In this article I will cover five tips that can help you be better prepared for your NCOER.
Tip 1: Be Informed
How can you have a good NCOER if you don’t know what’s expected of you? You’ve got to make sure that you know what their expectations of you are.
I would ask, “What does it take to meet the standard so that you can exceed the standard?” If you don’t know what the standard is, how can you exceed it and then have an excellent NCOER when the time comes?
Understand all the different sections of the NCOER and determine what it will take to exceed the standard in each of those sections.
Making sure that you understand what’s expected of you first and foremost is the most important thing. This will set you up for success and ensure that when it’s time for the NCOER, you’re good to go.
Tip 2: Make Opportunities for Your NCOER
You cannot wait for people to come to you and give you opportunities to do training or come up with ways to train a thousand people. You have to be creative and come up with those things on your own.
It’s too easy if you work in a warehouse to say, “Hey, Chief, I want to do a training for my section or for the whole warehouse.” Or, “Hey, I want to train all the clerks in the battalion on how to come and pick up parts from the warehouse.” Go out there and make those training events possible.
Set yourself up for success by figuring out what’s going on in your section that you can improve. Find ways to show that, “Hey, I took my success rate from this percentage to this percentage.”
The Army loves numbers and percentages. You have to make sure that you are able to articulate that in your NCOER. You can’t just say, “Oh, I was the greatest person. We did really good work.” No, you need to have numbers to back you up. So make sure that you’re thinking about that going forward.
Tip 3: Take Note of Your Accomplishments
As you accomplish things throughout the year, make sure that you’re writing them down. Don’t just assume that you’re going to remember everything at the end of the year—because you won’t.
As you complete tasks, have a spot on your NCOER support form (which everybody has to do). Open it up and set out goals for yourself. Then, go in and track your progress:
- “I did this amount of training.”
- “I had this many people attend.”
- “I turned in this many items this month, worth this much money.”
Take note of that stuff as you go, so you’re not scrambling to remember everything within 30 days of your NCOER being issued.
Tip 4: Think Big Picture
Your NCOER is about you, but it’s not supposed to be just about you. You need to make sure that you are capturing what you did for your soldiers and how you impacted them.
For example:
- As an E-5, it’s cool to put a lot of information about yourself.
- As an E-6, you need to highlight what you did for your soldiers and how you helped your platoon.
- As an E-7, you need to consider, “How did I not only help my platoon, but how did I impact the company?”
And it just keeps going.
Even as an E-5, there are things you’re doing that impact the Army. Ask yourself, “How am I impacting the Army?”
As an 88 Alpha, you can mention the items you turned in and how much money that put back into the Army’s supply system.
- “Hey, I turned in over a million dollars’ worth of equipment within the last six months.”
- That’s a million dollars going back into a unit, saving the Army from having to spend that money again.
Make sure you’re thinking big picture—not just about how you help your squad or platoon, but how your section’s work is impacting the entire Army.
When leadership sees that you’re not just working at the company level, but also considering battalion-level and even division-level impact, they take notice. Ensure that this perspective is reflected in your NCOER.
Tip 5: Stand Up for Yourself
Make sure that you stand up for yourself.
If you know you’ve worked hard, then ensure that your hard work reflects in your NCOER. It’s your responsibility to keep track of everything you’ve accomplished. That way, at the end of the year, people can’t just put down whatever they want—you’ll have proof of what you’ve done.
At the same time, be honest with yourself. If you haven’t worked hard, you can’t expect to receive a highly qualified or most qualified rating.
Standing up for yourself ensures that people don’t just write anything on your NCOER. Remember, this document determines how you will be evaluated as a soldier.
Leadership will look back five years from now and say, “Man, this soldier may have worked their butt off,” but if your NCOERs don’t reflect that, nobody will ever know.
The Army loves numbers and percentages. If you do nothing else, make sure that you document your achievements.
When you get ready to apply for Warrant Officer, Sergeant First Class, or Master Sergeant, your NCOERs will be used to judge you.
There’s nothing worse than seeing someone who you know is not a great soldier—but because they had excellent NCOERs, they get a position they didn’t necessarily deserve.
Meanwhile, you’ve been grinding, but because you didn’t document anything or ensure your NCOERs were squared away, nobody knows how hard you worked.
I just want to encourage you to stand up for yourself.
Final Thoughts
Thank you so much for reading this article
If you have any questions about NCOERs, I am not the guru—I’m just sharing information that I wish I had back in the day.
If you have any questions, make sure you leave them in the comments below
We’re just going to keep trying to be great out here.
Bye!
Born and raised in Bozeman, Montana, he graduated from George State University with an MBA in Actuarial Science. His hobbies include beach volleyball, hiking, fishing, and lifting weights
George is also a certified nutritionist with a passion for health and fitness.