Personnel Evaluation

Just as many of the country’s civilian, private sector employees receive personnel evaluations assessing their on-the-job performance, so, too, do our nation’s men and women in uniform. Each of the five branches of the U.S. armed forces evaluates its personnel somewhat differently; although personnel are generally evaluated annually, raters are usually the immediate supervisor of the individual being evaluated, and an appeals process exists for those who feel they have been evaluated unfairly. These military personnel evaluations record that raters and ratees agree about the ratees’ responsibilities. They assess the ratees’ performance to date, and they explain in writing how the ratees might better realize their potential in the future. The reports generated help guide an individual’s career path and aid military leadership in the ...