1. SENIOR ENLISTED SELECTION BOARDS
BOARD OPERATIONS BRIEF
“Good morning/afternoon, my name is __________.”

2. Senior Enlisted Selection Boards
PURPOSE
To provide a process overview on the
ARMY’S
Senior Enlisted Selection Boards
Purpose. “The purpose of today's briefing is to provide information on Department of the Army Centralized Enlisted Boards and provide you some tips on preparation for a DA Centralized Board.”

3. DA SECRETARIAT MISSION
Conduct the Army’s centralized enlisted:
Promotion and School selection boards
Additional board missions as required
Mission. “The DA Centralized Enlisted Boards are conducted at the DA Secretariat (DAS), Fort Knox. The Secretariat’s primary mission is to conduct the Army’s centralized enlisted promotion and school selection boards. Additionally, the DAS may conduct additional boards as required by the Department of the Army G-1.”

4. CENTRALIZED ENLISTED BOARDS
Selection missions
SMC attendance for SGM promotion
MSG and SFC promotion (Senior Leader Course auto select with SFC selection)
Additional missions
Qualitative Management Program (QMP)
Standby Advisory Boards (STAB)
Centralized Boards: "DA centralized boards select noncommissioned officers (NCO) for promotion to Sergeant First Class (SFC), Master Sergeant (MSG), and for attendance at the Sergeant’s Major Academy for the purpose of promotion to Sergeant Major (SGM); Attendance at the Senior Leader Course (SLC) is auto select with SFC selection. Each board also has several additional responsibilities, namely the conduct of the Army’s Qualitative Management Program (QMP) and Standby Advisory Boards (STAB) both of which I will cover shortly.”

5. BOARD PROFILES SGM/SMC 6,000 MSG 22,000 SFC 33,000 BOARD RECORDS
Profile. “The size and length of each board varies depending on how many Soldiers are eligible for consideration. Shown here is the average profile for each board.

6. BOARD MEMBER SELECTION PROCESS
Board announcement / field notification
DAS submits board configuration to DMPM for approval
Upon approval, HRC tasks both the Officer and SGM career branches
DMPM approves board membership roster
Board President approved by the Army Chief of Staff
DAS notifies members and issues TDY orders
Board Member Selection Process. “HRC announces the board eligibility criteria to the field. The DA Secretariat reviews the numbers of eligible personnel in each MOS/CMF and determines the overall board configuration. This is submitted to the Director for Military Personnel Management (DMPM) for approval. Upon approval, the HRC membership coordinator sends the board requirements to the Officer and CSM/SGM career branches. The DMPM approves the board membership and then the DA Secretariat notifies the members and issues their TDY orders.”

7. BOARD MISSIONS
Select the BEST QUALIFIED NCO for promotion, appointment and schooling
Conduct Standby Advisory Board (STAB)
Conduct QMP board
Mission. “First and foremost, the Board’s primary mission is to select the Army’s best qualified NCOs for promotion, appointment and schooling. Additionally, boards conduct Standby Advisory Boards (STABs), and Qualitative Management Program (QMP) boards, all of which I will cover later.”

8. BOARD GUIDANCE HQDA Memorandum of Instruction (MOI)
Board Operating Procedures (BOP)
Briefings: Board Ops, NCOER, Records Brief
Proponent information packets
Army Regulations
Guidance. "Boards operate under the guidance and information shown on this slide. The primary guidance for each board is a Memorandum of Instruction (MOI) provided by the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1, HQDA. FYI, this MOI is attached as an enclosure to the final published promotion list by Army Human Resources Command (HRC). The DA Secretariat prepares a set of Board Operating Procedures, an internal SOP, which establishes the flow of events for each board. Additionally, DA Secretariat personnel brief the Enlisted Evaluation System, board procedures and contents of board records. Career Management Field (CMF) proponents provide information packets which contain specific career field information to each panel. Finally, boards are provided Army regulations as needed.”

9. BOARD ORGANIZATION Board President General A IN B SF/PSY/CA C AV/AR D
FA/AD E
MP/EN/PAO/CM F
SIG/MI K
MED G
ACQ/LG/OD H
TC/LG I
AG/ CH/ FI JA J
BAND/REC/RET
Organization. "Boards are headed by General Officers, and divided into panels. Each panel is responsible for the Career Management Fields (CMF) associated with the branches by which they are organized and will have anywhere from 4 to 5 members. All panels will have a COL as the panel chief, and the remainder being CSM/SGM. For example, Panel D is responsible for Field Artillery (FA) and Air Defense Artillery (ADA) records. Membership of this panel is comprised of only Field Artillery and Air Defense Artillery personnel. The same philosophy is used on the other panels.

10. SAMPLE PANEL CONFIGURATION
COL -- Field Artillery
2 CSM/SGM -- 13
CSM/SGM -- 14
Panel. "As shown here, Panel D is composed of members from both FA and ADA. Once again, this panel would only review records of Soldiers within FA and ADA CMFs."
Mission: Consider only NCOs in CMF 13 & 14

11. BOARD PRESIDENT DUTIES
Ensure compliance with MOI & BOP
Provide guidance
Standards
Conduct
Tone
Approve panel standards
Compile Board RA and AARs
Outbrief DMPM
Board President. Each Board will always be headed by a general officer. In the case of the SFC and MSG Selection boards, the Board President will typically be in the grade of Brigadier General, and Major General for the SGM/SMC Selection Board. The Board President is a non-voting member whose chief responsibility is ensuring that the guidance set forth by the Army G-1 in the HQDA Memorandum of Instruction (MOI) is adhered to and that the standards and procedures of the Board Operating Procedures are consistently applied at every stage of the board. During the conduct of the Board, he/she will provide guidance where necessary and establish the daily work schedule that the Board will use. He/she will also approve all panel standards before any official voting is permitted to start. Finally, the Board President will oversee the AAR process and will personally out-brief the DMPM upon conclusion of the Board.”

12. INDIVIDUAL BOARD RECORD
Official Military Personnel File (Performance Data)
Enlisted Record Brief (ERB)
Official DA Photo
Correspondence to the Board President
Individual. “Since NCOs do not appear in person before centralized boards, they are represented by their official records. The Individual Board Record is presented in digital format to the board members and consists of these documents: the Performance portion of the Official Military Personnel File (OMPF); the board version of the ERB; the most recent copy of the official DA photograph from DAPMIS; and any correspondence submitted to the Board President by the Soldier. It should be noted that the only document which must be present in order for a Soldier to be considered by a board is the OMPF. It contains EERs, NCO-ERs, AERs, award citations, training certification and any derogatory information, if applicable.”

13. XXXXXXX
XXXXXXX
ERB : “This is a close-up example of the ERB. The red “X’s” indicate the areas of the ERB that are NOT shown to board members. It is important for Soldiers to check the accuracy of their entire ERB. For board purposes however, Soldiers should specifically focus on the accuracy of the areas not filled in with x’s when validating their Board ERB.”

14. VOTING SYSTEM FQ
Voting System. "Shown here is a word picture of the voting system and the scores used when records are reviewed by a board. Scores range from a low of two (2) to a high of six (6), with “+" and "-" used to further weight each score. Using this voting system all members in a panel vote each record independently under what is known as the “blind voting method” (members may not discuss individual records while voting). The scores issued are used to determine which NCOs are Fully Qualified for selection, and then, which NCOs are the Best Qualified for selection in each MOS. Based on the needs of the Army, the Best Qualified NCOs are selected for promotion and/or schooling. Before a board can determine if an NCO is among the Best Qualified for selection, it must first determine which NCOs are Fully Qualified. To be considered Fully Qualified, the board must satisfy themselves that an NCO is qualified professionally and morally, has demonstrated integrity, is physically fit, and is capable of performing the duties of the next higher grade. The scores of three (3) through six (6) identify NCOs as being Fully Qualified for promotion/selection. If an NCO is not considered Fully Qualified, a score of two (2) is appropriate to retain in grade.

15. Worksheet: “This is the document Panels use to set their panel standards. Based on the MOI, proponent packets, and each member’s professional knowledge and experience, they determine in each category what constitutes Fully Qualified (3 or higher), an exceptional performer, a substandard performer as well as each of the levels in between. The oval represents the areas where the “meat” of the vote score will come from. These areas (duty position, performance, leadership and potential) are all found on the NCOER thus signifying that the NCOER is the most important document in the promotion file. The areas of military and civilian education, awards and honors, APFT/HT-WT/Photo, UCMJ/misconduct, and other, are used to help board members establish a vote score based on the “Whole Soldier Concept”. While no single area may warrant the giving of a higher or lower score, doing well in each of these areas demonstrates a Soldier’s ability to be well rounded and seeking self-improvement. A score of 1 for QMP is not currently used.

16. OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPH Photo represents the Soldier
DAPMIS is the official repository
Regulation requires a new photo if
Photo is more than 5 years old
Award of ARCOM or higher
Change of rank
Missing photo – sends a message to the Board
Photograph: “Although the regulation only requires a photo every five years, a recent photo (within the last year) gives the board a current representation of the Soldier. A photo within the last year shows that the NCO cares about promotion and shows that they are actively keeping their file up-to-date. If an NCO is not currently deployed, an older photo, or no photo, sends a signal to the board that the NCO may not care about promotion, or that they may have a weight or appearance problem.”

17. MEMORANDA TO BOARD PRESIDENTDO
Be brief, concise and factual
Use memorandum format (AR 25-50)
Provide info not on OMPF
Address the Board President
Include SSN
Sign memo
DON’T
Address info already in record
Use as an avenue to express grievances
Justify past misconduct
Boast about yourself
Enclose extraneous documents
Forget to sign
Letters: “Listed are the Do’s and Don’ts for submitting a memorandum to the Board President. Soldiers must include their social security number on the document and sign it for submission.”

18. FAMOUS QUOTES
“I put top priority on commuicatiens, first, because doing a war the whole Army is dependent on good commuications.”
“I am writing this letter on begalf…I am presently assigned to a National Gaurd unit…..”
Quotes: “These are actual quotes from NCOs who submitted memoranda to the Board President.”

19. FAMOUS QUOTES
“I have got almost two years of college… always a prufessenel.”
“It has come to me that certain documents may not be in my official military file. I feel they are detrimental to my military career, and should be part of my official file.
Quotes: “Again, these are actual quotes from NCOs who submitted memorandums to the Board President. Don’t make these mistakes. Have a senior NCO or officer review your memo to ensure it effectively delivers your message to the board.”

20. COMMON DISCREPANCIES P3 profile w/no MMRB results annotated on ERB
No photo
Missing NCOER
Height and Weight
Blank or incorrect PMOS/SMOS/DOR/ BASD
P3 profile w/no MMRB results annotated on ERB
Inconsistent profiles
Blank/incorrect MIL/CIV Ed entries
Un-documented badges, tabs, awards and decorations
No consistency between photo, ERB and OMPF
Discrepancies: “This list identifies common discrepancies found by board members and DAS Eligibility personnel. Verifying that this information is correct and up-to-date is crucial.”

21. ADDITIONAL
BOARD
MISSIONS

22. QMP Board Mission
Review all referred files and determine if the Soldier should receive a HQDA directed denial of continued active duty service under QMP

23. QMP Objectives Enhance the quality of the career enlisted force
Deny continued service to nonproductive Soldiers
Encourage Soldiers to maintain their eligibility for further service

24. STANDBY ADVISORY BOARDS
Initial consideration - (File was not seen by a previous promotion board due to error)
Reconsideration - (First award of MSM or higher was omitted or another Soldiers document was placed in file by mistake)
Removal - (On promotion list w/sequence number however, before being promoted committed an offense that warrants consideration for removal)
** Imperative Soldiers and CoC review AR before submitting request for STAB **
STAB: “One of the final missions of a board is the convening of Standby Advisory Boards (STAB). The three basis for STABs are shown here. A STAB for Initial Consideration may occur if a record which was within an established promotion zone of a particular board was not reviewed by that board, for whatever reason (e.g. incorrect BASD excluding Soldier from zone of consideration). A Reconsideration STAB may occur if a record going before a board was found to contain a major material error or where an official change was made in the record (e.g. an Article 15 belonging to SSG Smith was found in SSG Jones' file, and SSG Jones was not selected for promotion). The final basis for a STAB to be conducted is when a board receives a request submitted through command channels, recommending an NCO be removed from a published promotion list. Requests for STABs are covered in AR , Enlisted Promotions and Reductions, Chapter 4.”

25. AFTER THE BOARD Recorder attests results
Forward results to DMPM and Promotions Branch
G-1 approves results
Final results released Army-wide
After. "After a board has been recessed, the Board Recorder reviews the entire board's results (promotion selects, school selects, QMP selects, QMP appeal results, and STAB results). When the final rosters are prepared, they are forwarded to HQDA for approval. Upon HQDA approval of board results, lists are publicly released to the field by the Promotions Branch, Army Human Resources Command (HRC)."

26. S1 / MPD / MIL HR OFFICE ROLE
Ensure Accuracy and Timeliness of:
Submitting OMPF update documents
Processing TAPDB updates thru eMILPO and update Soldier’s ERB
Reporting eligibility changes to the DA Secretariat
S1/MPD/Mil HR Office’s Role: “These are S1/MPD/Mil HR Office’s specific operations that are key to a successful interchange of Soldier information from the field to the boards.”

27. CHAIN OF COMMAND’s ROLE
Assign NCOs in PMOS
Counsel / Mentor for Success - conduct routine counseling to standard
Reinforce that Performance in any Grade / Position is key to promotion
Educate ALL Officers, NCOs, and civilian raters
CSM/SGM review all NCOERs
COC’s Role: “These are issues that the Chain of Command can enforce to enhance the board process.”

28. NCO’s ROLE Review OMPF & ERB annually and prior to every board
Take photograph every 5 years & within 90 days of a change in Rank
Submit memorandum to the Board President only if you have significant information not already in your file
Selection process relies on accuracy of information contained in your OMPF
NCO’s Role: “Here is a list of things every NCO should continually do. Remember, if you are in the zone, get a current photo.”

29. NCO’s ROLE
All documents must portray an accurate profile of your performance and potential
Accuracy of information may be the discriminating factor on whether or not a board selects you for promotion
Prepare your records with the same attention to detail as you would if you were preparing to appear in person
NCO’s Role: “Here is a list of things every NCO should continually do. Remember, if you are in the zone, get a current photo.”

30. JUST OUR RECOMMENDATIONS…
The NCO-ER is without question the most important tool board members use to judge your file
“Excellence” block checks need excellent bullets; Substantiate with facts - not fluff!
Take your DA photo within a year of the board’s convene date
Diversity in assignments is important; seek out the “tough” jobs
Tough assignments + solid ratings = a strong file
Secretariat’s Recommendations:
-- NCOERs are the most important documents in a Soldier’s file. They show level of responsibility, performance for a specific period of time, and potential for further service. They act as the rating chain’s “vote” in the board process.
-- Board members read bullets. It is better to have a success block with an excellence bullet than to have an excellence block with a success bullet. When giving an excellence block, ensure the strongest bullets are first, and substantiate excellence, that the achievement is quantifiable and only achieved by few. Inflated or fluff bullets can devalue NCOERs.
-- Statistically, Soldiers that submit photos within one year of the board convene date have a significantly greater chance of selection. The DAPMIS system discards photos that are older than 5-years. When a Soldier gets promoted, has a significant change in their appearance, or receives new awards or badges, they should get an updated photo.
-- Promotion to the senior NCO grades is all about leadership. Board members look for examples of leadership regardless of jobs. Soldiers need to constantly strive for tough and demanding jobs that display leadership which translates to potential to perform at higher levels. Working outside a Soldier’s MOS is not the “kiss of death”, however, working outside the MOS and staying there too long possibly could be. The bottom line is that Soldiers should perform to the best of their ability in jobs and tasks assigned. They should not look for the system to hold their hand or expect their chain-of-command to lead them down the path. Remember, a Soldier’s best career manager is themselves.
-- The time for Soldiers to prepare for promotion boards is not three-months before the board convenes, but rather their entire NCO career. Just prior to the board convening is when Soldiers should “fine tune” their file to ensure it represents them in the best positive manner. Ensuring all documents are present and belong to them, that they have a current photo on file with DAPMIS, and that their ERB is accurate and corresponds to their OMPF is key.

31. ?
QUESTIONS