The referral process ensures the rated Soldier knows that their OER (for officers) or AER (for officers or NCOs) contains negative or derogatory information and affords them opportunity to sign the OER or AER and submit comments, if desired.
Senior raters (OERs) or reviewing officials (AERs) will, when possible, refer OERs or AERs to rated Soldiers before departure from the unit, organization, school, or course.
a.
The senior rater (OER) or reviewing official (AER) will refer the OER or AER even if the rated Soldier is geographically separated from the senior rater (OER) or reviewing official (AER) or has departed the unit, organization, school, or course due to permanent change of station (PCS), retirement, or release from active duty.
b.
If referral is required (see paras 3–27 or 3–28), the senior rater (OER) or reviewing official (AER) will ensure an “X” is placed in the appropriate box on the completed OER or AER (that is, an OER or AER that has been signed and dated by the rating officials) in part II, block d (OER), or part IV, block c1 (AER).
Note. AR 600–8–2 explains procedural requirements for a nontransferable flag for “referred” and “Relief for Cause” reports.
(1)
The senior rater (OER) or reviewing official (AER) will refer a copy of the completed OER or AER (an OER or AER that has been signed and dated by the rating officials) to the rated Soldier for acknowledgment and comment.
A referral memorandum for digital signature and electronic forwarding is an enclosure in the electronic DA Form 67–10 series (OER) in EES (alternatively, see DA Pam 623–3 for a referral memorandum example).
(a)
A reasonable suspense date will be given for the rated Soldier to complete this action.
(b)
In the referral memorandum, the rated Soldier will be advised that their comments do not constitute an appeal or request for a Commander’s or Commandant’s Inquiry.
(c)
Confirmed acknowledgment of the OER or AER referral is required (see paras 3–27 or 3–28).
(2)
Acceptable methods for referring an OER or AER to a rated Soldier after their departure include routing the referred OER or AER to them using EES, emailing it as an attachment to an email (preferably using a read receipt option), or mailing it by certified mail to a Soldier’s last disclosed mailing address.
(3)
Documentation of the rated Soldier’s receipt or acknowledgment and/or annotation of actions taken to obtain acknowledgment are critical.
(4)
The rated Soldier has the opportunity to sign the OER or AER and will decide whether or not they will submit comments, placing an “X” in the “Yes” or “No” box on the report (in part II, block d (OER), or part IV, block c1 (AER))
If the rated Soldier refuses to sign the OER or AER, the senior rater (OER) or reviewing official (AER) must enter the appropriate statement on the OER or AER prior to submission, without a signature, to HQDA (see DA Pam 623–3).
(5)
Upon receipt of the rated Soldier’s acknowledgment (for example, receipt of a signed OER or AER, email, signed certified mail document, signed acknowledgment statement accompanying memorandum, submission of signed comments, and so forth), the senior rater (OER) or reviewing official (AER) will enclose the suitable acknowledgment, any written comments provided by the rated Solider, and the referral memorandum with the original OER or AER for forwarding to—
(a)
The supplementary reviewer (for OER if applicable).
(b)
The BN or BDE S1, administrative office, or HQDA, as appropriate.
(c)
The other rating officials if paragraph 3–29c(4) applies.
(6)
In cases where the rated Soldier acknowledges receipt of the referred OER or AER, but refuses to sign the OER or AER, the senior rater (OER) or reviewing official (AER) will enter “The rated officer (or NCO or Soldier) refused to sign” in part VI, block c (OERs), or part III, block b (AERs).
c.
If comments are provided, the following practices will be observed:
(1)
Comments will be factual, concise, and limited to matters directly related to the evaluation on the OER or AER; rating officials may not rebut a rated Soldier’s referral comments.
Extraneous or voluminous material, material already contained in the officer’s AMHRR, and enclosures or attachments are prohibited.
(2)
Any enclosures or attachments to rebut rated Soldier comments will be withdrawn at the unit or organization-level and returned to the rated Soldier before the OER or AER is forwarded to HQDA.
(3)
The rated Soldier’s comments do not constitute an appeal.
Appeals are processed separately, as outlined in chapter 4.
Likewise, the rated Soldier’s comments do not constitute a request for a Commander’s or Commandant’s Inquiry (see chap 4, sec II).
Such a request will be submitted separately by the rated Soldier.
(4)
If the senior rater (OER) or reviewing official (AER) decides that the comments provide significant new facts about the rated Soldier’s performance that could affect the evaluation of the rated Soldier, they may refer the comments to the other rating officials, as appropriate.
The rating officials, in turn, may reconsider their evaluations of the rated Soldier.
The senior rater (OER) or reviewing official (AER) will not pressure or influence another rating official.
Any rating official who elects to raise their evaluation as a result of this action may do so.
However, the evaluation may not be lowered because of the rated Soldier’s comments.
If the OER or AER is changed but still requires referral, the OER or AER will again be referred to the rated Soldier for acknowledgment and the opportunity to provide new comments, if the rated Solider desires to provide them.
Only the latest acknowledgment (“Yes” or “No” on OER or AER signed by the rated Soldier) and the last received rated Soldier’s comments, if submitted, will be forwarded to HQDA.
d.
If the rated Soldier fails to respond within the given suspense period, or if certified mail sent to an Soldier’s last known forwarding address is returned indicating that the Soldier cannot be reached at that address, the senior rater (OER) or reviewing official (AER) will annotate on the referred OER or AER, “Rated officer (or NCO or Soldier) was not available to sign.”
When no signature appears on a referred OER or AER, the senior rater (OER) or reviewing official (AER) will prepare a memorandum as an enclosure to the OER or AER to document referral actions taken and whether or not there was acknowledgment of the rated Solider (a copy of the returned certified mail document and/or email referral/read receipt may be included, if used, as enclosures to this memorandum) for forwarding to:
(1)
The designated individual who will perform the supplementary review, if applicable (see paras 2–16c and 2–17).
(2)
The BN or BDE S1, administrative office, or HQDA, as appropriate.