Posted on May 24, 2019
Should I write a letter to the board explaining why I am missing awards?
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I am missing a few awards in my IPERMS that is on my ERB that I am unable to obtain and upload prior to the SFC board. I have been to 2 HRC briefs where they said DO NOT write a letter to the board unless you absolutely feel you need to. They said it puts unneeded attention on you. But when I have asked a few senior leaders in my unit about my situation they said I should. So my question is, should I or shouldn't I write a letter explaining why I am missing the awards?
Promotion Board
Senior Enlisted Leader
Promotions
SFC Board
HRC
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 8
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What is the reason you are missing the awards on your records?
Before knowing your reason, in my opinion, the right answer would be to bring your ERB and DA Photo uniform setup in alignment with your iPerms. Since we've done mandatory records reviews every year for the past few years, there is little excuse for not having your records properly updated. That's not saying there aren't valid reasons, which I'm sure you have; just that there are ample self-driven opportunities for ensuring they are updated, especially when you are given priority for records updates upon notification you are eligible for centralized board.
What the HRC briefers were telling you was that the board members might not even notice you are missing those few records on your iPerms, but by writing a letter, they will 100% know you were unprepared, and if your intent for the letter is to blame anyone other than yourself for the missing awards, then you shouldn't write it. Years ago I wrote a letter to the board for an old missing NCOER, and my primary focus was to blame myself for not ensuring my personal records were properly recorded, and that although the NCOER was missing and could not be recovered, that I had accepted and learned from the mistake and have ensured all records were upkept since then.
Maybe I also shouldn't have wrote the letter but at the end of the day, it satisfied my need to be transparent about my shortcomings, rather than hoping I could slide by unnoticed.
Before knowing your reason, in my opinion, the right answer would be to bring your ERB and DA Photo uniform setup in alignment with your iPerms. Since we've done mandatory records reviews every year for the past few years, there is little excuse for not having your records properly updated. That's not saying there aren't valid reasons, which I'm sure you have; just that there are ample self-driven opportunities for ensuring they are updated, especially when you are given priority for records updates upon notification you are eligible for centralized board.
What the HRC briefers were telling you was that the board members might not even notice you are missing those few records on your iPerms, but by writing a letter, they will 100% know you were unprepared, and if your intent for the letter is to blame anyone other than yourself for the missing awards, then you shouldn't write it. Years ago I wrote a letter to the board for an old missing NCOER, and my primary focus was to blame myself for not ensuring my personal records were properly recorded, and that although the NCOER was missing and could not be recovered, that I had accepted and learned from the mistake and have ensured all records were upkept since then.
Maybe I also shouldn't have wrote the letter but at the end of the day, it satisfied my need to be transparent about my shortcomings, rather than hoping I could slide by unnoticed.
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My reasons are self blamed. I have one PCS AAM from my first duty station I never received. It was added to my ERB, but it was lost in the mail when my unit mailed it. At the time I didn't think much of it, but since then I realized the HUGE error of not trying to get a another copy sent. I am in the process of trying to track a copy down, but I have little hope I'll find it. The second is my deployment ARCOM and third is my second good conduct medal, both of which are packed in my household goods in temporary government storage. I thought both of them were uploaded but when I went to verify I realized misread the uploaded documents.
I really have no good valid reason, and it is all self inflicted. It is not like I have large amounts of documents missing, but it is still a failure to be prepared.
I really have no good valid reason, and it is all self inflicted. It is not like I have large amounts of documents missing, but it is still a failure to be prepared.
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Writing a letter is the last resort. Fix the photo or fix the ERB. How significant are the awards. Awards will likely not determine if you get promoted or not. If your file is strong it will come through. I’m always missing awards. The latest photo is missing an expeditionary medal and something else I don’t remember. See if your S1 can hook you up with adjusting your ERB. It’s easy to take things off and add them later than trying to put things on with no documentation. Good luck.
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If you are missing awards from your file and have supporting documents, then I would write a letter. I too have had problems with iPerms. Is there any way your S1 can help? Maybe they'll be willing to perm your stuff knowing that you are going for a promotion board.
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SSG (Join to see)
Its the opposite, I have them on my ERB, but not the missing documents. One is MIA (lost a while back) and the other 2 are packed away by accident in temp gov't storage (I thought these two were uploaded but I misread the label on IPERMS).
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