Posted on Mar 2, 2014
SGT Cybersecurity
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<p>I am currently preparing to submit paperwork to the Army Discharge Review Board, even though I was discharged with an Honorable. </p><p><br></p><p>During this process I am currently going through every single record I accumulated during my 9 years in the Army. And there seems to be a very disturbing trend that I am discovering.</p><p><br></p><p>On almost every single document, from Awards to Reenlistment documents, I am seeing error after error.</p><p><br></p><p>I have also noticed quite a few errors on my ERB regarding overseas tours, duty assignments, &nbsp;and awards that I have but that are not on my ERB. It is a good thing I have all my Assignment Orders and&nbsp;deployment orders.</p><p><br></p><p>So, I implore all of you NCOs, from SGT to&nbsp;SGM...when you get a new soldier assigned to you, and prior to your Initial Counseling session, tell your subordinate to gather every single document they have, make copies, and take the time to make sure that all their records, awards, orders, enlistments, everything is correct. And then begin the task of correcting them.</p><p><br></p><p>There are exponential benefits to doing this in the eyes of your soldiers:</p><p><br></p><p>1. You will learn a great deal about your soldiers, the training they have received, the units they have been to, awards and why they received them, specialized training, you name it. It gives you a greater picture of them rather than "it's just another Specialist or Sergeant".</p><p><br></p><p>2. You will be forced to read regulations you never knew existed. I can't tell you how many&nbsp;REGS and DA PAMs&nbsp;I have read in their entirety over the past few weeks. A lot of them I remember reading 10 years and they have all been updated with new stuff. The knowledge you will gain about enlistments, chapters, awards, etc, are well worth it and might even help you in your records cleanup.</p><p><br></p><p>3. Your soldiers will appreciate the time you take to make sure they are administratively squared away. You never know, there may be that one soldier that has a negative view about the Army until discover an award that he was entitled to&nbsp;and never received.</p><p><br></p><p>4. You will set a standard for other NCOs to follow, because we all know that word will get around that SPC Numbnuts' NCO took the time to ensure he was squared away.</p><p><br></p><p>Anyway, take the time to do right by your soldiers and they may begin to understand what being an NCO is all about.</p>
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SPC Orderly Room Clerk
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Being a 42A (SPC) I review the ERBS for my company that I am assigned to, yet work in a different area, and see some many things wrong with every single persons ERB. &nbsp;I let the orderly room clerks know what I need from each Soldier so that we can square away the Soldiers ERBS regardless of what their rank may be. &nbsp;Every Soldiers ERBS should look like it is about to be reviewed by a board and squared away along with their OMPF. I do not know how many times I have heard I'm not worried about them I am worried about myself yet you want to become a NCO. It is beyond me of how NCO'S and future NCO's don't care about taking care of their Soldiers anymore.&nbsp;
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SGT Cybersecurity
SGT (Join to see)
10 y
Just out of curiosity, which regulation covers ERB? I am going to search for it now, but it may help others.
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SFC S1 Personnel Ncoic
SFC (Join to see)
10 y
SGT Bulter,<div>&nbsp; There isn't a regulation that specifically covers the ERB. &nbsp;It is your responsibility to ensure your honors are entered on your ERB. &nbsp;Do a records update with your EMILPO clerk and they can update the ACH block to reflect "CL." &nbsp;</div>
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1SG First Sergeant
1SG (Join to see)
10 y
SGT (Join to see) There is not a specific reg that covers the ERB/ORB due to the fact it is a compilation of numerous databases into one "easily" read brief. In order to understand HOW to update an ERB, you could review the eMILPO Functional User's Guide (S1 has it) which provides the S1 clerk with step by step instructions on how to update all areas and provides the regulatory reference for each section.
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CSM Carl Cunningham
CSM Carl Cunningham
>1 y
SFC (Join to see) - Actually, AR 600-8-104 covers a good portion of the ERB. It is mostly for the OMPF but you can get great information on specific areas of the ERB.
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SSG(P) Casualty Operations Ncoic
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EVERY Soldier should be checking his/her ERB and OMPF/iPERMS on a regular basis (no less than monthly). It is YOUR career, so why wouldn't you take care of it?

While it IS the responsibility of each first-line supervisor to check that his/her Soldiers are keeping on top of their careers, each Soldier needs to realize that no one else is going to do it for them. There is no "autopilot" for your career.

It is an easy thing to do. As a former 42A S-1 NCO, I can tell you that ERB updates do not take much time or effort to do. Scanning and uploading documents to iPERMS is a little more involved (for the S-1 Clerk) but for the Soldier it is as easy as presenting either the original or a copy of each document that you want uploaded.

What I have done, and continue to do is to download my ERB *EVERY* month to both check for accuracy and compare with the last month's version.

So when the Army hands you an official piece of paper, copy it, put it in your "I Love Me" Book, scan it, burn it to a CD/DVD, E-Mail it to yourself, and make sure you have it accessible to you in almost any situation. Then make an appointment with your BN S-1 and make sure it gets to your OMPF/iPERMS. Then check your ERB and iPERMS. It will take a week or two for some documents to make it to your iPERMS. If it takes more than 2 weeks, check with your S-1 to see a status. They should have noted the Batch Number and with that can track it down.

So take your career in your own hands and maintain it like your bank account-- always check on it for accuracy. Just remember that NO ONE is going to care about your career as much as YOU DO. If you don't care about your own career, no one else will either.
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SGM Matthew Quick
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Maintenance shouldn't just be for our cars, bodies, and relationships...maintenance is the process of maintaining or preserving someone or something.<br><br>We can all set aside an hour or so (many times less) a month to check or maintain our own records and the records of our subordinates. &nbsp;We own it to our Soldiers AND it's our jobs!
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