Preparing for the Army Selection Board
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Army
Officer
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As an officer, there will be many times in your career when a group
of strangers will come together to evaluate your past performance
and place you in comparative order with your peers. This ordering
may determine promotion, schooling or command selection -- or a combination
of any or all of these. Most importantly, this ordering may also decide
both your capability to serve to your full potential and your ability
to meet your career goals and professional ambitions.
Who are these people that will make such important decisions about your life and career, and what is the process that will determine the ranking of you against your peers? The people are those members chosen to sit on Department of the Army (DA) Promotion and Selection Boards, and the method they use is that system which DA calls board procedures. Many believe that these individuals sit in smoky rooms and arbitrarily make decisions about those who will rise to the top ... and there's nothing the typical officer can do to influence the decisions that these select few make from on high!
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Army Selection Board: Who are these people that will make such important decisions
about your life and career? |
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In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. The information contained in this article will provide some insight into the board process as well as give some tips that will allow anyone to prepare their file for evaluation by board members -- a personnel pre-combat check (PCC). If done correctly, this PCC will give any officer their best shot at achieving success.
How does the "Board Process" work?
Promotion, schooling and command selection boards are scheduled by the DA Secretariat for Selection Boards for each fiscal year, and the schedule for all boards that meet during any Fiscal Year (FY) is published just like a yearly training calendar. The rationale for this planning is simple: Board members must be selected with planning lead times in mind, and the board must meet on a designated date, for a specified period of time based on the number of files they must consider and the "timing" of the promotion, schooling or command selection they must make.
Once board members are nominated and selected, they receive an information packet from the Secretariat telling them of their selection and describing the nature of their board. For a variety of reasons, their participation on the board must be kept confidential; this secrecy inhibits unwarranted influence on the member before the board convenes.
Upon arrival, those selected as board members receive a Secretariat inbriefing that includes guidance from the convening authority and a laydown of board procedures, and then conduct a practice vote on a representative sample of files. During the practice vote, board members do exactly those things they will do when voting the files: they look at the official photo, examine the officer record brief, analyze the rater officer's performance by reviewing the microfiche, and then evaluate any loose materials that are in the file. This practice vote is critical, as it is a means of developing a smooth evaluation pattern, "bore-sighting" the judgment of all the board members, and determining any aberrant voting that may indicate a board member either does not have the proper understanding of procedures or has a skewed view of file evaluation. After the practice vote, board members discuss any issues they feel are relevant to selection before beginning the actual voting of files. It is at that point where each individual officer's file becomes the focus of attention.
Some Pre-Combat Checks
Knowing how a board works, are there ways for officers to prepare for consideration? There are, indeed. To put it in understandable language, all officers should conduct a personnel PCC of their file, and using the acronym of METT-T just might help!
MISSION:
Get _________ (promoted, selected, schooled ... fill in the blank).
ENEMY:
Anything that might detract from the quality of your file that you could influence before the board meets. What are those things?
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Poor, or old, Official Photo.
Board members often report that the photo is what gives them the first impression of a file ... and an officer never gets a second chance to make a good first impression! Outdated (defined as more than five years old; but remember your uniform should be consistant with the information contained on your ORB, i.e., rank and awards, which often makes waiting five years between photos too long.), black and white, or no photo at all are sure to detract from an overall good first impression. Additionally, unprofessional appearance in the official photo subtracts from an officer's stock. For example, if the color of the blouse is different from the trousers, if the uniform has an unkempt appearance ("did that one just come out of a duffel bag?"), or if an officer has inappropriate branch insignia or unauthorized accouterments (it is a good idea to check AR 640-30 on this), then you can bet the board members won't give the highest scores possible.
Some board members continuously report that photos showing an officer with a neat appearance, who looks relaxed, and who has a facial expression which reflects that they are enjoying what they are doing and feeling confident in their appearance will carry the most amount of weight with the board. To ensure all is well, officers should review AR 640-30 (Photographs for Military Personnel Files) and AR 670-1 (Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia).
- Officer Record Briefs that are not up-to-date or which have multiple
pen-and-ink corrections.
Board members only have a few minutes to spend on each file. The Officer Record Brief (ORB) is the historical road map for where officers have been and what they have done. If board members need help following assignment history or professional credentials because of too many pen and ink corrections, then an officer is not placing their best foot forward.
Additionally, ORBs with numerous pen and ink corrections may give the indication that the officer isn't keeping their records current, and is attempting a last minute overhaul of outdated data. Officers should make every effort to get a clean, checked and signed ORB to the board. Place particular emphasis on date of rank, active federal service data, assignment history, awards, date of last photo and physical exam, and military and civilian education levels and institutions where gained.
- Loose paper in the file.
Letters to the board president should be brief with the intent of clarifying why a significant element is missing from the file. Irrelevant letters (those that may be perceived as self-serving) detract from a file.
TERRAIN:
Officers need to know what is required for each specific board.
Promotion, military schooling and command boards require the standard photo, microfiche and ORB (letters to the President of the Board are authorized, but not required).
ROTC Professor of Military Science (PMS) board need all items used in a standard board, but copies of graduate and undergraduate transcript and a copy of the special questionnaire distributed by Cadet Command are also required.
USAREC Command boards require all items in a standard board, but these boards also want the special USAREC preference sheets, which are mailed to the officer when the command solicits volunteers.
Any special requirements over and above those listed are included
in the official board announcement.
TROOPS AVAILABLE:
There
are several individuals and organizations that can help in accomplishing
the mission. Officers should rely on all of these for advice, help
and service. Some particulars:
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Commanders, Raters and Senior Raters: These individuals can
help in writing proper job descriptions, giving advice on career opportunities
and decisions and fine-tuning some of those items that will allow
an officer to serve at their full potential.
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CSMs, First Sergeants and Friends: These individuals will give
a critical eye to your photo and your officer records brief . The
wise officer will allow a CSM or a 1SG to critique a professional
photo before sending it in to branch.
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Personnel Support Units: MILPOs, PSBs and PSCs are those responsible
for ensuring record updates and making assignment history changes.
Officers need to ensure they are communicating with these agencies
... it often takes more than just a birthday month check.
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The assignment branch managers at Department of the Army (HRC):
Each assignment officer within HRC is charged with giving professional
career advice to each officer they control. These officers take pride
in serving their populations, and most are extremely competitive ...
they want their population to do better on board results than all
the other branches. They are at HRC to serve the officer corps; if
you need help, call or write them an e-mail. As a tip, though, know
that they are busily working assignments and other personnel actions;
while they are willing to help in emergencies, it's better to start
at the MILPOs or PSCs with requests for ORB changes or record updates.
Officers also need to know that HRC assignment officers are limited
in what they can and cannot do -- documents cannot be placed in files
and ORBs cannot be changed without documentation.
TIME:
Use
time as a resource. Don't wait until the last minute to get your photo,
fix your records, update your microfiche. Again, the boards are scheduled
at least a year in advance. Know when your board meets and allow some
lead time for photos and other important data to reach your assignment
managers.
A few tips that fall under the "time" category:
- Understand the requirements for "complete the record" reports and when OERs must arrive at HRC to be seen by the board. If a through-date is one day past the cutoff, the OER will not go before the board. All these requirements -- report through dates, requirements for complete the record OERs, and board cutoff dates -- are all listed in detail in the message sent to the field for each particular board.
- The board message identifies, by date of rank, which officers fall into the various zones of consideration (above-the-zone, primary zone and below-the- zone) for each board. Each officer should know how their particular year group and timeline fits with each board schedule.
- Allow for "lead time" when submitting photos or requesting microfiche. Additionally, after updating your microfiche, order a new one and check to see that changes were made as requested. Again, know that there are many officers doing the same thing. While it is easy to get a new photo into the board file, the microfiche records section of HRC is always a busy place. Allow at least 2-4 weeks for delivery of a new fiche after submitting requests for changes or updates.
- Ensure your assignment officer has your correct address (from your ORB) and knows your phone number; this saves time in the event that an assignment officer needs to contact an officer in the field for information.
- Officers should know there is no requirement to "FEDEX" photos to
branch (unless they are late!). Save money (and time) by ensuring
your branch has a current photo at all times (photo dates are listed
on the ORB; check that date for accuracy).
Summary
There will be a time in everyone's career when they have reached their full potential. But, by knowing how a board works and how to best prepare your individual file for evaluation will certainly contribute to an officer reaching their career goals and aspirations. If this article generates any questions, each officer should contact their specific branch assignment officer for further details.
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