Requesting a DA Form 67-10 OER for an Unrated Period

The Officer Evaluation Report, known throughout the U.S. Army as the DA Form 67-10, records a commissioned officer's performance across a defined rating window. When that paperwork never gets filed, the gap tends to surface years later during a promotion board, a selection panel, or a transition out of the service. Australians who have served alongside U.S. forces, whether through exchange postings at places like Robertson Barracks or as liaison officers embedded with American units, often discover this hole when they later need a tidy military file for civilian employers or ADF records reconciliation.

A non-rated period typically arises when an officer holds a position not eligible for evaluation, serves in a student status, or transitions between roles without a formal rating chain in place. Filing a request for an OER that covers that window requires a different approach than drafting a standard report. The process leans heavily on administrative channels, supporting documents, and clear communication with the rating official who can supply the missing narrative.

What Qualifies as a Non-Rated Period

A non-rated period refers to any span of active duty service where an officer did not receive a formal OER because the role did not meet evaluation criteria. Common examples include time at the Captain's Career Course, service in a student detachment, or duty in a non-rated position such as a staff intern at a headquarters. The U.S. Army still expects those months to be documented somewhere, even if a senior rater never penned the formal blocks.

If you spent six months learning a new system stateside and your HR office skipped the report, that gap will follow you. The same applies for officers seconded to joint commands or serving as instructors at training centres where reporting requirements differ. Australian officers posted to the U.S. for exchange duty often find themselves in exactly this kind of limbo, especially when their ADF reporting cycle does not map cleanly onto American timelines.

Confirming Your Eligibility to Request the Form

Before lodging any paperwork, check that the period genuinely falls outside standard rating rules. The DA Form 67-10 is governed by AR 623-3, which outlines who must be rated, who may be rated, and who is excluded. Officers in transitional leave, those serving in purely administrative roles without soldier or civilian subordinates, and certain students typically fall into the non-rated bucket.

You will need to confirm through iPERMS or your S1 that no OER was actually filed. Sometimes what looks like a gap is simply a delayed report sitting in someone's outbox. If you were attached to a unit during a major exercise such as Talisman Sabre, double check whether a memorandum for record was created instead, because those documents sometimes substitute for a full evaluation depending on the commander's discretion.

Building Your Supporting Paperwork

A solid request package includes more than a blank form. You will want a cover memo explaining the gap, copies of your orders during the period in question, any award citations or memoranda produced while you served, and a statement from the rating official if one can be located. Including a recent DA photo and your current ORB extract also speeds up processing.

If you served in a hybrid role where part of the window included rated duty, separate the months clearly. For example, three rated months at the battalion plus three non-rated months at the brigade staff should be split into two distinct requests. The admin team at whichever human resources command handles your file will need that clarity to assign the right senior rater later.

Submitting Through the Right Administrative Channel

Requests flow upward through the chain of command, generally starting with your current S1 or personnel action centre. In Australia, when the paperwork relates to U.S. records for a former exchange officer, the Australian Defence Force Personnel Centre often acts as an intermediary before forwarding files to HRC at Fort Knox. Plan for transit time, particularly if your request is routed through diplomatic mail from Canberra rather than sent electronically.

Make sure the originating officer signs in the appropriate block and that the request includes a preferred delivery method for the completed form. If you need the OER for a U.S.-based transition within the next sixty days, flag that urgency in the cover letter. Mailrooms at large posts can be slow during holiday windows, so submit early in the cycle.

Verifying Records Through iPERMS

Once the form is completed and signed, it should appear in your iPERMS record within several weeks. If you spot an error or notice the document never uploaded, your first move is to check the access log for clues. Reviewing your access log can reveal whether the file was uploaded under the wrong SSN variant or routed to an inactive account.

For officers who have moved between the ADF and U.S. systems, mismatched identifiers are common. Your DSN email might differ from your AKO login, and personnel systems sometimes treat those as separate users. A quick scan of the log timestamps alongside your email correspondence can pinpoint where the chain stalled.

Roadblocks You Might Hit

The most frequent snag is a missing or unwilling senior rater. If the officer who should have written your report has since left the Army, retired, or passed away, the request has to be reassigned to a comparable official who can speak to your performance. This requires a memorandum from the current commander endorsing the substitution.

Another complication arises when orders are lost or incorrectly coded in the system. Officers who served in a non-rated status but were administratively carried as rated will face pushback when the S1 tries to reconcile the timeline. Be ready to provide additional evidence, such as email traffic, training certificates, or witness statements from peers who served alongside you during that window. Those who have previously pulled older evaluations can locate prior NCOERs using similar retrieval methods, which can serve as a template.

Following Up After Submission

After your request is in the queue, maintain a written log of every contact, including dates, names, and reference numbers. Phone calls are useful but rarely documented, so follow up with an email summarising the conversation. This paper trail becomes essential if the request is mishandled or lost somewhere between Townsville and Fort Knox.

If the OER never arrives after sixty days, escalate through the Inspector General channel or request a congressional inquiry if the matter involves a stateside office. For Australians coordinating from outside the continental U.S., the Defence Attaché at the American embassy in Canberra can sometimes intervene when standard channels stall. Once the form is in hand, file copies using the same approach outlined in this military ID card guide for safekeeping, alongside your DD-214 and other key documents.

Practical Recommendations Before You Begin

• Confirm through iPERMS that no OER was actually filed for the window in question
• Pull all supporting orders, award citations, and memoranda from the period
• Identify the correct senior rater or a comparable substitute willing to sign
• Submit the request through your S1 with a clear cover memo and timeline flag
• Track every follow-up email or call in a dedicated log for reference
• Allow sixty days before escalating, then use the IG channel if needed
• Store the final signed copy alongside other key service documents