As a promotion board member, how would you look at a letter to the board explaining why I only have one OER?

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 10:17:28 -0400

I transferred from the Marine Corps to the National Guard about a year ago. I go to the RC LTC board in January. I have completed ILE and enrolled in AOC. As a board member how would you look at a letter to the board explaining why I only have one OER? Thinking about having an attachment to my letter from a flag officer explaining why they brought me over. With nothing bad in my record, and being qualified on all other parts, am I competitive?

Response by CAPT Kevin B. made Sep 18 at 2020 12:05 PM

CAPT Kevin B. — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 12:05:35 -0400

Sat a number of Navy active/reserve senior boards and recorded a Flag board. I won't presume the exact function of NG boards. However there are some absolutes. There are a limited number of slots, the size of the zone with above/below wiggle maybe, precepts, and procedures for conduct of the board. More important to your case is what the board can see. The problem is the not seeing part. 5 years ago? Who cares? One year of paper? No indication of trend, stick time, you name it. On the Navy side, there was a reporting senior's grading average which would be known to the board. A high grade from a Hard A is an indicator. Average from average says pretty much nothing. So you have a little that can be seen against competitors which can be seen more clearly. Your reporting senior of the one OER you have should have been savvy enough to know where you are WRT zoning and make a decision of what his/her one shot will do. I can think of several ways to make an OER difficult for a board to set aside, but many more ways where ignorance, not caring, not understanding the process, etc. can make a board conclude you need more stick time for a real look. It'd be a good idea to find out what items of your MC record are loaded into the NG side.

I immediately picked up on the school thing. Seems they had you go to the pedigree knife/fork school and are lined up for the next massage. Tells me you're at least worth that. Make sure anything pedigree gets done soonest. If you really want to max out the NG path, you'll need to get out to the badlands and get good paper on that. Key on senior grade promotion is standing out from the herd buy more than a few steps.

Now to the letter thing. There should be some guidance on what topics the letter can address. Stick to that and that only. Deviation tells board members that you either don't know how to follow instructions or you think they are too dumb to know why you are pointing out an obvious. There will be enough institutional knowledge on the board about why you and perhaps others are now appearing with limited paper. Don't assume the "why" is because they think you're a water walker. It's usually other mundane reasons; think business decisions. Good luck.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 18 at 2020 12:39 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 12:39:23 -0400

Based on my experience over the last several boards, if you've completed ILE you are already ahead of the curve. I talked with a COL who sat the last O5 board and was told that they circular filed about half the packets right off the bat because people hadn't completed ILE. The biggest problem with making O5 in the guard, at least Alabama guard, isn't getting selected for promotion, it's finding a slot to get promoted into. We've had several Majors transfer from the guard into my reserve unit over the last couple of years because there just weren't any vacant O5 slots in the guard.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 18 at 2020 3:00 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 15:00:37 -0400

I dont really think they can look bad at something that you cant control.....

Response by Lt Col Jim Coe made Sep 18 at 2020 4:36 PM

Lt Col Jim Coe — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 16:36:47 -0400

Seems like a good idea. Any record with unusual characteristics will usually be set aside for a second look during the review process. The board member will probably make all of the easy select/non-select decisions first, then go back and look at records in the gray area or with unusual stuff in them. If your one OER is top-block all around with a strong GO endorsement, you should have a good chance IMO.

Response by CSM Darieus ZaGara made Sep 19 at 2020 8:34 AM

CSM Darieus ZaGara — Sat, 19 Sep 2020 08:34:09 -0400

If you have a great deal of unrated time a letter explaining why, using existing orders and other official paperwork attached to your letter is fine. I do not believe that a letter from anyone else is authorized. I suppose you could attach it to your submission and see. I believe if it is obvious based on your submission you would get a fair review. I will further say that one year in comparison to what others will have detracts from your chance of selection based solely on rated time.