Is there a specific Letter of Recommendation format I should use?

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 12:10:54 -0500

A former Soldier of mine is needing an LOR for his planned transition from the USAR to Air Force to be a pilot. He asked me to write an LOR for him, but I have never written one and he has no idea what the format is (if any). Any assistance would be appreciated.

Response by SSgt Jessica F. made Dec 9 at 2019 12:19 PM

SSgt Jessica F. — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 12:19:44 -0500

I just made the transition from Army NG to Air Force active duty and I asked my previous squad leader for a LOR. He just highlighted what I did as a soldier and that he felt I would be an asset to the AF. He actually sent it as an email from his .mil address and put his contact info on it. I printed that out and they accepted that! I would recommend just go into Microsoft Word and select a letter template and go from there! Hope that helps SFC!

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 9 at 2019 12:27 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 12:27:14 -0500

His recruiter he is working with should be able to provide him with a sample LOR he can give to you. My recruiter did this for me for when I was direct commissioning.

Response by LTC John Mohor made Dec 9 at 2019 1:05 PM

LTC John Mohor — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 13:05:58 -0500

The recommendations thus far all work. If you can get a hold of a Warrant Officer packer or a Direct Commissioning LOR recommendations it’s virtually the same type format.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 9 at 2019 1:06 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 13:06:57 -0500

It's just a normal Army single page memo format. The first line should say Memorandum For (the title of the AF board), and the subject should be Letter of Recommendation for SGT Last, First, MI (Last 4).

First paragraph should be one or two sentences and state something like "I highly recommend SGT XX for entry into the USAF Pilot Program. It's basically your thesis statement.
Second paragraph should say all the nice things about them, about two to four sentences using all the cool Army buzzwords like "resourceful" and "resilient".
Third paragraph should be your interaction with them and personal experience. This is where you would share a personal anecdote or deployment story.
Fifth paragraph is your wrap up paragraph. Restate your thesis statement, add a few more buzzwords you haven't capitalized on yet and tell them how the USAF will benefit from stealing this Soldier away to become an Airman.

This is the format I have everyone use when writing LORs for various MOSs or programs that require one.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 11 at 2019 9:09 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 11 Dec 2019 21:09:32 -0500

AR 25-50