Vanessa,

I think Brock hit the nail on the head. Ask him what is a MQ officer? The next question you need to ask is , “Am I a MQ officer?” Now, your senior rater will not be able to answer that at your initial counseling, but I would ask that question every time afterwards. It is an incredibly difficult question to ask, but we as leaders get paid to tell people the truth. Every senior rater should be able to tell you to your face you are # out of # officers in their formation. Also, by asking this question you are showing your senior rater you care and that you want to improve.

Just food for thought… as a Senior Rater there is no “one stat” that determines my rack and stack. In fact, I care less about the individual and more about the organization. “How well do you lead?”, “How good are your Soldiers?”, “How well do you communicate up and out of the chain of command?”, “Did you improve your organization (squad/section/platoon/company)… Individual Stats only come to play during a tie. For example, if I have two NCOs that lead their troops well and perform exceptionally, I start looking at individual stats like, Schools completed, APFT Scores, Weapon Scores, etc. I recently gave a MQ to a SSG who had a 217 PT score. Yes, that score was low, but he also lead his troops better than anyone else. He was a terrific planner and I could count on him to perform during the toughest missions. When I did my counselings with his peers, they all stated he was the best.

I am honest with all of those I senior rate, I tell them exactly where they stand in relation to their peers and their strengths and weaknesses. I cannot always explain in words the example of a MQ NCO/Officer, but I know it when I see it.

Hope this helps.

Joe