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Warriors of the North prepare for new evaluation system

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Luis Loza Gutierrez
  • 319th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  The 319th Force Support Squadron hosted two town hall meetings in order to advise all levels of supervision on the use of the Airman Comprehensive Assessment, which will be effective July 1, 2014.

The town hall meetings were mandatory for all military members who act as supervisors.

The new system is designed to better meet the needs of the Air Force and Airmen by differentiating more effectively between good and great performers, thus emphasizing the value of job performance first and foremost.

Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, and Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Cody signed a letter stating that proper feedback is the most important element of a strong evaluation system.

"Airmen must know what we expect of them," stated the letter. "We owe them direction and guidance so they can reach their fullest potential and capitalize on opportunities. If we fail at feedback, we fail our Airmen."

The Airman Comprehensive Assessment, or ACA, is now available, for both officer and enlisted Airmen.

The ACA was developed to increase supervisory awareness of activities affecting Airmen and to better facilitate interaction between Airmen and their supervisors.

"The main goal is not to accomplish the form but to develop the Airman and provide the ingredients for a successful Air Force career," the letter by Welsh and Cody stated.

The ACA is completed with input from both the ratee and the rater, solidifying both the rater's expectation and also with a self-reflection of the ratee on how they perceive themselves in the process.

There are no changes on the timeline to complete the ACA. If a feedback session based on the old form has already been given a supervisor does not have to rush and complete the ACA starting July 1. As before, initial ACA sessions will take place within 60 days of assuming rater responsibility.

Additional, ACA sessions will be conducted midway through the reporting period, such as the Mid-Term or Follow-Up sessions.

When the evaluation is completed, a final feedback will be conducted using the evaluation and providing it to the ratee.

Military Personnel Section advisors should advise ratees and raters on the importance of accomplishing an ACA; and ensure they understand their responsibilities; however the MPS is not responsible for tracking, filing, or storing ACAs.

Raters will be responsible for completion of the ACA and documenting the session date on future enlisted performance reports (EPRs) and officer performance reports (OPRs).

The new AF Form 931 (airman basic through technical sergeant) and AF Form 932 (master sergeant through chief master sergeant) replace the current versions of the performance feedback forms.

The proposed ACA is not only focused on the performance of Airmen. It also assesses their mission capabilities, deployment readiness, and mentors them for increased leadership abilities.

There are four main areas of the ACA: The ratee completes the self-assessment regarding responsibility, accountability and AF culture (Section III). The four main parts are Self-Assessment, Mission Readiness, Performance Feedback and Knowing your Airman.

The AF Form 724 will replace the current version of the officer performance feedback, aligning it with the current OPR for 2nd lieutenants to colonels.

The ACA will open more in-depth, two-way communication between rater and ratee and include a self-assessment, a detailed evaluation of expected and/or current performance, and specific discussion areas and questions, such as personal finances and relationships.

The military personnel section of the 319th FSS asked all in attendance to please take the time to review the AFI 36-2406 Guidance Memorandum #3 because it provides step-by-step instruction on how to complete an ACA, but not before Grand Forks Air Force Base's highest ranking enlisted member delivered a message of cautiousness.

"In my twenty-eight years of service one of the biggest complaints I've heard from Airmen was about our evaluation system," said 319th Air Base Wing Command Chief Master Sgt. David L. Duncan. "This new evaluation system is a very good product; however its success and effectiveness will depend on how it is executed. If people fail to embrace it, we will probably be back here in five years implementing another new system."

Click to download:
- AF Form 724
- AF Form 931
- AF Form 932
- AFI 36-2406

(Master Sgt. Lillian Wendell from the 319th Force Support Squadron and Staff Sgt. Carlin Leslie from the Air Force Public Affairs Agency contributed to this article.)