How is your "I love me Book" set up?

SPC(P) Bianca Embry — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 13:57:46 -0400

I have been scrubbing my "I love me book" for about a week now.
I have a lot more stuff in it now than i did about a year ago, and was just curious what everyone else's looks like.

Give me some pointers!

Response by SGM Matthew Quick made Jun 6 at 2014 2:02 PM

SGM Matthew Quick — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 14:02:10 -0400

Digital

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 6 at 2014 3:40 PM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 15:40:32 -0400

I have a paper one that is in a 4 inch binder. It is huge and has way too much in it but after 14 years and then commissioning you will get a lot of things to fill it. I am much like SGM Quick. I had to digitize it. I have a printer/scanner and use Google Docs to back up everything. I use it often. I can use my phone to send a document to someone to fix my pay or amend anything on my ORB.

Response by SGT Ben Keen made Jun 6 at 2014 4:06 PM

SGT Ben Keen — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 16:06:18 -0400

I had mine in a binder broken down into sections. I had a section for training certificates, award certificates, NCOERs, Orders and then "MISC".

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 6 at 2014 4:18 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 16:18:21 -0400

Mines separated...orders,1059, certs,awards, contracts, misc type stuff. I'm due for a new binder

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 6 at 2014 4:45 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 16:45:15 -0400

I just put the certificates, evaluations, etc. in a fire proof safe. I have a hanging folder by type (certificates, evaluations, training certificates, etc). The awards I have in their folders stacked in the corner.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 6 at 2014 6:22 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 06 Jun 2014 18:22:33 -0400

I have mine set up different than most. I used my ERB to set mine up. What I mean is that I used each individual section from the ERB. It helps keep it organized (in my mind at least) so that I can look at one section at a time, and compare it to the documents that I have to back it up. Section one of my book contains documents for section one of the ERB and so on and so forth.

Of course you will always have additional stuff that is not on the ERB that you want to keep and I keep that in the back of mine sorted chronologically by dates.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Jun 7 at 2014 3:41 AM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 03:41:26 -0400

You would have to ask my Daughter how she did it. Got one several years ago from her and it is pretty cool. I sent her a lot of pictures and what I got back was pretty impressive. I wouldn't know where to begin editing down 21 years.

Response by Sgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 7 at 2014 9:01 AM

Sgt Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 07 Jun 2014 09:01:14 -0400

I have a 3-ring binder organized into several categories, which are then organized by date.

I. Promotion Warrants
II. MOS Schools, Certifications
III. Professional Military Education
IV. Awards
V. Civilian Education
VI. Misc.
VII. Master Brief Sheet, followed by past Fitness Reports
VIII. Original orders

If I have a graduation picture, it goes behind the corresponding certificate.

I also have friends who simply organize everything by rank, e.g. the promotion warrant, followed by everything they have from that rank.

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 8 at 2014 8:24 AM

WO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 08 Jun 2014 08:24:23 -0400

Keep a paper copy of everything seperated into sections and filtered by date. (All awards in order of precedence, and then in order by date).

Once you do that, 'scanner pro' is a free app for iPhones and possibly other phones. Using that app, take pictures of each document and save them as pdf's. Then email your "I love me" book to yourself.

This way, whenever you are required to give up a document at work...you just print a copy from your email, and jobs done.

I use this same technique for clearing documents, orders, 2062s, etc. Whenever you run out of paper copies of something, just whip out your phone, ask the organization what their email is, and send them a digital one to print out while you are standing there. You will never be searching for anything.

PRO TIP: there is now an xfdl reader for iPhones that is available for a few dollars.

PRO TIP 2: every found a paper copy of an award or something that you have had to retype? Download the app 'Pixter.' You take a picture of words and it recognizes the words in the picture and makes them available for you in a notepad type document. Email it to yourself and paste it into your digital document. Boom!

Response by SFC Stephen Carden made Jun 10 at 2014 8:55 AM

SFC Stephen Carden — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 08:55:03 -0400

Mine is a pretty full 4" binder organized into the following sections:
1. Personal info: Birth cert, HS diploma, EPSQ copy, physical, etc.
2. NCOERs
3. Training certificates and military ed. diplomas
4. Awards and commendations
5. Civilian ed transcripts
6. Misc.

I have found this method to be good for me. At home, I have a file box filled with paperwork from my USAR and NCARNG service, copies of orders, and enlitment/reenlistment documents. It doesn't really matter how you organize everything, as long as you keep it somehow.

Response by CPL(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 10 at 2014 11:51 AM

CPL(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 11:51:57 -0400

I have my CIV Resume at the front then my orders in order by date then PT card, Army drivers licence, then BCT cert, AIT cert, then any army schools that i attended then any online courses and then i add all other stuff to the back. like transcripts from my colleges and civilian awards or certs.

Response by CMSgt James Nolan made Jun 10 at 2014 6:33 PM

CMSgt James Nolan — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 18:33:23 -0400

I have a binder, with every certificate (that is not in a frame) from every school, every letter of commendation etc from when I was a boot Marine forward. I have had to make copies for different jobs, so having them has paid off. And, I figure that at some point, it will be important to my family. That stuff simply cannot be replaced.

My advice to young SM's is to start early and keep it safe. You will be happy about it later.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 10 at 2014 10:42 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 22:42:07 -0400

For doing a digital version of your I Love Me Book I'd recommend using DropBox/Google Drive.

Personally I have 2 books: 1 with all of my Awards/ certs in chronological order. The other, photocopies of the aforementioned awards/certs and everything else organized ERB, HS/College, NCOERs, Awards, Certs, Property. I keep the 2nd in my locker at work so I can dig it out and make photocopies whenever but the DropBox makes working from home easy.

Response by MSG Wade Huffman made Aug 9 at 2014 10:28 AM

MSG Wade Huffman — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 10:28:04 -0400

Since retirement, mine has been set up high on a shelf! LOL!
Prior to that, I always kept it chronologically.

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Sep 21 at 2014 11:30 PM

SFC Mark Merino — Sun, 21 Sep 2014 23:30:25 -0400

Chronologically; civilian and military alike.

Response by SSG Trevor S. made Sep 21 at 2014 11:58 PM

SSG Trevor S. — Sun, 21 Sep 2014 23:58:48 -0400

I categorized mine for various reasons. One of those was in case I needed documents of a particular category, say evaluations, for an employer. I kept my last three NCOERs and group them together. From the categories I go in order of precedence then date.

Response by SGT Kris Larsh made Nov 26 at 2014 12:04 PM

SGT Kris Larsh — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 12:04:11 -0500

I kept mine pretty basic. Awards, Schools, Promotions, ERB, Civilian Education and my Bio. What I did add was a CD with a digital copy of just about everything thing else I could think of.

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 26 at 2014 12:07 PM

CW2 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 26 Nov 2014 12:07:59 -0500

Mine starts with an ERB, followed by the stuff, in order, that you see in your iPERMS so that someone reviewing my record will see everything in order with my iPERMS.

That being said, I only have a physical book for someone to look over. My REAL record of stuff is saved digitally to the cloud. I despise paper products, I only use it because CSMs generally won't look at my board file without a physical copy of stuff.

Response by SFC Vernon McNabb made Jan 8 at 2015 7:29 AM

SFC Vernon McNabb — Thu, 08 Jan 2015 07:29:18 -0500

Mine is set up in reverse chronological order...most recent in the front. Also, it's tabbed IAW the sections of my ERB.