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EPRs: TOO SUBJECTIVE

I liked the article about enlisted performance reports [“Inflated reports are hurting airman promotions, some ideas for fixing the process,” July 20], but it didn’t go far enough.

The more we read about the problems with EPRs, the more frustrating the situation becomes. We talk about what a priority it is to fix the appraisal system, but it isn’t really a priority. If it were, it would be fixed, not just addressed.

We all know EPRs are grossly inflated, ineffective, cumbersome and add very little real value in assessing a person’s effectiveness and future potential. Before anything can be fixed, we have to be brutally honest with ourselves as an institution and admit the system isn’t working.

I’m an old dog who has endured airman performance reports, EPRs and “new and improved” EPRs.

Nothing on the previous or current form is measurable. Everything is subjective. This subjectivity is driven by the differing expectations of the supervisors.

The senior noncommissioned officer system has the same problems as the system for junior members.

Then there are the promotion boards. Literally seconds are spent reviewing folders for potential promotees. Can you imagine how many records of future —“difference makers” wound up in the wrong pile?

The answer to fixing EPRs is simple. Take the subjectivity out of it — the biggest problem with EPRs is opinion and personality that are injected into them. Everything must be measurable; this would put the power back with the individual being evaluated.

Mark Farias

Chief, Fire and Emergency Services

Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

MARRIAGE IS VOLUNTARY

The July 20 issue had an editorial [“Don’t slight spouses”] stating that the crackdown on APO abuse was “slighting” the spouses, saying rules should be revamped so “spouses do not have their careers stymied simply because they are involuntarily reassigned overseas.”

It also stated, “Spouses who pick up and move on permanent change-of-station orders don’t pull up stakes voluntarily.”

If you marry someone in the military, you volunteer yourself and your life to the whims of the military, be it deployments, remotes or PCSs, to anywhere in the world.

I do not agree that spouses are being slighted in any way with this APO ruling. I also disagree with spouses receiving unemployment compensation for leaving a job when PCSing. Whether they have a professional “real world” career or one out of their home, when civilians marry members of the armed services, they should know what they are getting into, and know there are things they might have to leave behind, start over or put on hold, namely their jobs.

Using APO to make a buck or taking unemployment compensation are examples of abusing taxpayer dollars. It comes down to personal choice, and the government should not hold your hand because you said, “I do.”

Rebecca Pepper

Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.

STUNG BY INEQUITIES

There are two unequal rank structures in the military. For enlisted airmen, the many opportunities to move over to the officer side are far outnumbered by the restrictions.

Some restrictions, such as age, would seem to enhance leadership ability and should not be a disqualifier. It is stifling to know that being enlisted does not afford me the same opportunity or respect as someone brand new to the service entering as an officer.

Throughout history, we have put a price on things we value. Why does that principle not apply to the enlisted corps? There is a sizable difference in pay between officers and enlisted airmen, even when an enlisted airman has years more experience.

Other inequalities come in the form of additional authority, job positions and benefits that an enlisted person could never attain.

An odd inequality is that during a permanent change in station an E-6 (who typically has between nine and 14 years of service) is limited to moving 2,000 pounds less than a 22-year-old recent college graduate O-1. That same O-1 would be entitled to a full honors military funeral while a career senior master sergeant would be entitled to only a standard military funeral.

It pains me, not because I am not an officer, to know that my worth will never equal the effort I put into serving my country. To convince me that it is not true would require a great deal of work. A lieutenant can impose 14 days of extra duties or restrictions, seven days forfeiture of pay or reprimand an E-9, but the reverse could never be true.

Tech. Sgt. Rafael Kaup

Ocean Springs, Miss.