SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii (Army News Service, Jan. 30, 2013) -- The Army is in the process of changing the way it evaluates officers, said the commanding general of the Army Human Resources Command during a briefing, Jan. 23 at the main post chapel, here.

HRC is "engaging with the Army," said Maj. Gen. Richard P. Mustion, commander of HRC, to discuss some of the major changes in policies and procedures, such as the new Army Officer Evaluation Reporting system scheduled to be implemented in December 2013.

The current system is a mature system and works, but it is just not in-line with current Army doctrine. "The new OER system will help better align with current Army leadership doctrine," said Mustion. The new OER will help accurately evaluate the performance and potential of Army officers, to create a more transparent process for officer assignments and selection.

There will be three specific "grade plates," which refers to the different groups of officer ranks. The first version is for officers in the rank of captain and below, the second for field grade officers and chief warrant officers, and the last is for colonels and brigadier generals.

The current system allows raters to give all their subordinates top marks. The new form will only allow raters to give a top mark to less than 50 percent of the rated officers. "Previously, there was not an accountability measure to identity the top performers of our officers," said Mustion. "The system we are trying to implement will help identify our very best performers, those that truly excel," he said.

HRC is implementing measures for core accountability by making sure that the rater is within the officer's chain of command. "The rater is exclusively focused on performance, and the senior rater is exclusively focused on an officer's potential," Mustion said. He said this ensures there is direct knowledge of the officers potential and performance.

"We are planning to sit down and train our officers and those that process the reports on the mechanics of the system," said Mustion. HRC wants to ensure the new system transitions smoothly for officers.

HRC is still working on perfecting the program and building a tool that links directly with HRC. The guidelines and standard operating procedures are also being written. HRC is "committed to allow enough time to properly train and educate our officers, and to fully test the system;" this is why we set the date of December, said Mustion.

"HRC wants to make sure that we ensure the future leaders and officers of the Army are the very best and most qualified that we can offer," said Mustion. "We need to maintain that best Army that can meet the needs of our nation."