CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - Brig. Gen. James Iacocca, the adjutant general of the U.S. Army, discussed the importance of the new noncommissioned officer evaluation report with U.S. Army Central leaders here, Dec. 5 as part of his worldwide tour.
"Each individual is supposed to get training on the new NCOER, but I want service members to hear these ideas from my perspective and why we chose this style of rating," said Iacocca, a native of Allentown, Pennsylvania.
The new NCOER system will replace the current version at the beginning of 2016.
"The NCOER had to change in order to stay relevant," said Iacocca. "We have implemented a system that only allows the top 24 percent to receive the highest rating, this ensures that we separate the wheat from the chafe."
According to Iacocca, under the old NCOER system, about 90 percent of all ratings were submitted to the Human Resources Center with the highest rating. "We had to look more in depth through each of the Soldiers files to figure out who to promote from that 90 percent. I am sure that there was some incredible talent that had been passed up because the selection boards were saturated with the top ratings."
According to a 2010 review of the current NCOER, this saturation has caused a stigma of people being promoted because of friends rather than merit.
"This system is designed to break the 'good old boy' mentality," said Sgt. Maj. Lonnie Allen, the U.S. Army Central Safety sergeant major. Maj. "Restricting the highest rating to Soldiers that truly stand-out, we will be able to show the next generation of service members that hard work and dedication is what is needed to be successful, rather than who you know."
The new system and support forms are about aligning the qualities of an Army leader with the current Army doctrine of leadership, said Iacocca. If NCOs demonstrate the characteristics and competencies described in Army doctrine, the Army's corps of NCOs will be made that much better.
The NCOER is designed to help leaders mentor their subordinates through developmental counseling throughout the year.
"Leaders will be shaping NCOs in a more active setting by using the counseling," said Allen a native of Fayetteville, North Carolina. "This will help the individual understand what is expected of them and what their strengths and weaknesses are."
"These changes to the NCOER will not only make our NCO corps better and more proficient, but it will make the Army much more effective," said Iacocca. "If these individuals strive to be the best at everything they do, we will continue to be the best fighting force in the world."
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