diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 97bc5f8d4da..0ee1b978506 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@ jobs:
           paths:
             - ./cumulus/services/sfn-scheduler/node_modules
             - ./cumulus/services/sfn-throttler/node_modules
+      
 
       - run:
           name: Running Tests
@@ -133,7 +134,40 @@ jobs:
           environment:
             LOCALSTACK_HOST: localstack
           command: yarn e2e
-
+      
+      - run:
+          name: Running AWS Integration Tests
+          command: |
+            if [[ "$CIRCLE_BRANCH" =~ release-.* ]]; then
+              sudo chown -R circleci:circleci /usr/local/bin
+
+              # install cumulus-integration
+              branch="${INTEGRATION_TEST_BRANCH:-master}"
+              git clone -b ${branch} https://github.com/cumulus-nasa/cumulus-integration-tests.git ~/integration
+              cd ~/integration
+              yarn
+
+              # extract list of cumulus packages used in the integration test
+              cat package.json | jq '.dependencies | to_entries[] | select(.key | startswith("@cumulus")).key' > cumulus_integration_tests_packages.txt
+              cd ~/project
+
+              # run the build command on the packages used on the integration tests
+              cat ../integration/cumulus_integration_tests_packages.txt | xargs -I % ./node_modules/.bin/lerna exec --scope % -- yarn build 
+              
+              # run the yarn link on packages used on the integration tests
+              cat ../integration/cumulus_integration_tests_packages.txt | xargs -I % ./node_modules/.bin/lerna exec --scope % -- yarn link
+              cd ~/integration
+
+              # run the yarn link package-name on the integration tests
+              cat cumulus_integration_tests_packages.txt | xargs -I % yarn link %
+
+              # deploy latest version of the packages to the aws
+              yarn deploy
+
+              # run the tests
+              yarn test
+            fi
+      
   build_and_publish:
     docker:
       - image: circleci/node:6.10
@@ -157,6 +191,7 @@ jobs:
             VERSION=$(cat lerna.json | jq .version --raw-output)
             ./node_modules/.bin/lerna publish --skip-git --repo-version $VERSION --yes --force-publish=*
 
+
 workflows:
   version: 2
   build_test_deploy:
diff --git a/.github/pull_request_template.md b/.github/pull_request_template.md
index 9391d52aff5..d3f21a3919a 100644
--- a/.github/pull_request_template.md
+++ b/.github/pull_request_template.md
@@ -12,5 +12,10 @@ Things that should succeed before merging.
 
 - [ ] Unit tests
 - [ ] Adhoc testing
+- [ ] Update CHANGELOG
+
+## Release PR
+
+If this is a **release** PR, make sure you branch name starts with `release-` prefix, e.g. `release-v-1.1.2`.
 
 Reviewers: @tag-your-friends
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4e4ea54c130..92d6d84ccf3 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.
 - Broke up `kes.override.js` of @cumulus/deployment to multiple modules and moved to a new location
 - Expanded @cumulus/deployment test coverage
 - all tasks were updated to use cumulus-message-adapter-js 1.0.1
+- added build process to integration-tests package to babelify it before publication
 
 ## [v1.1.1] - 2018-03-08
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8d5afe9d4f7..86e862f33fc 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -107,6 +107,10 @@ Lerna will update the version of all packages after the selection. You then have
 
 The version number updates should be put in a PR and committed to master along with the changelog updates. After merging to master, tag the master branch with a release using the new version number.
 
+#### Release PR
+
+Release PRs **MUST** be named with `release-` prefix. This will kick off the AWS integration tests in the CI process and ensures that package updates are fully tested on AWS before publication to NPM.
+
 ### Publishing to NPM
 
 All packages on master branch are automatically published to NPM.
diff --git a/packages/common/package.json b/packages/common/package.json
index e1f2ef81f9b..7ac86f11373 100644
--- a/packages/common/package.json
+++ b/packages/common/package.json
@@ -31,10 +31,11 @@
   },
   "babel": {
     "presets": [
-      "es2015"
-    ],
-    "plugins": [
-      "transform-async-to-generator"
+      ["env", {
+        "targets": {
+          "node": "6.10"
+        }
+      }]
     ]
   },
   "author": "Cumulus Authors",
@@ -47,11 +48,8 @@
     "aws-sdk": "^2.4.11",
     "babel-core": "^6.13.2",
     "babel-eslint": "^6.1.2",
-    "babel-loader": "^6.2.4",
-    "babel-plugin-transform-async-to-generator": "^6.8.0",
     "babel-polyfill": "^6.13.0",
-    "babel-preset-env": "^1.4.0",
-    "babel-preset-es2015": "^6.13.2",
+    "babel-preset-env": "^1.6.1",
     "cwait": "^1.0.0",
     "eslint": "^3.2.2",
     "eslint-config-airbnb": "^10.0.0",
diff --git a/packages/integration-tests/package.json b/packages/integration-tests/package.json
index b262f965396..d48ea703f1d 100644
--- a/packages/integration-tests/package.json
+++ b/packages/integration-tests/package.json
@@ -5,13 +5,15 @@
   "bin": {
     "cumulus-test": "./bin/cli.js"
   },
+  "main": "dist/index.js",
   "repository": {
     "type": "git",
     "url": "https://github.com/cumulus-nasa/cumulus"
   },
   "scripts": {
     "build": "webpack --progress",
-    "watch": "webpack --progress -w"
+    "watch": "webpack --progress -w",
+    "postinstall": "npm run build"
   },
   "publishConfig": {
     "access": "public"
diff --git a/packages/integration-tests/webpack.config.js b/packages/integration-tests/webpack.config.js
index 3d163ff19ed..3ed7304a281 100644
--- a/packages/integration-tests/webpack.config.js
+++ b/packages/integration-tests/webpack.config.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 module.exports = {
-  entry: ['babel-polyfill', './index.js'],
+  entry: ['./index.js'],
   output: {
     libraryTarget: 'commonjs2',
     filename: 'dist/index.js'