Enlisted Performance Report

An Enlisted Performance Report (EPR) is an evaluation form used by the United States Air Force. Instructions for constructing an EPR appear in chapter 3 of Air Force Instruction 36-2406: "Officer and Enlisted Evaluation Systems". The EPR replaced the Airman Performance Report (APR) in the late 1980s.

The commissioned officer equivalent is the Officer Performance Report (OPR).

Purpose

* To provide meaningful feedback to individuals on what is expected of them, advice on how well they are meeting those expectations, and advice on how to better meet those expectations.
* To provide a reliable, long-term, cumulative record of performance and potential based on that performance.
* To provide officer central selection boards, senior NCO evaluation boards, the Weighted Airmen Promotion System (WAPS), and other personnel managers sound information to assist in identifying the best qualified enlisted personnel. In WAPS, past EPRs are worth up to 135 points.

Evaluation

An EPR evaluates the performance of an enlisted member both on and off duty. The period of time covered by the EPR is normally no less than 120 days and no longer than 365 days. A scale of 1 to 5 is used as an overall rating of the member's performance with 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest. EPRs are normally written by the member's supervisor with additional input provided by their supervisor's supervisor.

Although the bulk of the evaluation is focused on their duty (job) performance, enlisted members are also evaluated on their off-duty performance in areas such as volunteerism and continuing education. This is arguably the biggest difference between the Air Force EPR and civilian counterparts.

Personnel who have left the Air Force and are seeking jobs in the civilian world will sometimes use EPRs to augment their résumé.

Stratification statements

Stratification statements can only be used on EPRs for SNCOs who are time-in-grade eligible for senior rater endorsement. Stratification statements on these EPRs may be used by all evaluators endorsing the EPR (immediate rater, additional rater and final evaluator). Stratification statements must be stated in quantitative terms (#1 of 125 MSgts) and will be based on the number of peers (in the same grade as the ratee) assigned within the evaluator’s rating scheme. Stratification statements on all other performance reports, to include CMSgt reports, are strictly prohibited.

New EPR format

On 12 July 2007 the Air Force announced a major overhaul of the content of the EPR and OPR reports in an effort to decrease the time required to accomplish the report. EPR narrative comments were significantly reduced and performance assessment areas now reflect the increased responsibility Airmen are charged with as they progress in rank. Another new feature of the EPR is the ratee's signature as well as the use of digital signatures using the Common Access Card (CAC).

[http://www.e-publishing.af.mil/shared/media/epubs/AF910_20070625.xfdl New AF910] vs [http://www.e-publishing.af.mil/shared/media/epubs/AF910_PREVIOUS%20EDITION20000601.xfdl Old AF910]
[http://www.e-publishing.af.mil/shared/media/epubs/AF911_20070625.xfdl New AF911] vs [http://www.e-publishing.af.mil/shared/media/epubs/AF911_PREVIOUS%20EDITION20000601.xfdl Old AF911]

The implementation dates of the new versions were as follows:

* Senior Master Sergeant: Aug. 1, 2007
* Chief Master Sergeant: Aug. 15, 2007
* Airman Basic to Senior Airman: Aug. 15, 2007
* Master Sergeant: Oct. 1, 2007
* Staff Sergeant: Jan. 1, 2008
* Technical Sergeant: Jan. 1, 2008
* Premier band: April 1, 2008

The format for entries in the Enlisted Performance Report continues to be the [http://www.airforcewriter.com/bulletst.htm "bullet statement format"] .

Criticism

The EPR system has come under heavy criticism from all ranks in the Air Force. The primary complaint is that the system has become inflated. [http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123061932] While technically the 1 through 5 scale is supposed to award an "average" performer a 3 and the 5 should only be reserved for the truly above and beyond outstanding members, the practice has been that everyone deserves a 5 unless they screw up. The problem is that there is no additional indication of a truly stellar member, and when the promotions competition time comes, the deciding factor is most often the tests rather than the EPR, where PERFORMANCE is supposed to be rated. Some Installation Commanders even go as far to change what is outlined in the Air Force Instruction as they personally see fit. This further complicates the EPR process since a new member to the base will have to completely change how they write an EPR, thus causing more delays. To make EPR's even more difficult to write, if a person is deployed at the time an EPR is due, rater will often literally make up the information that is in the EPR, just to meet a deadline. Thus, making EPR's almost useless since the ratee might not get the rating they deserve, costing them countless opportunities in their Air Force career

As a result, say the detractors, those who get promoted are those who study and pass the tests, rather than those whose true duty performance history puts them in a place to become good leaders. Additionally, a person who does not warrant a high rating might receive one, due to the fact that a rater that has never supervised them before is charged with writing an EPR and rates the person higher than what they earned.

Examples

http://www.wantscheck.com/More/OPREPRBulletTools/tabid/87/Default.aspx

[http://www.airforcewriter.com/epr.htm Enlisted Performance Report Information and Examples]

External links

* [http://www.e-publishing.af.mil/shared/media/epubs/AF910_20070625.xfdl Air Force Form 910: Enlisted Performance Report (AB through TSgt)]
* [http://www.e-publishing.af.mil/shared/media/epubs/AF911_20070625.xfdl Air Force Form 911: Senior Enlisted Performance Report (MSgt through CMSgt)]
* [http://www.e-publishing.af.mil/shared/media/epubs/AFI36-2406.pdf Air Force Instruction 36-2406: Officer and Enlisted Evaluation Systems]
* [http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123060357 Air Force streamlines officer, enlisted evaluation forms] , 7/12/2007, Air Force Print News
* [http://www.rgarden.glandrake.com/java/EPR.htm One critic of the current EPR proposes an alernate one]