It's an unfortunate fact of Air Force life that no matter how hard you work or how many hours you put in, your accomplishments won't be recognized unless they can be accurately represented by the words contained on a single sheet of paper --your EPR.

Performance reports are among the most important documents you're likely to encounter during your military career. That single sheet of paper affects your chances for promotion, your assignment options, training opportunities, and your entire future in the military. No other document has as much effect on your career or your life. So it's important that you take the time and do a good job on your and your troops' EPR. If you're the ratee, make sure that when your supervisor asks for input or bullet statements for your EPR that you provide as much as you can. Providing material for your EPR is not doing your supervisor's job. It's an opportunity to have some influence on your EPR!

A lot of people find it difficult to write their EPR. I think the hardest thing for most of us is to come up with 15 accomplishments. The things we do everyday seem pretty routine and just don't seem noteworthy. But they are. The work that all of us do every day is indispensable to the Air Force's mission. It just takes a little thought to bring it to light and express its full impact. To help in identifying your noteworthy accomplishments, take a look at our sample EPR bullets. If you know what you want to say but just can't find the phrase that sounds right, check our lists of general bullet statements below. Maybe you'll find what you're looking for. If you're looking for some ideas for accomplishments in specific career fields, maybe the AFSC-specific EPR bullets will help give you an idea of how to document your work.

Air Force bullet statements sorted by the categories required by the new AF Form 910.

AFSC-specific bullet statement examples.

Performance Report Phrases.

How to write an Air Force EPR.

How to write an EPR using the new AF Form 910.

What is Bullet Statement Format?.

What your supervisor doesn't want you to know! The EPR Code!.

Submitting someone for a medal is one of the most satisfying things a supervisor can do. The results are so positive and far-reaching that it's almost magic. Not only do you get to express your appreciation for someone who deserves it, the person who was recommended is even happier than you. They're ecstatic that someone recognized their efforts and took the time to make the recommendation. And the promotion points are an added bonus. And... recommending someone for an award makes you look good. It demonstrates that you're taking care of your troops. And finally, the Commander is happy --both with you for being a top-notch NCO and about being able to hand out an award. Commanders love to present awards. It makes them look good and they're happy to have an opportunity to show their appreciation for their troops. The judicious award of medals is good for morale all around.

The Air Force Achievement Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal are probably the most commonly submitted and awarded decorations in the Air Force. The Air Force has streamlined the process over the last few years and it's easier than ever to submit someone for a medal.

If you've never submitted someone for a decoration before it might seem complicated but it's not really that hard. All awards follow a prescribed format which is outlined in the applicable AFI (AFI 36-2803, The Air Force Awards and Decorations program). All that needs to be done is to fill in the details. But sometimes it's hard to get your thoughts flowing, to accurately convey what you want to say. That's where we come in. We're in the process of collecting awards and decoration examples to make the job easier. So far, we have basic instructions for preparing the most commonly awarded medals and quite a few examples of properly written citations. We hope this will make the job of writing your next decoration much easier.

How to prepare recommendations for the:

Air Force Achievement Medal

Air Force Commendation Medal

Meritorious Service Medal

Citation Examples:

Recommending someone for a medal isn't the only way to recognize someone's contributions. At the lower end of the recognition spectrum is the humble Letter of Appreciation. Although widely considered less meaningful than an Achievement Medal or other decoration because of the promotion points, a Letter of Appreciation can still kick some major ass! A Letter of Appreciation, received from the Commander or the Chief of Maintenance, can have a big impact on a troop's motivation. I remember when I received one unexpectedly from our Squadron Commander --YAHOO! I was on top of the world for a couple of hours. It really made me happy to think that the Commander thought enough of me to recognize my efforts! I was surprised he was even aware of what I was doing! It made me proud too. Yes, Letters of Appreciation can have just as much -or even more impact as decorations. After all, Letters of Appreciation are awarded for genuine accomplishments which is not always the case with medals. When a person receives a Letter of Appreciation, they know they've accomplished something!

I strongly endorse the use of Letters of Appreciation as a recognition tool. It costs nothing but a few minutes of your time, they're easy to process because all the coordination is within your unit or group, and they pay big dividends in pride and loyalty. Letters of Appreciation are appropriate for just about any circumstance where a person goes above and beyond the call of duty. There is no official guidance on what you can or should say in a Letter of Appreciation.   To get an idea of how other people expressed their appreciation, click here to see some examples of Letters of Appreciation.