Do letters of recommendation help for officer promotion boards?

2020-09-12T12:29:20-04:00

I transferred from the Marine Corps and I'm currently in the Guard. I will go to the LTC promotion board in January. Because I haven't been in the Guard that long, I don't have a long track record of OERs. One year. Will letters of recommendation from senior officers help?

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 12 at 2020 12:43 PM

2020-09-12T12:43:03-04:00

Unless officer boards are extremely different than enlisted ones, third party letters are absolutely prohibited to be submitted to promotion boards. What you can do is write your own letter describing any experience you have that’s not reflected in your file or explaining any gaps in time periods, or generally any questions the board might have like why you only have one OER

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 12 at 2020 12:55 PM

2020-09-12T12:55:45-04:00

Since you’re relatively new you might not be well read on our promotions and board process. Use your CAC to log into HRC and go to the Officer promotions page. Go to the board schedule to find the date of when your board is opening and there should be a link for the MILPER message announcing your board and all the guidelines for who is eligible and also correspondence with the board. Good luck

Response by CSM Darieus ZaGara made Sep 12 at 2020 12:57 PM

2020-09-12T12:57:37-04:00

Your name alone should make you a lock. Personal letters of any kind are not authorized. Only submission of missing information and the like. Having said that, this stands for AD, not 100% on Guard.

Response by LTC John Shaw made Sep 12 at 2020 3:05 PM

2020-09-12T15:05:39-04:00

LTC Private RallyPoint Member The National Guard and Reserve boards are combined for purposes of O-5 selection. If you completed all the education required for O-5 selection it is a matter of making sure your board file has all the correct documentation. This file is available via the HRC site. You can go to your Guard G1 shop, usually at the State HQ location, they can provide guidance. You can also look for the HRC O-5 board announcement, this will provide a step by step instruction of where to update as well.

Response by MAJ Ronnie Reams made Sep 13 at 2020 2:23 PM

2020-09-13T14:23:18-04:00

Guard is very political, so while no letter, it doesn't hurt if you have political connections to the party in power in your state/commonwealth/territory, to drop a hint. Federal boards for your USAR promotions are fully qualified, not best qualified as USA boards are. Generally if the NG promotes you the Feds will, too.