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Posted by Erik Rupard on July 8th, 2008
A quickie tonight. I am currently having the unexpected pleasure of watching the Yankees game (a day game to you; a night game to me) against the Tampa Bay Rays—a rare opportunity for me to root FOR the Yanks, since the Rays are currently in a solid first place ahead of the Sox. Sox are also playing an early one and are currently holding a tenuous lead over the Twinkies.
Clinic has gotten busy again, which makes the time go by quickly and is therefore officially a Good Thing. During our daily noon-time walk to the gym, my colleagues and I marveled at how moderate the temperatures have been here: only in the high 90s today. We all expected it to be sweltering by this point, but except for a few days, it hasn’t been too bad.
I spent much of the afternoon filling out my “OER Support Form,” which is a document in which an officer describes to his superiors in great detail all of his accomplishments during the period being evaluated. This document is then used by one’s “senior rater” to write the OER (Officer Evaluation Report), which is a form completed annually or at the end of an assignment, and is filed in the officer’s permanent record. The OER is brought out when the individual is being considered for an award or a promotion in rank.
I’m sure that it appears to you, the alert and incisively observant reader of this blog, that my description above sounds suspiciously like I am, in effect, writing my own evaluation for this deployment. There is a good reason for this perception: I am, in fact and to a large degree, writing my own evaluation. This is how the OER process works in the Army in all cases, but even more so in mine due to a unique aspect of my situation: because I am the highest-ranking officer in our Company, there are no 581st officers who are eligible to be my “rater,” so a LTC from our Battalion will complete my OER and decide whether I am eligible for a medal or other recognition of my service. Since this particular LTC has never met me, he will be, in large part, relying on the written opinion of one who knows me quite well: me.
Works just fine for this soldier. God bless the U.S. Army!