I thought I walked on waterAfter reading my first evaluation I thought I was pretty hot stuff. I later learned the Army was all about puffing up evaluations to the point where they didn't mean anything. Even my own rater told me, "You think you have anywhere near the capability of a Sergeant First Class? You haven't been in the Army for two years? What are you smoking? 'Cause I want some."
This was the same man who, upon being called, "buddy" replied, "Do I look like I eat shit and bark at the moon?" Part of growing up is understanding bullshit. Part of getting old is seeing it come at you from 20 miles away. Seeing it early doesn't make it any easier but my rater would always hold his left hand high over his head when he saw it. That's because his watch wasn't shit proof.
Should at least have worth a discount on an ice cream cone somewhere, even if you couldn't use it to impress women in bars...
ReplyDeleteBut was his watch an Oyster Perpetual?
-DB
My rater, a great guy, wore a Seiko. One of those yellow faced numbers from the '70s that I always thought were very cool looking.
ReplyDeleteWhat a nightmare it must've been to write evaluations on ALL enlisted troopers. Not sure when the EER went away, but it was a good move. I rarely wrote an NCOER without significant help from the person being rated.
ReplyDeletexoxo, your 5-time "Center of Mass" buddy. (In case you're not familiar with the term, the Army has gone to great lengths to reduce evaluation inflation - to the point that a senior rater's "profile" is "managed")
My rater was an SFC and my Endorser was a LTC. All because of Corps no doubt. A good place for an 11B to hide out.
ReplyDeleteI used to get those review in the Air Force - even got Airman of the Month a couple of times - and the last time by baby boy pooped on my dress blues! Goes to show what he thought of it ;)
ReplyDeleteNice memories though...
Silk Reg- I made Soldier of the Month once. Still have the $25 savings bond. I have no idea how to cash it in.
ReplyDeleteI cashed my savings bonds in at my bank. They take them to the Treasury or something. You probably have accumulated a good bit of interest on that $25.
ReplyDeleteSo this is how the Army works, huh? Negative reinforcement in boot camp, positive reinforcement with the evaluations.
ReplyDeleteI suppose the two balance each other out...
Jovan- The point of basic training is to tear a recruit down and then build him back up with loads of positive reinforcement.
ReplyDelete