How can a soldier refuse an OER within two months of retirement?

Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 11:45:37 -0500

If the soldier is the process of retirement and his command is trying to give me an OER less than sixty days of retirement (crazy) in which they currently on leave for the remaining time out-processing. They want to opt out of the OER and have nothing to do with them. What advice do I tell them. They already received they honorable discharge papers. The command looks like they want to harrass the soldier.

Response by CPT Lawrence Cable made Nov 6 at 2024 12:02 PM

CPT Lawrence Cable — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 12:02:11 -0500

Am I missing something? What difference does it make? They give you an OER and you retire. OK, you have to fill out your portion, it's not like they can keep you if you don't do it well.

Response by SFC Casey O'Mally made Nov 6 at 2024 1:28 PM

SFC Casey O'Mally — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 13:28:31 -0500

I have not once used or needed a single one of my NCOERs in the civilian world. None of them, let alone specifically the final one before I retired.

Command is likely trying to pad their stats - one more OER completed and slightly higher percentage of completed on time. Plus, if things have not changed and raters and senior raters still have profile which restrict the number of top block ratings they can give, this pads their stats and gives them one more "average" OER to make it that much sooner they can issue another top block.

There is zero reason to fight command on this; just help them out.

Response by COL Randall C. made Nov 6 at 2024 2:06 PM

COL Randall C. — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 14:06:13 -0500

Due to your 'typo' of "me" in your first sentence, this sounds like an "asking for a friend" type of question ...

Your statement ("...command is trying to give me an OER less than sixty days of retirement (crazy) in which they currently on leave for the remaining time out-processing.") could be read one of two ways:
• An evaluation was completed prior to retirement and now the command wants to do another that is covering the the last 60 days.
• The command wants to do a regular evaluation and either the THRU date ends during the last 60 days prior to retirement or the processing of the evaluation is happening in the last 60 days.

If the first, then you are correct. That's crazy and the system won't let them do it, so I'm going to assume you mean the second interpretation.

In a word, "no", the rated officer can't "opt-out" of having an evaluation written. They can refuse to participate in it (i.e., not sign the OER) in which case it will be processed without the signature (a comment is included stating that they refused to sign, or more often, that the rated officer "was unavailable to sign due to retirement").

However, if either the rater or senior rate want to do one, the rated officer can't stop it from being done. A 'retirement OER' (actually a Change of Duty OER) will be done if the rater, senior rater or rated officer request it (AR 623-3*, para 3-2g(1)).

The "optional" part is assuming it's been less than a year since the THRU date of the last OER. If not, then an annual is required regardless if the THRU date would be the day before they are seperated from the military. The exception to this would be if the THRU date of the last OER was within 90 days of the 'last evaluated' date.

Are your .. err .. the rated officer, concerned that the unit would require you to come in to sign the OER while on terminal leave (it's digital .. they'll be notified at their .mil address) or something else?

Most likely, they aren't trying to "harass" the rated officer and instead using a retiring officer to 'pad the profile' (which is FREQUENTLY done when a Soldier separates). If this is the case, usually the individual is given a average OER so there is one more evaluation in the rater and senior rater profile. This in turn means they have more 'wiggle room' to give a 'top block' OER to someone else without being constrained by their rater/senior rater profile.
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* AR 623-3 (Evaluation Reporting System) - https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/ARN14342-AR_623-3-000-WEB-1.pdf

ARN14342-AR_623-3-000-WEB-1.pdf

Response by SGM Jeff Mccloud made Nov 6 at 2024 2:10 PM

SGM Jeff Mccloud — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 14:10:00 -0500

There are a few problems with this:
90 days of rated time is the minimum requirement for an OER/NCOER.
And by "rated time", the reg means not on leave, not at school, not TDY, not hospitalized or in custody, not away from the duty position and that rating chain for any official reason.
And the rater must also be in the position of rater for at least those same 90 days.
This is all in AR 623-3, and it's one of the more commonly known basic requirements.
And if the OER doesn't meet this basic requirement, EES will kick it back for that reason.

Response by COL David Turk made Nov 23 at 2024 1:28 PM

COL David Turk — Sat, 23 Nov 2024 13:28:54 -0500

Guess I've been retired too long. Don't understand how an OER can be used to harass a retiring officer. Is it because they want to rate the office low? Seems to me, if the officer wanted to contest the issuing authority, they could go higher up the chain and/or file IG complaint.

Response by 1SG(P) Dean Mcbride (MPER) (SPHR) made Nov 25 at 2024 9:31 AM

1SG(P) Dean Mcbride (MPER) (SPHR) — Mon, 25 Nov 2024 09:31:01 -0500

I have a Masters Degree in Human Resources and worked for over 15 years for a major oil company. I never heard of anybody requesting to see a person's military efficiancy report -- officer or enlisted. It's a document that, in my opinion, has little value after retirement. As COL Randall C. put it, doing an OER on you at this point in your career may give them a little "wiggle room" with other OERs that need to be done! If you are retiring, there are to many other things you need to be concerned about - let this one go!

Response by SFC Gary Harney made Jan 2 at 2025 10:27 PM

SFC Gary Harney — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 22:27:40 -0500

Who cares. Let them work up a piece of paper that means absolutely nothing in the civilian world. You have the most important document you will ever need, a DD 214. I retired almost 13 years ago and not one single time have I been asked for a NCOER/OER Eval. Most civilian have no clue they even exist and I have ex military bosses and they don’t ask or care. So if your command wants to waste time on rubbish let them it will not affect you in anyway.