EPR Writing 101
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So You Have to Write an EPR?
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Performance feedback and performance evaluation are
critically important to the success of our Airmen
Don’t treat it lightly…remember, your subordinate is not
the only one being evaluated, but…
It’s not rocket surgery, i.e., it’s very straight forward…or
at least it should be (don’t make it harder than you have
to)
Don’t think you’re a good writer? That’s OK, you don’t
necessarily have to be…you just need to be an accurate
writer
Bullet writing is not based on standard English
 Like anything else, it takes practice to be “good” at
it…
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“OMG, it snuck up on me!”
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Why did you wait for the RIP? You knew it was coming
 Get your resources together – today!
 Require your subordinate to give you input
 Weekly or Monthly Activity Reports
 Use it as a learning/training opportunity
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Give them a target block to fill
Check the member’s PIF…you might be surprised
 Get those PFWs out and review them
 Tongue and Quill, dictionary, thesaurus, unit guides
 If you think it could be late – speak up NOW!
 Take a deep breath…and do it one bullet at a time
 Set it aside if you need to, but watch the suspense
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Three Required Ingredients of an
EPR Bullet…
Action, Result, and Impact
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The First Ingredient - Action
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ACTION – what was the verifiable action?
 Start the bullet with an action verb
 Airman and Jr. NCOs: produced, constructed,
designed, created, etc
 SNCOs: led, managed, supervised, directed, etc
 Be cautious of nebulous terms like conceived,
formulated, or envisioned
 Don’t overlook task leadership in Airman and JNCOs
 Don’t entirely discount things that didn’t quite work out
 If it was a good idea, give it the credit it’s due
 “Laid the groundwork for…” and “paved the way…”
 But don’t assume an outcome…this is a performance
evaluation
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The Second Ingredient - Result
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RESULT – what was the quantitative and/or qualitative
outcome of the member’s action?
 Figures, percentages, ratios (be careful w/numbers)
 Adds weight and credibility
 Provides a frame of reference or scope
 “Describers” are just as important, but be careful…
 First-ever, largest, finest, best-to-date, first-rate, etc
are all good to use, but make sure they’re realistic,
accurate, and verifiable
 Be careful with “creativity”…primary responsibility as a
supervisor is to accurately articulate the performance of
your Airmen
 Don’t call the ratee’s, or your own integrity, into question
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The Third Ingredient - Impact
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IMPACT – what positive affect did the member’s action
have on the mission of the unit?
 This is actually where you should start first
 Primarily select actions whose results have made an
impact
 This is the heart of the bullet…this is the money maker
 Everything else in the bullet supports this, so make
it meaningful
 Testimonials work well, especially from commanders,
senior staff, aircrew, etc., but don’t overuse
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Anatomy of a Bullet
or…
How I Wrote My First EPR
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Start with the action…
SSgt Jones set up some chairs.
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then throw in something that
describes the action…
SSgt Jones helped set up over 300 chairs in
less than one hour for the 2005 CCAF
Graduation.
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now, put in a result…
SSgt Jones helped set up over 300 chairs in less
than one hour for the 2005 CCAF Graduation.
480 guests and graduates attended this career
milestone event.
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and explain the impact…
SSgt Jones helped set up over 300 chairs in less than
one hour for the 2005 CCAF Graduation. 480 guests
and graduates attended this career milestone.
Outstanding event praised by 1st Fighter Wing
Commander as “best ever seen” at Langley AFB.
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and finally, put it in EPR format.
- Key member of CCAF graduation; set up over 300
chairs in under 1 hour; attended by 480
guests/graduates; outstanding event honored career
milestone/praised by 1 FW/CC--”best ever seen”
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Action + Result + Impact =
Your Subordinates Success
- Key member of CCAF graduation; set up over 300
chairs in under 1 hour; attended by 480
guests/graduates; outstanding event honored career
milestone/praised by 1 FW/CC--”best ever seen”
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Action + Result + Impact =
Your Subordinates Success
- Key to CCAF grad; set up 300 chairs in 1 hour;
attended by 480; event praised by 1 FW/CC--”best ever
seen”
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And on the other side of the coin…
“My Supervisor Just Asked Me For Inputs!”
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No one cares more about your career then you (right?)
 You should have been doing that all year
 Give your inputs digitally on the proper form
 Don’t be shy, tell it like you think it is
 You have the “technical” expertise – explain it
 Identify what’s important to you
 Impress with your ability to write (communicate)
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A Few Do’s and Don’ts
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Do get your subordinate’s inputs, but don’t rely on them
as your sole source
Do get performance input from other supervisors
Do be clear, accurate, and fair
 Fair doesn’t mean equal…
Don’t get “thesaurusidis”
Don’t focus on single events…good or bad
Don’t be late…there are few legitimate excuses
And for the love of all things holy and sacred, don’t
forget to spell check!
Instructor Pet Peeves:
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Self-QC
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Use the unit EPR Checklist
Ensure your word picture matches ratings on front
Make sure your final product makes sense
Don’t use punctuation at the end of bullets
Make sure verb tenses agree; “maintains and
distributed…” are in tense conflict
 “Praise” (first) line should be in present or future tense
 Body of comments block should be in past tense
 Promotion statement/job recommendation (last) line
should be in present or future tense
Make sure the bullet and sub-bullet lines line up
Don’t expect someone else to edit your work
 You should never push an eval up the chain until you
consider it “final”
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EPR Writing
Practical Example
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Losing & Winning Bullets
- Participated and assisted with NAF Resale Auction;
generated over $3,000 in revenue for the Vance MWR
- Managed NAF resale auction inventory; advertised 89K
items…generated $3K; funded local MWR services
What was wrong with the first version?
Weak Intro, wasted real-estate
- Participated and assisted with NAF Resale Auction;
generated over $3,000 in revenue for the Vance MWR
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Losing & Winning Bullets
- Revamped entire process of receiving data from Services
and reporting NAF Financial Statement to wing/CC
-- Process now ensures focused and in-depth review on
assessing financial soundness of all NAF operations
-Streamlined
NAF Finance reports system…3K statements
qrtly/$73K; armed Wng/CC for budget increases
Two lines, no data, wordy, no tangible impact
- Revamped entire process of receiving data from Services
and reporting NAF Financial Statement to wing/CC
-- Process now ensures focused and in-depth review on
assessing financial soundness of all NAF operations
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Losing & Winning Bullets
- Counselor to squadron personnel; mentored individuals on
personal & professional standards in the Air Force
- Mentored 12 CGO/NCO’s; directed weekly leadership
class…23 hrs/produced 7 quarterly award winners
Space filler, numbers missing, no impact
- Counselor to squadron personnel; mentored individuals on
personal & professional standards in the Air Force
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Summary
Few things are more important!
 Action, Result, Impact format
 Know your resources, and use them
 Including supervisors, peers, etc.
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Questions?
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