The USAF Officer Evaluation System of 1974-78: The Story of the Controlled OER as Chronicled in Air Force Times

by Michael J. Couvillon, Major, USAF (Ret.)

In 1974, Headquarters USAF implemented a new officer personnel evaluation system – the Officer Effectiveness Report (OER), commonly referred to as the “controlled OER” – that provided mandatory quotas for awarding the highest three ratings, “1s,” “2s,” and “3s.” The new system was intended to solve the relentless upward spiral of inflated ratings that plagued the previous “9-4” system, and was meant to clearly identify for selection boards those officers who had demonstrated exceptional job performance and had the capability to accept higher levels of responsibility.

During the controlled OER era from 1974 to 1978, Air Force Times published in its weekly issues a series of related articles that were sourced from the Official Press Releases issued by Headquarters, USAF. These articles dealt directly with a variety of related topics including the development of the controlled OER, the implementing regulations and periodic changes, selection board results and statistics, and official AF feedback on how well the system was working.

By early 1976, significant numbers of officer corps responses from the field, either concerning the controlled OER’s propriety or predictions of its dire consequences, began arriving at Air Force Times, and were published in the Letter-to-the-Editor section. These letters clearly established the officer corps’ general dissatisfaction with the system, and described some of the resulting tumultuous situations that followed.

The controlled OER quotas were totally discontinued in October1978, but active AF reporting of its collateral effects on the officer corps continued well into 1981. As with the 1974 to 1978 period, Air Force Times continued reporting the fallout with articles about personnel management (e.g., the up-or-out policy and career irritants), critical manning levels, promotion boards, officer’s careers and family quality of life issues

By that time, very close attention to these subjects had peaked and was of overwhelming importance and of immediate interest to the officers in the field.  The specific focus of these later articles also included the critical loss of rated officers, the shortage of scientists and engineers and others in technical AFSCs.

By the end of 1981, as a result of massive efforts to identify and resolve career and family irritants, and by addressing and resolving personnel management issues, Air Force succeeded in halting the officer exodus. Most of the more severe officer personnel issues had been put to rest, and AF life returned to more normal times.