Should we add an essay requirement for centralized boards?

SFC Casey O'Mally — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 15:19:25 -0400

It sounds silly, but hear me out.

Senior NCOs and Officers absolutely make or break a junior NCO's or Officer's career based on the strength of their writing. We have all seen and/or lamented the complete lack of writing skill showcased by some senior leaders. And these leaders are writing NCOERs and OERs, harming the career of countless young troops.

It has been said multiple times in multiple forums by countless Senior Officers: Effective written communication skills are an absolute MUST for senior Army leaders. But we don't really evaluate it on NCOERs or OERs. (Imagine reading a bullet that said "consistently writes professional memos and creates top-notch bullets for evaluations" or something similar. You would think you were being pranked.) We just assume senior leaders are good writers - all evidence to the contrary.

Before we promote someone to the levels where their writing skills (or lack thereof) will directly impact their subordinate's ability to be promoted, should we first make sure they have the necessary ability to accurately, concisely, and professionally write?

My thoughts are that the more senior you are, the more critical this becomes - therefore the longer and deeper your essay.

SFC / MSG boards: 2-3 pages
CSM / MAJ / LTC boards: 3-5
Nominative CSM / COL board: 5-7
GEN: 10+

At each level, the essay would be on something relevant to that level of leadership, require a level of research (Army regs for MAJ and below; joint regs for LTC; strategic planning for a current conflict / hot spot for Nominative CSM / COL; Allied planning, incorporation, and coalition-building for GEN... Or similar), and be required to follow a specified formatting (MLA, APA, Chicago, other chosen by the board).

I think adding this requirement will do a few things:
1) Provide a good view of writing ability.
2) Provide a measure of "give a fuck."
3) Give insight into the leader's thought process and leadership style.

Of course, it would be ripe for cheating or corruption - I can very easily see NCOs running to that one guy who everyone knows writes well and begging for that person to write their essay.

It would also add a TON of time to the board. So I am thinking that it is the last thing viewed. Once the board has their number, plus 10%, THEN they open the essays, and use them as a sort of "final qualifier." It will STILL add a lot of time to the board, but less than reviweing essays from the start.
There is also an argument regarding subjectivity, but IMHO that argument is largely moot as the entire board process is subjective.

It will never happen, if for no other reason than the time involved. But if it *could* happen, what do all y'all think?

Response by SPC Nancy Greene made Oct 4 at 2021 4:19 PM

SPC Nancy Greene — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 16:19:19 -0400

SFC Casey O'Mally I think you’re idea makes a great deal of sense. Having been NCOIC of Enlisted Promotions my entire time in the Army, it was obvious to be writing skills are lacking in the higher rankings. I particularly noticed this when completing promotion point worksheets. I reviewed every piece of documentation which counted towards promotion points. Most awards for Medals read exactly the same with just the SM’s name changed. This was the format for Enlisted Promotions as it was programmed on the computer and you only had to enter the SM’s name, SSN, MOS, and rank. It was the standard order. I think if leaders are going to be effective, communication skills, including writing skills, are imperative to the mission...just my two cents

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 4 at 2021 4:26 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 16:26:17 -0400

The Army has recently revamped the Professional Developmental System. Soldiers writing skills are evaluated at each level of PME. I agree with you, however I don’t think writing an essay is necessary for Centralized Promotion Boards since the improvement of PME.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 4 at 2021 4:58 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 16:58:16 -0400

SFC Casey O'Mally Writing has become a very large part of the development process. I agree that it needs to be critical in the development of NCOs and Officers, but I worry about the person rating the writing. For example, in my recent BLC course we where told to use APA format. However, the format they were suggesting we use was outdated and there had been several updates to it. I did ask about the specific updates and was told to use the level of APA I was familiar with, which I did, and did well over all. I am not sure that having an essay for the boards makes sense, if they must pass the writing portion of their respective development courses to move on in career
progression. I am happy that is has been added, though.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 4 at 2021 6:07 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 18:07:37 -0400

Some of the writing averse SNCOs seem to be the "go ahead and write your own NCOERs/Awards and I'll sign off on it" type.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 4 at 2021 6:19 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 18:19:24 -0400

I don't think so because 1) we don't use college writing formats for awards or evals, we use Army writing, and 2) NCOPDS facilitators don't even grade the APA papers we write, they just scan it into a system for grading.
I see where you're going and you're definitely not wrong, just don't think this a solution. With that being said, I don't have a solution to counter propose to you.

Response by MAJ Byron Oyler made Oct 4 at 2021 9:53 PM

MAJ Byron Oyler — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 21:53:15 -0400

Great idea but until boards stop focusing on PT scores and photos (I know it is gone for now), nothing else matters much.

Response by SFC Stephen King made Oct 4 at 2021 10:34 PM

SFC Stephen King — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 22:34:10 -0400

APA term paper with sources, plagiarism will result in Article 15.

Response by 1SG Ed Bernas made Oct 5 at 2021 12:25 PM

1SG Ed Bernas — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 12:25:05 -0400

If you let someone else write your Eval, you deserve a bad Eval. Thats why it has signature blocks for Rater, Senior Rater, and reviewer. Write your own, let them validate the trueness of it.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 5 at 2021 12:56 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 12:56:19 -0400

I agree but the way of the DOD these days is taking out any discriminating factors. This approach would add another layer that someone could subjectively evaluate their performance and use it for a thumbs up or down. DOD wants the same criteria to judge everybody and they want it to be objective. Not arguing either way, just giving my observation.

Response by SFC(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Oct 5 at 2021 11:30 PM

SFC(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 23:30:12 -0400

Great question with decent responses so far as I’ve read them all and your response to each. I’ll hit you with my opinion as someone who is college educated, has written most of his own NCOERs for one reason or another, and the issue at hand as I see it! The easiest thing to tackle as you hit the nail on the head isn’t our verbal communication or regular counselings those are usually spot on so I’ll let that stand. Only breakdowns there I see would be 1. A toxic Leader; 2. A Soldier who is afraid to communicate they have an issue until it’s too late; 3. The young NCO who takes on too much and is overwhelmed but says he has got it under control.

Now the proposed question at hand the reason an essay wouldn’t really do anything for the board are: it can be too easily cheated for one, two the board is trying to be as objective as possible towards every potential promotee, this would subjective based on what I liked in essays if I was on the board if you catch my drift! Ok, that was only one aspect of the NCOER dilemma we are going to tackle sorry this is long but I think it needs to be said. We don’t use essay or apa style writing we use bullet style writing. The problem is that most Raters or Senior Raters don’t care enough to sit down with the Rated Soldier and talk expectations how to get top blocks, what that looks like in quantifiable data, and how to articulate that in Army jargon on paper! We want short concise bullets with numbers, amounts, data! That way you or I can validate what you are saying in a quantifiable amount! That’s the problem most people don’t do that! They don’t or forget to tell us that number, amount, percentage, etc!

Lastly, I agree with you wholeheartedly about the bad NCO or Officer bit about having to write your own NCOER, but I have found this out and agree with the 1SG in this aspect of his comment. So you are 100% correct a great Rater should have a rough draft near completion if your quarterly counselings are done especially on the support form! (Not done ever!)
This is where I agree with the 1SG I prefer writing my own NCOER because then the burden of proof is on them to say otherwise not me! I provided the Rater and Senior Rater with a product of my accomplishments for the year now prove otherwise?! If I haven’t been quarterly counseled then they have nothing and I win on all accounts! You know how I know because I’ve done this and when my Rater who didn’t like me wanted to downplay my NCOER and accomplishments in favor for his buddy I just went to the CSM and let’s just say I got the NCOER I wrote and his job and he was gone soon afterwards!

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made May 2 at 2022 2:59 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 02 May 2022 14:59:46 -0400

I will say this is part of the BCAP process for BN CMD. You have to write an essay by hand and Grammer, spelling are graded along with content.

Response by SFC William Stephens made Oct 20 at 2023 11:20 AM

SFC William Stephens — Fri, 20 Oct 2023 11:20:46 -0400

HOW ABOUT bringing BACK THE FULL BODY PHOTO FOR ALL THE FAT BLOBS WHO MADE IT THESE RANKS YOU POINTING OUT.

MOST CARRERS ARE DAMAGED BECAUSE NCO OR OFFICERS WRITE SHITTY NCOERS AND THE THE RATINGS GIVING DO NOT SUPPORT THE BULLETS.

I WRITE IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE I'M RETIRED FROM MIL/CIV GOVT SERVICE.

IDGAF