, Mortuary Operations, Line of Duty investigations, Honors (Military and Plane Side), Cemetery Operations, Casualty related Training, Family Incident Brief Support, Fatality Review Board, and Mass Casualty Support.
• Provides casualty subject matter expertise for all units in the CAC AOR by issuing guidance, responding to request for information from supporting commands, and advising the Garrison Commander on Casualty Operations. Partners with Family Morale Welfare and Relief Command’s long term Survivor Outreach Services by supervising and providing quality assurance on CAC employee’s interaction with Long Term Support Coordinators and Financial Counselors. Manages the Open Allotment that accesses Headquarters Department of the Army funding by maintaining a standard operating procedure, a logbook, and supervising the open allotment’s usage. Applies analytical techniques in identifying and solving casualty assistance problems.
• Responsible for overseeing personnel actions that directly affect soldiers, retirees, civilian employees, spouses and other NOK quality of life issues which cover a wide variety of technical and administrative activities. Activities require coordination, integration, or consolidation of a broad range of casualty and survivor support services activities, for which the incumbent is the technical authority. Work requires integration, consolidation, and coordination of a broad range of issues and requires significant creativity combined with analytical and evaluative skill and impact of short-term activities on long-term organizational activities.

• Serve as the Casualty Assistance Center (CAC) Operations Coordinator with duties to plan, develop, coordinate, integrate, and execute critical functions of the CAC. Executed extremely sensitive and high visibility position directly involved in assisting the Casualty and Mortuary Affairs Operations Division (CMAOD) in coordinating casualty notification and assistance missions and fatality review boards. Provided direction, continuity, and guidance to units in JBM-HH area of operations to include Pentagon Staff, MACOMS and their subordinate commands, reserves, and National Guard. Disseminated written policy, procedures and guidelines to the units located in JBM-HH Casualty Area Command. Served as CAC spokesperson in meetings, conferences, to disseminated information on matters relating Army, Veteran Administration, and Social Security benefits and entitlements. Prepared and presents casualty related briefings and literatures to survivors, military units, and family groups. Served as the technical advisor to the CAC supervisor, Chief Military Personnel Division, and unit commanders on all matters related to Casualty Notification and Assistance. Briefed high-level official on policies concerning the CAC, and provided guidance to the Benefits Coordinator, Mortuary and Memorial Affairs Coordinators, and the Training Coordinator. Served as the CAC Defense Travel System (DTS) coordinator subject matter expert. Responsible for creating DTS travel orders for family members attending funeral/unit memorial services and for Soldiers serving as remains human escort officer. Analyzed travel documents for compliance, ensured travel vouchers were submitted through DTS and paid in the mandated period. Served as the CAC Instructor/ Trainer in the absence of the assigned instructor/ trainer. Planned and carried out effective classroom training activities according to instructions and policies. Trained, coached, and mentored Soldiers in leadership position to serve as Casualty Notification Officers (CNO) and Casualty Assistance Officers (CAO). Review DD Form 93, SGLI and then completes casualty reports for active duty and retired Soldiers and their dependents, and VSI and SI Solders who were hospitalized. Responsible for planning, organizing, and coordinating the trainings for Mortuary Affairs operations, Mass Casualty contingency, Military Burial Honors, Line of Duty (LOD) determinations, Summary Courts Martial Officer, and Escort Officers. Published Blubark orders and worked with Joint Personal Property Shipping Office JPPSO to ship Personal effects (PE) and household goods. Drafted and submitted casualty reports in the Defense Casualty Information Processing System (DCIPS).

• Serve as a Casualty Team Lead in the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall (JBM-HH) Casualty Assistance Center. Provide casualty support by notifying the Army Casualty and Memorial Affairs Division (CMAOD) of Soldiers who dies in JBM- HH jurisdiction. Responsible for coordinating Casualty Notification Officer (CNO) teams comprising of a Soldier and a chaplain. Briefed and dispatched notification teams. Tasked for Casualty Assistance Officers (CAO) and the briefed the CAO on benefits and entitlements such as Death Gratuity, Unpaid Pay, ID Cards, Scholarships, Survivor Benefit, Social Security entitlements, and Veteran Administration benefits. Reviewed current federal and state laws to determine families' benefits and entitlements such as Servicemembers Group Life Insurance (SGLI), Death Gratuity, and other benefits. Coordinates with the Department of Veteran Affairs and other federal agencies to ensure eligible beneficiaries received all entitlements to include Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC), education benefits. Interacts with, DEERS program office, TRICARE, and Local and State Resources, the Freedom of Information Act Program office, Office of Service members Group Life Insurance, the Army Staff, Defense Agencies, and the other service casualty operations programs to ensure family inquiries are resolved in a timely and effective manner.
• Explained Military Identification Card policies, entitlement, travel regulations to include transportation of household goods to Survivors. Published Bluebark orders and worked with Joint Personal Property Shipping Office JPPSO to ship Personal effects (PE) and household goods. Advised leadership and survivors on sources of benefits, and assistance available under other federal, state or local programs such as mortuary benefits, and VA benefits. Ensured eligible beneficiaries of active-duty Soldiers receive Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) counseling. Briefed eligible beneficiaries of retired members on final retirement pay, and SBP. Completes and transmits forms to DFAS. Drafted and submitted casualty reports in the Defense Casualty Information Processing System (DCIPS).
• Served as a subject matter expert within the organization, advising on complex casualty cases and sharing knowledge with colleagues.

• Responsible for the professional development of over 3,000 Soldiers in a selected group of Military Occupational Specialties 91 series. Requisitioned routine and priority assignments for unit fills based on the Army's need. Inputted assignment data in the Enlisted Distribution Assignment System (EDAS) and then counseled Soldiers on assignment instruction. Directly interface and coordinated daily with senior staff members and career branches on a variety routine and high priority force modernization positions, requisitions and personnel actions. Coordinated assignment actions that are complicated by such factors as Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP), Married Army Couples Program (MACP), professional development, stabilization, and classification.

Serve as Human Resource Specialist, Personnel Service Sergeant in a training battalion which supports over 1900 Soldiers. Coordinate and process promotions, transfers, and separations, managing the timely delivery of personnel actions. Serve as a liaison between soldiers and senior leadership, addressing and resolving inquiries and issue related to benefits, assignments, and personnel policies. Advises the Command and Staff on personnel, promotions, and finance related matters to include strength levels of subordinate companies; reviews consolidated promotions and financial reports, statistics, and prepares recommendations to higher echelons on personnel utilization. Develop and conduct training sessions for soldiers on data management and administrative procedures. Assisted with the in processing and orientation of new personnel, ensuring a smooth transition and integration into unit activities. Coordinated travel orders and arrangements for personnel attending training and temporary duty assignments.