Air Force Recruiting Command is spending millions to advertise on hip Web sites that put the Air Force message just a “click� away, and the recruiting process � beyond the face-to-face talks with the recruiter � is largely electronic today.

Yet when it comes to security clearances and background checks, the system still requires paperwork and signatures � sometimes multiple signatures � all of which lengthens the process..

But that should change, perhaps by the end of March 2007, when the Air Force begins deploying a software program, called ApproveIt, with digital signature technology that will make the process less paper-dependent. “We expect it to eliminate a couple of steps in the processing of security paperwork for applicants,� said Lt. Col. Gary Trautmann, chief, Information Systems Division for Headquarters Air Force Recruiting Service, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. .

With less paperwork the process will be more efficient, more economical and environmentally friendly, he said, but it also provides a secure way to move documents and electronic signatures through the system. Jay Pascal, senior Air Force Recruiting InformationSupport System software developer at Randolph, said “we know it will streamline the security processing.� .

The system, developed by Quebec, Canada-based Silanis Technology Inc., already has been picked up by Air Force Reserve Command Recruiting Services, which looked into it after the Army began using it several years ago. The Navy and Marine Corps recently tested it for use across its Navy Marine Corps Intranet, according to a company press release; if those services adopt it they will be able to securely move electronic signatures, thereby eliminating vast amounts of paper from daily operations..

READ: Air Force: E-recruiting to save time

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