Is it appropriate to write your own NCOER when asked to?

A majority including my retirement, so I just wrote up a arcom and called it a day. Seem to do missions and little time for myself. Got to the point of missing deadlines and wanted the process to get moving. But.. someone in my Battalion or Brigade bumped it up to meritorious medal, which I did not write.

SSG Dwight Amey MSA, MSL, BS, AS - Well, that was nice of them.

Had to write mine and another NCO's end of tour awards in the Stan. His team sgt didn't care (rotations had begun), and his OIC didn't either. He wanted him to get an ARCOM and this NCO PUT IN SOME WORK on his ETT team. I was the team sergeant for the other. I wrote his award using my bullets trying to get him a BS (he deserved it). His OIC was not having it, and wanted an ARCOM. I talked him into a MSM. The NCO got his MSM and I was proud, but when I submitted my award to 4/25, it was a BS with recommendations from my BN CDR to approve and it was knocked down to an ARCOM. I was butthurt, but I got to laugh a bit being another Soldier got a higher award using what I was going to use in mine. Sometimes you can loose but win, and that NCO is my friend to this day.

SSG Warren Swan Good post Warren. I got a good chuckle on the kittens and the 2 mile bullet. I have seen some weird shit from my peers that liked to write their own NCOERs and lets say embellish just a little on the bullets.

Well said - one of my favorite mythical OER comments was - 'the only reason for this officer to continue on active duty would be idle curiosity on the part of his commander as to what he will do next'.

I think the "art" of writing the NCOER is fading away. Before the world sends SEAL RANGER TEAM 007 to destroy me hear me out; when I was a young NCO there were the examples that were REALLY used from old NCOER's. My NCO's would give reasoning as to why this was this and that was that. It gave perspective on what you should really be striving for. After awhile and the internet took over, now you could go to Armystudyguide and lo and behold, NCOER bullets. Why be original when look at one that's close enough to what you "need" change a few words and BAM!! There is your "excellence" bullet. I know I was guilty of doing that on my NCOER's a few times, and had to explain it too. I think having to explain WHY I did something rather than sit there racking my mind for "good catch phrases" and "code words", made me understand it a little more. One situation that really brought the house down was at a NCODP where the SGM was talking about NCOERS (go figure). He pulls out his "example" NCOER and begins reading the bullets on it to us. There are about 40 or so NCOs from E5-E9 in the room. This SGM was reading and critiquing the bullets off another SGM's NCOER while the SGM was in the room! The reason some of us knew who it belonged to was that some of the bullets were VERY specific to what we did and our BN's mission, so there was NO doubt who it was (it was confirmed the second she left the room by her facial expression). I felt embarrassed for our SGM to have another BN's SGM blatantly disrespect her in our presence and laugh when she left. That was not the way to teach anyone by grinding an ax in front of her troops. I kinda fell off track, but long story short, they told us that the bullets were not "excellence" but "success" based on their opinions. This is NOT how to teach NCO's how to write them by degrading a fellow SGM for the hell of it and not liking her. After a two hour session the ONLY thing we learned is how to watch two SGM's disrespect one of their own in public. Writing a good NCOER takes vision on both the rater and the ratee. You have to do shit to put in there, and I know from HARD experience the "fluffer" bullets won't make it. Using the web to take a bullet also will put some crosshairs on you from your SNCO's because if you think you're the ONLY one who knows of that "site" you're dead wrong and about to find out when that red pen writes "come see me with your NCO". There was a AG SGM from DA who wrote a pamphlet on how to write a NCOER. I had that thing for years! She was GOOD, and it wasn't written in a manner that would bore you to death. We need to get back to teaching the "Art" of writing. Not sure how this will work out with the new NCOER, but the NCO's of the future need it just like we did. To my AF brethren....I HATE WRITING YOUR EVALS!! Freakin white space....gotta fill the white space. Gotta use "certain" words at "certain" times, and I was given a list of those words. Navy wasn't as bad as the AF. Don't forget "Firewall Fives"!! I would pull my eyebrows out before ever trying to write a AF eval again in life.