Posted on Oct 8, 2015
How are "no box check" OERs evaluated by promotion boards?
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Let's assume the senior rater block check is the one and only important thing that determines promotion v. non-promotion for Army officers. It is fairly clear from the commentary that 3/5 MQ/ACOM is the standard for a decent shot at promotion to LTC (with clear outliers as in any bell curve with presumably folks with 0/5 or BCOMs getting promoted and folks with 5/5 and 4/5 not being promoted) and perhaps more selective for promotion to COL. Best I can tell, the policy of "no block checks" for company grade officers existed from 2004 to 1 Oct 2011. With this year's PZ group being YG99, and assuming most folks receive an OER annually, it seems fairly likely that most YG99 had at least one “no box check” OER in their last 5 OERs, and that some YG99 officers who did any sort of training or education that did not result in an OER (ie, graduate school, ILE, etc, etc, etc) from 2010-2015 likely had two or more “no box check” OERs in their last 5 OERs. For YG00, it seems fairly likely that a lot of folks will have one or more “no box check" OERs in their last 5 OERs, although the numbers would presumably be less than YG99.
So, how do Board members evaluate “no box check” OERs? All the discussion we see about promotion focuses on senior rater box checks and the quasi-requirement that 3/5 puts one in good standing for promotion. If one or more OERs in the last 5 were “no box check,” though, how do Board members read these?
I’d guess that Board members look for stratification in the senior rater comments and rely a bit more on rater comments for these “no box check” OERs.
So, how do Board members evaluate “no box check” OERs? All the discussion we see about promotion focuses on senior rater box checks and the quasi-requirement that 3/5 puts one in good standing for promotion. If one or more OERs in the last 5 were “no box check,” though, how do Board members read these?
I’d guess that Board members look for stratification in the senior rater comments and rely a bit more on rater comments for these “no box check” OERs.
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Am a former assignment officer and someone who has sat on a board, I agree with what you have said up to the rely on rater comments for the no block check. Board members will rely on the words used by the senior rater but will also rely on the assessment of the overall flavor of the board. Board members do not count OERs, so it is not as simple as did this guy have three ACOMs, if so, promote. They will look at all of the OERs and score the file accordingly. Now applying some qualitative and quantitative assessments after the board recesses shows that in order for a board file to receive an average score that placed it above the promote cut line, there may need to be at least three above center of mass OERs in the file in to make LTC. But also the issue of when the OERs were received, how long was the rating period, what jobs did the office receive the good reports and which jobs did he earn a vanilla report. All of that goes into the board member assessment. Unfortunately, no block check OERs can carry the same weight as an AER if not stratified with above center of mass type comments. Since most no block check OERs may be the last OERs reviewed in the file (the board members see the most recent first) overall effect is minimal compared to your MAJ OERs, meaning the OER will probably not give you the benefit of the doubt, unless it is clearly an ACOM written report.
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MAJ (Join to see)
Sir: Thanks for the comments. While HRC put out a great Mock Board training package last year, the Board process is still difficult to understand, and it seems a lot of emphasis is placed on post-Board stats vs. the overall Board process. The message to the field seems to be "All that matters are ACOM/MQ block checks on your last 5 OERS." Your comments add a bit more perspective to the discussion.
A couple questions:
1) Do Boards actually look at AERs and consider AERs in file scoring?
2) Do Boards look at all OERs? As you mention, the way the Board file is set up, the most recent documents are presented first. For a LTC Board, its probably safe to assume most majors have somewhere around 13-15 OERs (essentially, one or so per year of service) and at least 3 AERs (the basic course, the advanced course, ILE). With the DA Photo and ORB, that's a lot of documents (16-18) for a Board member to look at in the short period of time (the 4-5 minutes we're told a Board member spends on each file).
A couple questions:
1) Do Boards actually look at AERs and consider AERs in file scoring?
2) Do Boards look at all OERs? As you mention, the way the Board file is set up, the most recent documents are presented first. For a LTC Board, its probably safe to assume most majors have somewhere around 13-15 OERs (essentially, one or so per year of service) and at least 3 AERs (the basic course, the advanced course, ILE). With the DA Photo and ORB, that's a lot of documents (16-18) for a Board member to look at in the short period of time (the 4-5 minutes we're told a Board member spends on each file).
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COL (Join to see)
MAJ (Join to see) - first the board member probably spends two minutes on a file. It doesn't sound like a lot of time, but you would be surprised how quickly you can get a feel for a file. The board stats that are released are done by an fa49 ORSA type officer who is trying to fit the data(results) to a model (last four OERs, 3 out 5, etc.) Since every board is different, you end up with a little different model after each one. This year it was three out of last five, last year it was 50% of major report cards. Before the board starts reviewing files the board members agree to a word picture associated with each possible score. They use a 1 to 6 score with a plus or minus so the max scorr is 6 plus and lowest is 1 minus. So the board may agree that a 6 is a below the zone type file, almost all ACOM, CGSC grad, and ACOM reports in KD job. A 5 is mostly ACOms with at least one ACOM in KD job, a 2 is a below center or mass file and don't promote, etc. so a board member will probably only have to go five or six OERs back before he gets the flavor of the file and mentally can drop it into one of these word picture categories, then give it a plus if it is slightly better or a minus if slightly worse but not enough to fall up or down k to the next category. For files that are on the edge of a category the board member may weight recent OERs, photo, go back further in the file, etc to clarify what score should be given. As a a double check, if the board member scores the file more or less than two standard deviations from the average score, he is given the opportunity to re-score the file. Unfortunately for FAOs and other FAs with long education timelines, AERs carry little weight, in part because they dont translate well. Is an AER with a math masters better than a history one? Is the Denver better than Kansas? Whereas all OERS have a common baseline, the overstamp.
When a board member opens your file, he will typically use two screens, one is set to your ORB and the other starts with your photo. He then clicks on your performance file and starts reviewing your OERs while keeping the orb on the other screen. He probably won't have time to look up your awards, unless of course he comes across something out of the ordinary like a v device.
Hope this helps, I can be reached this way or by [login to see]
When a board member opens your file, he will typically use two screens, one is set to your ORB and the other starts with your photo. He then clicks on your performance file and starts reviewing your OERs while keeping the orb on the other screen. He probably won't have time to look up your awards, unless of course he comes across something out of the ordinary like a v device.
Hope this helps, I can be reached this way or by [login to see]
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Great discussion, I am a YG 94 officer so I have always had the box check, as a Battalion Commander I struggled with getting my profile back in order when I started having to box check LTs again. I participated in a state level board that was run the same way as a retention board for CO grade officers and I have to agree with most of the comments I have already read. An officer's picture is probably the most important part of the file, followed by their ORB. Both can give an impression in just a few seconds. The next thing I looked at were the OERs from the officer's KD assignments, this normally confirmed or denied what I had already thought of when I looked at the photo and ORB. My advise: don't settle for a poor photo, get a good haircut and have someone look over your uniform before hand. Also have a senior officer look over your ORB, they can help by pointing out things you may have overlooked.
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MAJ (Join to see)
Sir: thanks for the feedback. Initial impressions are important, in any process, and the photo is always understand as an important part of the board. I've never been a fan of having the photo be part of the record, though. I just don't see a way that including photos doesn't go towards impacting biases and opening up potential issues with discrimination.
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I would assume that all those who are sitting on the board have had to write No Box Check OERs so they would know the tricks of the trade in evaluating what equates to a box check. The good news is that there are no profiles for those and the write ups could be equivalent to ACOM.
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