Within the CA Branch, what are some good ways to boost my OERs up to top block?

2022-11-11T07:08:17-05:00

I am in the process of re classing to CA. I was looking at my OERs and they are all highly qualified. I always felt like they were just copied and pasted. Regardless, within the CA Branch, what are some good ways to boost my OERs up to top block? And will these OERs be a issue? I am a few years out from eligibility and I want this to be a fresh start.

Response by COL Randall C. made Nov 11 at 2022 10:03 AM

2022-11-11T10:03:57-05:00

CPT Private RallyPoint Member, not sure of which branch you're transferring from, but the CA officers are part of the Army Competitive Category (ACC) promotion board, so who you'll be competing with won't change (unless you're transferring from something like the JAG or medical branch).

Army promotion rates for O3 to O4 are in the 80s percentile (~95% if you include all zones of consideration)* and while I didn't see the traditional PowerPoint AAR brief on "what caused people to not get promoted", you can l read the direction to the board members on what the Army wanted them to specifically look for in officers to be promoted.

Traditionally, one of the key items that eliminate officers from promotion from O3 to O4 are derogatory information in their file. The secondary items are lack of key developmental positions and mediocre evaluations.

Contrary to myths out there, you do not need to have a "ACOM" (Above Center of Mass) profile to be promoted from O3 to O4, a COM+ is more than adequate. A "better than center of mass" (COM+) can be defined as a "heartbeat series of evaluations" -- you know ... COM, COM, ACOM, COM, COM, ACOM (i.e., heartbeat on an ACG). Something to tell the board "I'm alive and doing well". Even COM files will get you promoted with strong write-ups as long as a lot of those areas the board is looking for are touched on.

Promotions up to O5 in the Army have been a quasi-"fully qualified" for a long time (the DoDI says that it is "best qualified" ... "fully qualified" means "as long as you meet the requirements, you get promoted") . That means if the board deems that you are qualified for promotion, you usually are put in the "promote" pile. I didn't see the stats for this last year's boards, but previous years always had "leftover allocations" for promotion (i.e., the Army says you can promote up to 500 this year and the board only selects 400 to be promoted because they are "qualified"). Once you go up for O6, that is the first time the it changes to truly "best qualified" as the board would like to promote more individuals than the Army allows to be promoted (promotion rates are somewhere in the 30s percentile usually).

What does all this mean?

Focus on being educationally qualified. For you that means to make sure your get your CCC completed - you'd be surprised at how many officers are scrambling to complete the required MEL before the promotion board meets. Don't let it sneak up on you and have a plan to get it done sooner than later.

Avoid Derog. I know, a broad statement along the lines of "be a good officer", but it's true. Exercise good judgement and stay away from situations that will put you in a bad light.

Seek key developmental positions. One thing I always told Captains is that "a command is a command is a command". Having a successful company/troop command will be a good plus in your favor. You can (and many do) be promoted if you don't have command, but few DON'T get promoted if they have successful commands (usually they fall afoul of the derog or not educationally qualified items). If the command position of a headquarters company comes up, throw your hat in the ring. If the company command of the ash-and-trash unit comes up, throw your hat in the ring. There are a lot of officers that believe if it's not a "great command" than they won't go for it. Good luck with that.

Look at the latest "Guidance to the board" from the last ACC results. This is show what what the Army considers very important. From the last one they are:
1) Threshold Personal Behaviors (Army core values) and Objective Personal Behaviors (display intellect, deliver clear results, think strategically, are champions of and lead change, and develop others)
2) Training and Education (both military and civilian)
3) Diversity and Equal Opportunity (show that you embrace and champion those values, but those are more directions to the board of ensuring that they look for diversity in the pool of those they select for promotion)
--------------------------
FY22 ACC results - https://www.hrc.army.mil/asset/26330

HRC Homepage

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 11 at 2022 11:19 AM

2022-11-11T11:19:17-05:00

You and I are in the same boat as far as our careers go. Check the box, do more than the guy next to you, and ensure you are never flagged. Do that, and we should be good to go.

I understand we will absolutely not be promoted without CCC. I "believe" with all the boxes checked even AT WORST if one is passed over at first look for MAJ they will certainly make it the next time, but as the COL says to get passed over for MAJ in the zone with all the boxes checked then something is probably a problem with the officer in question.

I did my command time as a 1LT. I'm now a Reserve CPT with only 2yr TIG and I have 90+ NCOERs and OERs as the rater or Sr under my belt. That is probably the most advantageous experience to benefit my career.

Here's my impression of the system.

Everything is automated. There are nuances to the automation. When we put packets together it is based on system generated data. There are serious flaws in the Army's data systems. They are not all connected, and the data doesn't always get updated, and many times the missing data is critical.

Story time. I am 90A92. Logistics Sustainment Quartermaster. When I finished BOLC my school house did NOT update me as branch qualified. I only found this out because as a 1LT company CO I noticed I popped up on the UMR as non branch qualified and continued to be 00A.

To my point. I had to fix this administratively on my end through my chain to get annotated as 92A. It was a pain, but because of that I was automatically promoted to CPT, and a few of my peers WERE NOT!!!!!!!!!!!

This happened to me AGAIN when I finished CCC. The school house did NOT update me from 92A to 90A CCC Complete. What this caused last fiscal year is for me to miss out on a retention bonus for 90A's. Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo I had to fix it again. It took more than a year and no forward movement. FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got through to my career manager and he fixed it with a few clicks on the computer and by the end of the week I was annotated as 90A. WHAT THE HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Go into RCMS Self Service now and click on the button that says I want to take the retention bonus because the system sees me as 90A.

I can tell you right now, I have a STRONG feeling there are A LOT OF Logistical CPT's that THINK they are CCC complete, but the system doesn't seem them that way. Those are my peers in the promotion pool, and if anyone is passed over for MAJ I know it's not going to be me.

Just my opinion. If someone was to evaluate your performance and worth in the Army and they only did so through whatever is in iPerms or in all the MEDPROS and HRC systems what do you want them to think of you? Yep.......... make sure your stuff is perfect in the system and matches anything you would put in a board packet.

The COL is telling us what to put in our career history I am telling us to make sure it actually lines up in the system.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 11 at 2022 12:41 PM

2022-11-11T12:41:48-05:00

I tell the lieutenants I train about this often. What the biggest takeaway is for this is that you are competing against your peers. You just can't do something and assume that you will be top blocked. If I am an infantry company and I have my expert infantry badge then you would think I would be more eligible to be most qualified. If every other infantry officer there has an expert infantry badge then I have been leveled back down to the standard. You have to outperform your peers who you are being evaluated against. I doubt you can grab their ORBs. But for an example I'm competing against other company commanders at a BOLC. I'm already instructor qualified but then so is pretty much most of them. So I ended up working on my qualification to be a senior instructor and now I am the only captain that is a senior instructor in my battalion. I'm also the only officer that has been to the training developer course. I have also worked on a few more side projects that has demonstrated my capabilities. By showing I have more qualifications and performed at a higher level within my position it would seem that I am the most qualified against my peers. If you are not doing that then somebody else is and they are getting the most qualified evaluation.

Honestly I would ask your senior rater what they look for in a captain and focus on that. He may have some metric that only he uses to assess what he considers to be the most qualified.

Response by PFC Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 12 at 2022 9:53 PM

2022-11-12T21:53:58-05:00

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