How should a letter of recommendation come from a recent retiree?

CSM David Heidke — Thu, 05 May 2016 08:44:55 -0400

One of my Soldiers asked me for a Letter of Recommendation for an AGR position. Now this guy is great, and I'm sure a letter from his last CSM would go a long way and I am definitely going to do it.

My questions are these?

Should I write the letter on official Army letterhead?

If so, what should I put as the unit? Just the general Army letterhead?

The rub is I retired 5 days ago.

Response by CSM David Heidke made May 5 at 2016 8:45 AM

CSM David Heidke — Thu, 05 May 2016 08:45:49 -0400

also...

Should I write it in numbered paragraph format? (I hate that).

No matter how, I would still sign it as retired.

I know you guys will have the right information.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made May 5 at 2016 10:15 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 05 May 2016 10:15:33 -0400

I have written several letters in the last year since I've been retired and I just go back to 5th grade form letter writing style or use a layout in MS Word. It's weird to look at it the first couple of times as it looks jacked up, but the Soldiers I wrote them for got the jobs/promotions they were looking for so I guess I did the right thing.

Response by CSM William DeWolf made May 5 at 2016 1:06 PM

CSM William DeWolf — Thu, 05 May 2016 13:06:03 -0400

Congratulations on your retirement CSM! I would still write the letter on your last unit's letter head clearly indicating in your signature black retired.

Response by LTC Charles T Dalbec made May 5 at 2016 1:24 PM

LTC Charles T Dalbec — Thu, 05 May 2016 13:24:36 -0400

CSM -- use aregular piece of paper as I don't believe you can use Army Letterhead. Ask HRC PMO

Response by COL Jean (John) F. B. made May 5 at 2016 4:19 PM

COL Jean (John) F. B. — Thu, 05 May 2016 16:19:28 -0400

CSM David Heidke First, congratulations on your retirement. Thank you for your service.

If you write it with the current date, you should not use unit letterhead. Just write it as a normal civilian letter.

The other option, since you are so recently retired, and assuming you would have written it earlier if you could have, is to backdate the letter to a date before you retired. Yes, I know that is technically not correct, but I would have no problem doing it if I had only been out for a few days.

Response by CSM Darieus ZaGara made May 5 at 2016 6:09 PM

CSM Darieus ZaGara — Thu, 05 May 2016 18:09:56 -0400

I would not place it on Army stationary, I would build a professional recommendation addressing my role when I knew them the best. I would also sign CSM (R).

Response by CSM David Heidke made May 6 at 2016 4:54 PM

CSM David Heidke — Fri, 06 May 2016 16:54:32 -0400

Just an update...

...It appears I wrote and signed this last week... ;-)

Sent it today.

How could I be so forgetful!

Response by CPL Ricky Vasquez made May 9 at 2016 1:09 AM

CPL Ricky Vasquez — Mon, 09 May 2016 01:09:01 -0400

Fantastic.