Shouldn't the TG be determined fairly?

SGT Drue Rockwell — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 13:03:22 -0500

I'm in a course (military) and tied for top gpa/top grad. AF said that was unsat so they were going to do a tie breaker but were instructed by AF to just use our performance on the checks that were previously said to be simple pass/fail and "grades don't matter/count.". I don't mind losing, but want to do so fairly. Should they not be required to do an official tie-breaker instead of pulling scores they said didn't matter?

Response by SGT Drue Rockwell made Jan 14 at 2014 1:16 PM

SGT Drue Rockwell — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 13:16:55 -0500

On a side note, when the tie breaker was suggested, the other individual said he would just withdraw as he didn't believe he could win.

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 14 at 2014 8:11 PM

1LT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 20:11:20 -0500

Is this an NCOES (WLC, for example) or a regular course?

In the case of the first: There has to be a Student Evaluation Plan or Individual Student Assessment Plan (SEP/ISAP) for the course. It is the student's responsibility to read it and use the recourse provided therein. The ISAP is the better document because it should also identify how each area of the DA Form 1059 (written, oral, leadership, group work, and research ability) is graded. The SEP may but it is unilkely.
If there is no SEP/ISAP available (which I find hard to believe), then there should be a policy letter from the commandant that delineates how academic honors are awarded . One example is a command decision by the commandant or appointed representative as based on the counseling packet, whoever has the best APFT score, etc.
If neither of those exist, I just died a little on the inside.

If this is not an NCOES course: It doesn't actually matter. There are no promotion points for honor grad from a non-PME course, and there is no note made in any system of record such as the ERB. I am sorry you got hosed by a command decision by whoever calls the shots, but you're in good company. I was shorted out of the commandant's list in WLC the same way.