Can a Junior Grade Warrant Officer rate another Junior Grade Warrant Officer?

What happens, CW5 (Join to see) , when they are not willing to listen? The way my current detachment is structured, we have the commander (MAJ), ops officer/deputy (CPT), CND planner (CW4), detachment NCOIC (MSG), and four teams, each headed by a MAJ slot, with two CW3 slots (255A/255N) and a team NCOIC slot (SFC).

At least in my team, the 255N is rating the NCOIC, I'm rating the 255N, and the team OIC is rating me, while the detachment commander rates my team OIC. This smells entirely fishy to me, and I was told, when I raised the issue of 623-3 basically saying to rate someone you should supervise them....that they were doing this to maximize the number of top blocks.

To be honest, I think they were doing it to minimize the number of OERs the detachment commander has to senior rate.

The story that they are maximizing the number of top blocks is a fallacy. There are two premises we have to go off of to explain how this doesn’t work.

1. No one has a senior rater profile
2. No one leaves the unit for five years.

This gives all senior rater's a silver bullet (top block) they can use on the first OER they senior rate. Then they are not able to give another one until the 5th OER they senior rate.

If all four teams go with the same rating scheme as yours, this allows all the 255Ns to get a top block their first year and their fifth year. It allows only one 255A to get a top block the first year. For the next three years, only the 255As are competing for the top blocks. Two of them can get one each year. This is assuming the senior rater does not hold on to one. In the fifth year, all the 255Ns can once again get a top block and only one of the 255As can. This provides a maximum of 16 top blocks available over a 5-year period.

If the Major is the senior rater for all eight of the W2s, he can only give three top blocks the first year, and up to four every year after that. This provides a better chance for all eight W2s to get a top block throughout the 5-year period with a maximum of 19 top blocks available.

While the second method puts more work on the Major, it should provide a healthier and more competitive atmosphere in the unit. How hard is someone really going to work knowing they have no chance of getting a top block for three years? If half of you can get one each year, you will strive to work harder for it and your higher performance will better the unit and the Army.

If they are unwilling to listen, then all you can do is salute the flag and drive on. At least you tried to advise them of a better way. At the end of the day, that’s all you can do.

As I understand it, your rater should be your immediate supervisor and your senior rater should be your rater's rater, provided they also meet the grade for the senior rater requirement. In the event they don't, then it would go to their rater. This is very common in aviation since many junior warrants are often in platoon level positions and are therefore rated by their Platoon Leader. Being rated by their Platoon Leaders, usually a 1LT, their senior rater should be the Company Commander, but as the majority of Company Commanders are CPTs they do not meet the senior rater requirement so almost all platoon level WOs end up being senior rated by the Battalion Commander. The only exception is MEDEVAC companies and a limited number of other non-standard aviation units which have MAJs as their Company Commanders and therefore serve as the senior rater.

CW5 (Join to see) I would be interested to hear your thoughts/opinion on LTs rating W-3s. It seems like an interesting contradiction, having a relatively junior company grade officer rate a field grade warrant on a field grade plate OER.