My father is in the process of arranging interviews with some of his co-workers in order to help me get character references. However, he says he needs an outline of what the letters need to say other than what I have found on this site already. He told me military letters of reference are usually fill in the blank, so to speak. Does anyone have any suggestions? In addition, I am applying for NFO or Pilot, would it be more beneficial to use warrant officer references over Commisssioned officer references?
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Character References
- Thread starter jdanley14
- Start date
BullGator
Active Member
You are allowed to do whatever you want, but your character references should be personal: from people that have known you for a long time, or know you very well. That is what I was told at least, but hey, some people bug senators to write them one so I guess everything helps :sleep_125
They are not fill in the blank (DD form for employers is close though). Your OR should help you out with this. There is no set format; just ways to display your positive characteristics and essentailly "vouge" for your being equiped to be a good leader. Ask them with plenty of time given, since they are very buisy, typically (and you may need to "stay on top of them," e.g. Call every other week or more to make sure they do it). I gave my LOR persons 6 weeks just to not pressure them, but most had it before 4 weeks, and I think they appreciated the extra time, as they didn't feel they were a last minute "alternate."
I would choice a commissioned officer over a petty officer/warrent officer. Again ask your OR.
Hope that helps.
joshmf
Member
Yeah, don't 'nuke' it. I had some people write only a few sentances, and some people write two pages. Ask only people that know you well, and let them use their own judgement on what to say about you. I've never sat on a OCS board, but I have read LoRs for another program, and I'm pretty sure no one is even going to NOTICE the rank of the person writing it, they're going to evaluate what that person says about you, and how well they genuinely know you.
Two points: like the other poster, give people time to respond. It took a few months to get letters back from a few people, but I still made it, so you can too! Second, DON'T have your father hook you up with reference letters. That totally defeats the point of approaching people that know you well, and is kind of dishonest. If you don't know anyone willing to write a letter for you, get a job or do some volunteer work or something. Good luck!
Is the plan for you to interview with them? If they don't already know you, this isn't what the selection board is looking for; they already have an interview process. They're looking for people that have known and observed you for some time; ideally with knowledge of what the program/community you are seeking needs
Best source is your OR as AYCE stated above. It's NOT fill-in-the-blank, but there are areas that should be addressed. If an outline is given to his coworkers, the letters will look so similar that anyone reading them will suspect it was all scripted. No doubt your dad cares, but YOU should looking at your adult life and who knows you best:
Biography
I am currently a full time college student at Austin Peay State University.
Location
Clarksville, TN
Occupation
Delivery Driver, full-time college student
Interests
Running, Weight Lifting, Sigma Chi
Latest News
I am currently in the process of applying for the BDCP.
Favorite Quote
"Knowledge itself is Power"
Looking at your bio, right off the bat, you should be looking potentially at a professor, someone you work for (not using someone from a job would make me wonder why you don't want a supervisor/employer to comment on your character, self-discipline, promptness and attention to detail), a former or current coach is always a good choice and you might want to consider someone in Sigma Chi hierarchy. You ought to try for at least one service member (or former/retired one) who knows you (ideally one of your professors or coaches if you are lucky enough to have an active duty connections).
Answer: depends...is your dad finding them or are they someone who knows you well (Does this mean his coworkers are Army aviator types?) A Warrant Officer who has known you for years and can say, "I've watched J mature and in course of having him in and around my family working on my (insert yard, car, whatever), I can attest to his work ethic and steadfast devotion to anything he undertakes. This lad is someone I'd particularly want not only in the service, but serving in my unit. He has obvious potential and motivation to make through flight school and excel in anything that comes his way" carries more weight than a commissioned officer (even a senior one) commenting on you based on an interview.
Thank you for the help.The guys who are going to interview me have known me for a few years. They would like to know why I want to join the navy, before they write me a letter. I could very easily use anyone from my work as a reference, however, I thought it would be more beneficial to use military aviators.
To answer the question pertaining to my father, he is a CW4 in the Army, he is a Blackhawk MTP.
To answer the question pertaining to my father, he is a CW4 in the Army, he is a Blackhawk MTP.
I sent you a PM with a sample letter I recently wrote for a youngster. He got selected.
atrickpay
BDCP SNA
Wait a second, you all are making it sound like there's a different form for this than I have. My OR gave me the DD370 Request for References document. I sent that to everyone that I wanted a reference from. Its attached just in case you don't already have it. And yeah I know it's expired, but apparently they haven't made a new one so I guess thats going to have to work.
BullGator
Active Member
That DD form is for your employers to fill out. The LORs are not in that format (there is no set format), they are as described both above and by your OR.
atrickpay
BDCP SNA
Ok good, because that's all my OR gave me to use and I assumed it was for every reference. Don't want to make them all redo it because I gave them the wrong form.
awolfinwater
Member
Let me make a distinction here. There are reference letters and then there are letters of recommendation.
You must have at least 3 reference letters (DD370's) in your application. These can either be from employers (job reference) or other Individuals such as your coach, professor, or priest (character reference). Every employer that you have worked for in the past 3 years is given a reference letter to fill out. There are exceptions to this rule such as you do not want to alert your current employer about your blind sided job change. If you do not have 3 employer references, then you must add character references in the form of DD370s to your application.
Completely separate from this are letters of recommendation. Even though character references and letters of recommendation are pretty much the same thing, letters of recommendation are not filled out on a DD370. These are usually filled out on professional letterhead.
IMPORTANT: Always try to have your employer or character reference write a recommendation on a separate professional letterhead. This adds a lot of value to your application. (If you worked at Kroger 2.5 years ago as a bag boy, then this isn't really necessary)
I hope this point is more clear.
atrickpay: The recruiter should take care of the DD370's, they are not supposed to be in your possession.