Crap -- my OPR is due. Help.

[RAC396]

Makes most manditory formations.
Requires the maximum supervision for the most menial of task.
Has almost conqured his drinking problem.
Hasn't beaten his wife this reporting period.
Try these they worked for me.

 

[Birdstrike]

...you need to go the that mans superior and tell him he's F'ing you over. He, not you should complete your OPR. Oh, and where were you? You should know when you have an OPR due, and ask the question. Don't let it happen again. Carry on.

His rater is actually doing him a favor by giving him the opportunity to submit his own bullets rather than doing them himself, producing a miserable product, and ending up hurting a guy he probably wanted to help. The only thing worse than having to write your own OER is having it written instead by somebody who really doesn't care, or who does care but can't write, or both. See some examples and write it the way you want it to read with a clear conscience. You'll both be much better of for it in the long run.

 

[scoreboard]

His rater is actually doing him a favor by giving him the opportunity to submit his own bullets rather than doing them himself, producing a miserable product, and ending up hurting a guy he probably wanted to help. The only thing worse than having to write your own OER is having it written instead by somebody who really doesn't care, or who does care but can't write, or both. See some examples and write it the way you want it to read with a clear conscience. You'll both be much better of for it in the long run.

My point is the reason the process is screwed up is people let it be screwed up. The worst assignments I had were the ones were you did your own OPR,ie poor leaders, the best were the ones that counceled, and did the OPR themselves. I agree seeing other OPR's as examples is great, most wings will have a secretary or two whom are experts, seek them out and get training, but don't do it yourself. You become part of the problem.

 

[Birdstrike]

...don't do it yourself. You become part of the problem.

Two schools of thought, Fury. Pick the one that seems best to you. Scoreboard's solution is the "book solution", I guess. You make the guy do his job, even if you end up being the one shafted with a poor OER when you know you deserved better but the guy can't or won't write it, even after he's asked you to give him bullets or even a draft. But you'll have made your point if that's what's most important to you here.

I'd go the other way. You have to assume that the rater will concur with what you wrote and that he's honorable in the sense that he won't forward anything he doesn't agree with. If it was me, I'd do the research and produce the bullets, etc as asked. There's no guarantee he's going to use them anyway but they could mean the difference between a good-to-go or a show-stopper.

There's a lot of risks you have to take and they'll be times you''ll willingly fall on your sword over something...this doesn't have to be of them. Give the man your bullets.

 

[Andy]

If I were you, I would go to the CC secretary (or the exec) and get copies of other OPRs from FAIPs at your experience level (they will normally delete or blank out the names). Copy the smooth word-smith phases from the best of the OPRs but with your specific information. If you are questioning if something could be worded differently, then consult the Tongue and Quill (the CC secretary will have a copy of that handy too).

The first line and the last line of each section are the most important, so put the meat of what you've done on one of those two lines and spend the most time making those lines sound smooth. If you can reword or reorganize any of the lines to delete white space at the end of each line, then it is a plus. If you can compare yourself (legitimately) with others e.g. "ranked #1 of 10 instructors" then that is very good.

Take your time. There are a number of "deadlines" for OPRs. One is to the DO, one to the CC, one to the OG and one to the wing. You've probably got some wiggle room, so do the research and do it right.
Good luck-
Kuma

Great advice. Get used to doing your own OPR; I've written almost all of mine ... er, I give the rater bullets on a form 707, completely filled out.
While it may not be right, I can guarantee you that you will get a better product if you do it yourself.

 

[BMW]

I find OPRs get drop out of the scan often being in a joint USAF & USN squadron. Most of the AF guys wish they would switch to the Navy due date system. All Navy FITREPS/OPRs are due the same time every year throughout the fleet for a given rank, so there isn't an excuse to not having it done. Good luck, no matter what system your in it this sucks doing them.

 

[scoreboard]

Two schools of thought, Fury. Pick the one that seems best to you. Scoreboard's solution is the "book solution", I guess. You make the guy do his job, even if you end up being the one shafted with a poor OER when you know you deserved better but the guy can't or won't write it, even after he's asked you to give him bullets or even a draft. But you'll have made your point if that's what's most important to you here.

I'd go the other way. You have to assume that the rater will concur with what you wrote and that he's honorable in the sense that he won't forward anything he doesn't agree with. If it was me, I'd do the research and produce the bullets, etc as asked. There's no guarantee he's going to use them anyway but they could mean the difference between a good-to-go or a show-stopper.

There's a lot of risks you have to take and they'll be times you''ll willingly fall on your sword over something...this doesn't have to be of them. Give the man your bullets.

Bullets are OK, what he said was his rater wanted a completed OPR, not cool. Yes, write the bullets as best you can, OPR ese if you will, but don't fill our the OPR for goodness sake. jeesh..

 

[payola]

Great advice. Get used to doing your own OPR; I've written almost all of mine ... er, I give the rater bullets on a form 707, completely filled out.
While it may not be right, I can guarantee you that you will get a better product if you do it yourself.

Serious question. How does the AF view its evaluation system? I'm reading a lot of things like (above) and how you're better off writing your own evals and the like. Maybe it's just the situation, but it sounds a lot to me like "Write your own, it's just paper." Here's a quote from the Marine Corps Performance Evaluation System order:

The fitness report provides the primary means for evaluating a Marine’s performance to support the Commandant’s efforts to select the best qualified personnel for promotion, augmentation, resident schooling, command, and duty assignments. The completion of fitness reports is a critical responsibility. Inherent in this duty is the commitment of our commanders and all reporting officials to ensure the integrity of the system by giving close attention to accurate marking and timely reporting. Every commander and reporting official must ensure the scrupulous maintenance of this evaluation system. Inaccurate marking only serves to dilute the actual value of each report.

So by writing your own evals are you really getting any honest critique of your performance? Are you just securing your next promotion? Is anybody really concerned with any of this? I know, I know, somebody will say "No, it doesn't matter, it is just paper." And somebody else will say "No, it doesn't matter, I'm not in an operational squadron yet." But why start/build bad habits? Ya know...

 

[PHX767]

Another tact

Fury,

Stop by the admin shop and seek out the SSgt or TSgt head admin, explain that you need a few "example" OPR's and see what they can do. If they don't reach in their upper right desk drawer and come out with a fair amount of examples, I will have lost my faith in the scribbly corps.

As unsavory as it may seem to you now to be a part of this process, you need to have a great first OPR. What if you get nominated for IP of the quarter or whatever - What will they have to look at? A couple of training reports and the first OPR.

So, consider providing a great sheet of bullet statements, sew together some of them for a nice OPR, some recommended endorsements, and let the rater do his thing. One thing I learned from staff work, is that the closer to a finished product you hand over, the more you will like the result. The other officers that your rater supervises may not be putting forth the effort you are and the results will show.

Some shining examples; "This officer is constantly pushing on doors marked pull."

"Lt fuzz distinguishes himself from mediocrity, but only just."

 

[pkober]

Not pointed at the writer of this tread, but here are some other good ones.

"Sets low standards for himself and fails to achieve them."
"It's hard to believe that out of the 1 billions sperm cells, this was the one to make it to the egg."
"Somewhere a village is missing it's idiot."

Just copy some one else's.

Good luck.

CLAMBAKE