As we reach the conclusion of the 2020 officer evaluation report (OER) season, we would like to outline information, best practices, and guidance to assist units and officers with OER administration. Rating officials are encouraged to implement local measures to eliminate administrative errors and improve the timeliness and quality of OERs. Late or missing OERs, or OERs with errors, may jeopardize an officer’s competitiveness at boards or panels.
OER Validation Delays
If you are scheduled to go in front of a board or panel, be sure to know what your CGBI indicator states for the current OER. If your current OER is yellow or red 30 days before to the board or panel convenes, you should advise the Office of Officer Personnel Management (OPM-3) by email as soon as possible. Similarly, the Officer Assignments Branch (OPM-2) requests expedited validation of OERs as needed for the assignment process. OPM-3 requires up to six to nine months to validate a full season of OERs.
Do not delay in getting your OER submitted. CG PSC-OPM should receive your OER at least 45 days prior to the board or panel convenes. This time allows plenty of time for review, corrections if needed, validation, and entry into our military record. All OERs should be emailed. HQS-SMB-PSC-OPM-OER@uscg.mil.
Best practices and guidance
The Coast Guard Officer Evaluation System Procedures Manual, (PSCINST M1611.1D) outlines detailed procedures for completing the Coast Guard officer support form and OER. About half of the OERs submitted to OPM require administrative correction which delays the OER validation process. Units that have a system in place to perform a quality review check on outgoing OERs have significantly fewer errors and are timely. You can use an OER Quality Review Check Sheet for the CG-5310A, CG-5310B, and CG-5310C. These check sheets highlight areas of most common errors.
You can also use the CGBI Employee Summary Sheet (ESS) to verify administrative information when preparing Sections 1 (Administrative Information) and 2b (PAL title/Position Description) to make use it matches exactly.
Prohibited comments.
The fleet has done a remarkable job avoiding prohibited comments such as using gender identifiers, marital status, or other mentions of personal identifying information as outlined in paragraph 4.B.1-14 of the Coast Guard Officer Evaluation System Procedures Manual, (PSCINST M1611.1D).
Affinity Group membership.
If you belong to an affinity group, you are allowed to comment on that membership and activity so long as that information does not identify any specific demographic.
OER comments for forms CG-5310A and CG-5310C.
Specific performance observations must be included when an officer is assigned a mark of one, two, three or seven. If you are marking an officer a seven, you need to include comments specifying how the reported on officer exceeded a six.
When writing an OER, remember your audience is the board and panels, which are comprised of diverse specialties. Write the OERs for this general audience. Section two - Description of Duties – is an appropriate place to define acronyms and technical terms used throughout the OER.
Email subject line and OER naming convention.
When you email an OER to OPM, be sure to properly label the OER email and attached OER form per para 4.I.5 of the Coast Guard Officer Evaluation System Procedures Manual, (PSCINST M1611.1D). Include the reported on officer’s (ROO) employee identification nubmer, rank, last name, first and middle initials, and end of period date of the OER. For example, the email subject line could look like:
234567 LCDR Jones AB 30APR2021 OER.
If the ROO is a candidate for an upcoming board or panel, include URGENT and the term board or panel in the subject line. For example:
URGENT: 1234567 LCDR Jones AB 30APR2021 OER Board/Panel Candidate.
If the OER is overdue, then note that as well in the subject line. For example:
1234567 LCDR Jones AB 30APR2021 OER Overdue OER.
Duplicate OERs.
Submission of duplicate OERs to multiple inboxes at OPM may delay processing and increases the chance of errors. Submit the OER to the designated inbox one time. Do not carbon copy (cc) specific personnel at OPM unless instructed by OPM-3. If you do not receive an auto-reply from the OER inbox, resend the OER and notify OPM-3 through the question inbox (HQS-SMB-PSC-OPM@uscg.mil) stating the OER was submitted twice due to non-receipt of the auto-reply.
OER attachments.
When you save the OER, label it with the ROOs rank, last name, first and middle initials, end of period date of the OER, and the acronym OER then the title of the document. For example:
1234567 LCDR Jones AB 30APR2021 OER Letter of Reprimand.
Do not send attachments not authorized by para the Coast Guard Officer Evaluation System Procedures Manual, (PSCINST M1611.1D).
OER status.
You can check the status of your OERs through Direct Access. Please visit the OPM-3 portal site at https://cg.portal.uscg.mil/units/psc/psc-opm/opm-3/SitePages/Home.aspx for step-by-step instructions on how to check your OER status.
Data records.
OPM-3 is not authorized to release copies of OERs or any documents contained in a member’s Coast Guard Official Military Personnel File (OMPF), formerly known as the EI-PDR. You should contact Military Records (PSC-BOPS-C-MR) at HQS-SMB-CGPSC-MR-CustomerService@uscg.mil to view or retrieve any documents contained in their OMPF.
OER Training. The OPM-3 CG Portal page contains a new OER recorded webinar for unit use. It is highly encouraged that units perform annual OER training. OPM-3 is available for remote OER training upon unit request.
OER Change Action Team. OPM-3 is chartered to make mandatory change recommendations to the Officer Evaluation System, and would like to thank everyone who took the time to complete the surveys in 2019-2020. OPM is using your feedback to ensure the new Officer Evaluation System meets the needs of our service and best supports our most important asset, our people.
You can find more information including all OER forms and guides the CG PSC-OPM-3 portal page.
For reserve specific OER-related questions, refer to the RPM-1 website
Resources:
- Coast Guard Officer Evaluation System Procedures Manual, (PSCINST M1611.1D)
- CG PSC-OPM-3 portal page
- RPM-1 Website