Could a Letter to the President of the Board have a negative impact on my career?

2016-06-16T13:25:26-04:00

Question. I've been doing some research on how a letter to the President of the Board for the SFC board, could have a negative or positive impact on your chances of being selected. I've had to write a little for the FY16 SFC promotion board because I still had roughly 5 things that I felt needed to be brought to the boards attention (board file corrections). Will it be viewed as I did not handle everything in a timely fashion, or will it be viewed as I care about my career? Thoughts anyone????

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 16 at 2016 1:29 PM

2016-06-16T13:29:10-04:00

I can't answer that as I haven't sat on the board. I've heard the same though- both.

I wrote one this year as I was TDY for 3 months, received an AAM and ARCOM while I was gone. My unit decided to update my records (for once) but I had no ability to retake the DA Photo as I was TDY.

I'm hoping it would have no real impact, I didn't want my uniform missing awards though.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 16 at 2016 1:45 PM

2016-06-16T13:45:31-04:00

Is it for the Active Duty SFC board or the Army Reserve?

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 16 at 2016 1:56 PM

2016-06-16T13:56:48-04:00

It really depends on what the letter is in regard to. Last years board AAR stated that letters to the president of the board didn't have the desired impact that the writer intended.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 16 at 2016 1:59 PM

2016-06-16T13:59:19-04:00

This is my first look. But I honestly think it depends on the nature of the letter. 5 things that were wrong with your board file is a lot of things. I'm pretty sure the board file is open for around two months which should be sufficient time to get things done. However, I do not know your situation, but personally I feel that if they are easy things (i.e. awards, ERB updates, school certs..etc) then it wouldn't help much. Just an opinion though.

Response by SGM Erik Marquez made Jun 16 at 2016 2:01 PM

2016-06-16T14:01:56-04:00

It depends......
Is the item to be corrected factual, tangible? So a number, award, duty position? Or a thought.. Im better then that last NCOER, dont hold it against me.
Is the fact to be corrected a likely deciding factor or data point to be considered in the promotion board? or are you trying to correct something that while wrong, would not be considered by the board anyway?

My personal take,, even if the worng data is YOUR fault..Acknowledging that mistake and taking the corrective steps to fix it, AND informing the board of same is a positive thing in my book.. the problem is, the board is made up of individual humans with thier own opinions... what we think is a positive or negitive action may not be seen the same by them.

Response by Jordan Gaudard made Jun 16 at 2016 2:31 PM

2016-06-16T14:31:53-04:00

SFC Private RallyPoint Member I decided against the letter to the board myself from talking to my peers. I don't know if that was a good decision or not. The main reason for my decision was it is hard to determine what the main focus of the board is and by writing the letter you highlights the failures the board members may have overlooked. Additionally, the AAR comments always talk about how the letters are poorly wrote, not to the point and not correctly formatted. So I feared that I would be in that category and make it even worse on myself.

Response by 1SG Thomas Sewick made Jun 16 at 2016 3:51 PM

2016-06-16T15:51:19-04:00

When you updated your file that was the time to do it, however it does not hurt you to write to the board on positive aspects of your status such as a new medal,award, or position change

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Jun 16 at 2016 7:03 PM

2016-06-16T19:03:28-04:00

This is a general response so not targeted specifically at your circumstance.

Although I'm ex-Navy, I've sat a number of boards and have a pretty good idea of where you should look. First, get hold of recent precepts for the board which stipulate what is and isn't fair game.
FIRST TRIP FLARE. Sending anything in that isn't fair game demonstrates your ignorance. There should be a process where the staff removes ineligible submissions before the board members see your record. If it's ineligible, and the board sees it, that's a reflection on poor staff work which creates internal strife. So there's good advice out there on making sure the latest NCOER (if it's a good one), awards not shown, etc. are great things to get in. If something is missing from your record, send it in. The forwarding letter merely needs to state you reviewed your record, discovered attachments (a) to whatever are missing and are submitted to complete your record. SECOND TRIP FLARE. Don't embellish, start mumbling out wherefores and but fors as you'll quickly go from perception of someone interested in promotion to blaming everything but yourself for the issue and not being personally responsible. THIRD TRIP FLARE. Any letter contesting a part of your record WILL be viewed as a negative. Why? There are plenty of great records to look at and some of those will be set aside because of the numbers game. Easy way to filter you out before dealing with the second or third crunch. FORTH TRIP FLARE. A number of SMs have negative stuff in their record such as a past DUI, NJP, etc. The record will read as it will read. IF you have material not shown in the record that you've completed your penance (Rehab or whatever), it's best that it's affirmatively acknowledged by your Reporting Senior in your NCOER. That should be your real hint (regardless of grades) on whether the RS thinks you should be retained. Why? Affirmative words speaks volumes and silence speaks more. That's why sending stuff on your own like letters from your pastor, a court order sealing your record, etc. sets off the first two trip flares. If your CoC doesn't want to deal with it, there's a reason.

If this sounds impersonal, rest assured it is. A small group of people essentially have a few days to populate a certain number above the line and not worry anymore about what misses the cut. Sound like I take it personal. Well I do. Got tossed from AD due to a numbers game I had no control over compounded by a raging alcoholic Reporting Senior. Did well enough on the Reserve side (sat active boards too). Bottom line, I learned how to be very careful about what I signed as a Reporting Senior lest I inadvertently hose a valued SM. On the flip side, I was very accurate about why a SM should never see the light of day when it was deserved. For sure, I never let "silence" be part of my input.

Response by CSM Darieus ZaGara made Jun 17 at 2016 8:46 AM

2016-06-17T08:46:03-04:00

If your letter includes items otherwise missing from your records then you have a valid reason to submit. Otherwise your letter will not even be seen.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 17 at 2016 9:04 AM

2016-06-17T09:04:09-04:00

The only reason i am responding before I get flack from the NCO is I am a former NCO. My thoughts are this. When my records went up for the SFC board I met all of the requirements for my AA degree. The problem was that my college did not send out diplomas until after the board would have convened. I got a letter from the school and attached that with my MFR and I made SFC that year. I am not sure if it was the letter, but i had a positive experience from my situation. As long as your MFR is dealing with facts that are beyond your control and not attributed to laziness I don't see the board CSMs holding it against you. Would love to hear if any CSM ever sat on a board what their thoughts are on the subject.

Response by LTC Thomas Tennant made Jun 17 at 2016 9:22 AM

2016-06-17T09:22:19-04:00

A letter to the board does more harm than good when it comes to promotion boards. Most promotion board members (I've been one) generally have "at best" 3.5 minutes to rate your packet & record. So, the risk you always run is you might draw attention to areas best left to conjecture. The only time I wrote one was to address a "evaluation hole" in my record ... caused by the combat related deaths of my rater and senior rater. I was later told I still would have to fill that hole by going up the chain....never did and still retired an LTC.