Naval Reserve Association

20Health AffairsSummer MedleyRADM Peter L. Andrus, MC, USNNational VP for Health ProgramsWe are in the summer doldrums asI write this column with the fallmeeting in Phoenix up ahead andcontinuing challenges and opportunities forour Selected Reserve members in support ofthe Global War on Terror. This month’s columnwill be a miscellany of assorted topics.APPLYThe APPLY board that selects officers forcommand and senior non-command billetscompleted its work in late June, and theresults were published in early July. Thisprocess has received great coverage byCAPT Mark Hardy and others in thispublication and is well known to currentSelected Reservists, but perhaps not so muchso to those who retired prior to the lastseveral years. Overall, APPLY is an excellentprocess that has steadily improved over thecourse of more than ten years. It has provideda level nationwide playing field for thoseseeking scarce leadership roles and senior(CAPT/CDR) billets. I had the privilege ofserving as the head of the Medical Panel forthis year’s board and am once again struckwith the availability of numerous, high quality,patriotic health professionals who make upour Navy Reserve medical department.That being said, APPLY is not withoutsome challenges as it pertains to the medicaldepartment portion of the process. First, thedismal state of our fitness reports continues.There is plenty of blame to go around. It isclear that officers being reported on frequentlyfail to provide meaningful gouge to thereporting senior so that substantive narrativecomments can be prepared. Quantitativestatements about contributions to missionaccomplishments are good; fluff aboundingin complimentary adjectives and nonrelatedcommunity service are less so! Likewise,reporting seniors frequently demonstratetheir lack of savvy by failing to correlatetheir reporting senior rating scores with theirpromotion recommendation (example: theEP officer with a 3.8 average vs. thePromotable officer with a 4.2 average). Inaddition, failure to use EP and MP ratingsmaximally in a competitive group, or writingglowing words about your XO and thengiving him/her a MP in a 1-of-1 group,sends a mixed message. Unfortunately, itspeaks more about the reporter’s naivetéthan about the officer receiving the report.Speaking of “1-of-1” reports, they are thebane of the APPLY board (and selectionboards as well). With a medical unit in everycenter, a widely dispersed medical force,reporting groups divided up by grade anddesignator, and detachment OICs or centerCOs normally serving as the reporting senior,1-of-1 reports are more the rule than theexception. They result in both the superlativeperformer and the lackluster plodder bothgetting 1-of-1 EP recommendations, and oftenresult in the star performer getting shortchanged.The solution, of course, is to havelarge comparison groups of same designatorand grade so that the excellent participantsstand out as the EP and MP recommendationsfrom the pack of promotable officers. Thiscan be achieved given the current makeup ofour several large units (the OHSUs) byhaving the OHSU commanding officer orthe MTF commander serve as the reportingsenior. In such a scheme, detachment OICswould draft fitness reports on their localdrillers and then send these up the chain tothe OHSU headquarters where the departmentor directorate head would socialize thelarge sample of officers of each grade anddesignator with input from the CO and XO,eventually resulting in grades and promotionrecommendations that properly sorted outthe stars from the standard participants. Thiswould give commands, selection boards, andthe APPLY process a really meaningful basisfor making choices that result in best qualifiedofficers getting command and senior leadershippositions. I feel strongly that this is theway ahead for us in the medical department,although I confess that some of my flagcolleagues have somewhat different pointsof view on this issue.A further twist that may be of use in theAPPLY process would be to review recordsof all officers who have applied for commandpositions, first using leadership as the primarycriteria for grading records. Then, slating ofofficers to command jobs could occur.Those officers not selected for a commandposition would then be reviewed, along withall officers who applied only for seniornoncommand jobs, with the primary criteriain grading being clinical expertise and pastsupport for MTFs and the individual medicalreadiness mission. Then, these officerswould be slated to noncommand jobs. This isan idea that I will float to the leadershipfor next year’s APPLY process and that Ithink has substantial merit.FMF Officer Warfare DeviceAn exciting development recently wasCNO’s approval of a warfare device for thosemedical department officers and chaplainsserving with Marine units in both the Activeand Reserve Components. This approvalfollows more than a decade’s effort and is afollow-on to the enlisted FMF warfaredevice that was established a few years ago.Since other medical operational communities(surface, air, submarine, etc.) haveenjoyed a distinguishing warfare device thatspeaks to their special attainments, the FMFofficer warfare device is a welcome additionand long overdue.Fair Winds and Following SeasI will close by bidding a fond farewellto RADM Mike Baker who retired effective1 July 2005. Mike has had an extensivecareer in both the Public Health Service andthe Navy Reserve and during his flag tenureserved as Commander, Naval MedicalForces Korea. Prior to achieving flag rank,Mike served as CO of a NR Fleet HospitalFort Dix and in numerous other capacitiesin the fleet hospital program and othercomponents of Navy Reserve medicine duringan extensive career. He has made substantialcontributions and will be missed, but Isuspect that we will continue to enjoy hiscommitment and efforts on behalf of Sailorsand Marines in the years ahead. Best wishesto him and his family in a well-deservedretirement from the Navy Reserve.Next month will feature an extendedarticle on Seabee Medicine. Out here, untilthen.NRA NEWS/SEPTEMBER 2005