ICSC(MR)/DW/OJAR

Undated

RND DS

ICSC(M)Students

DEFENCE WRITING –OJAR SCHEME INSTRUCTION

Introduction
  1. The ability to write accurate confidential reports on subordinates is an essential staff skill for all military and civilian officers within the Armed Services. Promotion, transfer and career management systems rely on the written records of an officer's career, and that record is composed almost entirely of confidential reports.
  2. This scheme is designed to provide you with a formative opportunity to consolidate the principles of confidential report work before you conduct an assessed exercise on ICSC(MR). You are a required to hand in your completed OJAR on Lt Carrington when you arrive on the first day of the course. JSP 757 provides the information required for producing reports; this document should be availableon your respective units for you to read.

Aim

  1. The aim of the OJAR scheme is to give students formative experience and practice in the skills of OJAR writingbefore an assessed OJAR exercise on ICSC(MR).

Scenario

  1. Today is Mon 5 AprXX and you are Lt Cdr your name RN, EA2 to Flag Officer North Western Approaches (FONWA). Having just returned from Easter leave you have spent most of the day clearing your in tray. You are the 1RO for Lt Carrington, FONWA’s Flag Lt, and you have started to think about his OJAR (EA is 2RO, FONWA is 3RO).
  2. The office has been the usual hive of activity and you wish you had more time to fight off all the alligators. You look back at some of the key dates in your diary:
  3. 5 Jun XX. New Flag Lt joined
  4. 5 – 7 Jul XX. Gibraltar visit.
  5. 13 Jul XX. Four weeks of courses start. Equal Opportunities, Health and Safety and Financial Management for Senior Officers.
  6. 10 Aug XX. Back in the office, preparing for visit to affiliated unit. Then Summer leave.
  7. 12-14 Sep XX. Ship affiliation to the Royal Tank Regt (RTR). TwentyFONWA staff (EA, EA2, Flag Lt, Office Manager plus 16) went to visit the RTR churning up Salisbury Plain. Good night had by all in the ‘Starry Plough’ – must get hold of the line book. EA got a nice letter back from their CO, Lt Col Williams.
  8. 21 Oct XX. Office preparing for Ministerial briefing.
  9. 28 Jan XX. Documentary Security Inspection – BZ.
  10. 2 Feb XX. Royal Visit and Puffin Island PR incident.
  11. 1 Mar XX. FONWA’s birthday party.
  12. 21 – 22 Mar XX. Combined Cadet Force visit.
  13. 24 Mar – 5 Apr XX. Easter leave.
  14. 5 Apr XX. Back in the office with a full in tray.
  15. As you sit at your desk you get a call from Cdr Sickley (EA). “Ah, shippers…” You sigh uneasily as you know that this can only spell more work for you. The EA continues, “Just pop into my office for a few minutes would you, I’ve got a job for you and I need to explain it.” In the EA’s office you are briefed that Lt Carrington has just received a short notice assignment to HMS DARING to fill the gapped OOW1 position (incumbent has had an accident) so his OJAR needs to be drafted before the EA goes off on leave.

Requirement

  1. Using your notes on Lt Carrington(Annex A), the transcript of the EA’s brief (Annex B), Carrington’sprevious OJAR Page One (Enclosure 1) and hisMPAR (Enclosure 2), you are to produce aone-page Word Document (template at Annex C) containing a Performance Narrative to a maximum of 1850 characters(including spaces) and a Potential Narrative to a maximum of 925 characters(including spaces).
  2. This report is to be submitted to your DS on the first day of ICSC(MR) and a soft copy is to be uploaded onto sharepoint. Use scenario dates throughout.

T A Peyman

Lt Cdr RN

RND(L)

Ext 8226

Email:

Annexes:

A.Notes on Lt Carrington.

B.Transcript of EA’s brief on Carrington.

C.Report writing template format.

Enclosures:

1.Lt Carringtonprevious OJAR Page One–10 JunXX.

2.Lt Carrington MPAR.

1

Annex A to

ICSC(M)/DW/OJAR

Undated

NOTES ON LT CARRINGTON

NameBrian Anthony Gordon Carrington

DOB14 Feb XX

NumberC037380T

RankLt (1 Sep XX), IC

SpecX

CARRINGTON HAS 4 YEARS SENIORITY AS A LT AND IS 32 YEARS OLD

Duties: Appointed as Flag Lt to FONWA; provide advice on ceremonial matters; Document Security Officer; DO to PA, Office Manager, House Manager and Driver; coordinate and undertakes duties as Duty Admin; Liaison Officer for the Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) and Liverpool Sea Cadets.

Family:Jenny (wife), Jack (9), Jill (10) – all in MQ in Plymouth – devoted family man.

Did well at BRNC, came top of his course and still found time to represent Plymouth Command at Rugby. RYA Coastal Skipper. A physically fit and able sportsman – no problems with RNFT in past. Currently downgraded following sports injury.

Joined 5 Junxx from GRIMSBY (as Corro). Seemed very keen and was eager to take on the duties as Duty Admin. He quickly grasped the responsibility of the duty roster, for which he is responsible.

Problems with his SRs. Seems to have taken the JRs in the registry under his wing, regards them as a personal cause and spends a lot of time on their personal development, particularly the CW candidates. Means well, but the Duty Admin roster incident didn’t do him any favours with the POWTR and WO Morris (Office Manager) - they had to do a short notice weekend duty. Safe pair of hands as Document Security Officer – understands his duties but again managed to alienate Office Manager by dismissing his advice. As LO for visit to the Royal Tank Regt (RTR) was behind the curve in his planning (inexperience?) but worked hard to pull it out of the bag at the last minute and with a bit of your help he produced a good set of visit letters.

Lack of foresight? Managed to deliver a good and comprehensive visit programme for the Armed Forces Minister, but failed to listen to the MT Senior Rate when working out the timings for travel between airport and HQ Building. The driver was stuck in rush hour traffic and was therefore late arriving at the airport. Fortunately the Minister’s plane was also late and we arrived just as he was walking through Arrivals. Messed up his visit programme in Feb when HRH Duchess of Cornwall visited the area, by forgetting the change to British Summer Time, fortunately FONWA’s driver picked up on the error and therefore the issue remained in house – FONWA was picked up on time. Lack of attention to detail or just too busy?

Very confident and a quick learner, with a lot of enthusiasm and energy, not easily overloaded and knows when to seek advice from the EA. He is keen to go back to sea and as a Warfare Officer he is probably capable of FNO course next but I know he is keen to be XO MM/PP after his GRIMSBY time. Definitely needs another job before PWO course. I see Lt Cdr rank being easily within his reach. Recommend for ICSC(M) -Carrington could do with a few pointers on good staff work. Might broaden his horizons and even bring him out of his shell a bit – considering he’s a big old rugby player, he has been very quiet. Dedicated to his family – in a quarter back in Guzz – seems pretty stable. Could do with encouragement in Wardroom – maybe still insecure in this environment?

Annex B to

ICSC(M)/DW/OJAR

Undated

TRANSCRIPT OFEA’s brief ON CARRINGTON

It seems that Carrington has to leave FONWAat the end of the month, which nicely ties in with his annual OJAR. I will be out of office for the rest of the month, so time is a bit short. To make your life a bit easier, I’ve got my own notes on him, which you can have, but I’ll give you a bit more information to fill in the gaps. So, where do I start with Carrington? As you know, he joined nearly a year ago. He is keen and has a lot of enthusiasm, correctly channelling all this will permit Carrington to progress quite nicely.

I like his style and apparently so does FONWA, it is good to see that he has gained FONWA’s confidence and that they effectively communicate. Carrington has come a long way since he first blundered through the preparation for the brief for the Armed Forces Minister and the foul up of the visit itself. Clearly we managed to keep all this in-house and even the Admiral is not aware of any of this. FONWA was particular impressed with the Cadet Force visit before Easter– I know that you were giving Flags some guidance behind the scenes for this.

He never seems overtaxed and gets on with the work given to him, but hurtles around the place, not even allowing some of our experienced staff to help. I know that Tiggy can appear to be a bit slow and immature but he is an experienced team member ripe for promotion and has never let anyone down. Yet, Carrington always ignores his input. It’s the same as Duty Admin – he conscientiously gets on with the duty and now has a firm grasp of the roster, but listening to the Office Manager would have avoided the weekend duty debacle. Clearly Mr Morris and the POWTR will not be contributing to Carrington’s leaving present!

He is proactive and learns quickly, but I am concerned about his ability to see the bigger picture. At times it can appear that he is a rabbit that is caught in the headlights. Whilst there is a marked improvement in his staff work and he can prioritise, there is the underlying theme and feeling that you continuously have to guide him. You remember that you had to help with the Gibraltar visit. That visit was planned for quite some time, yet there were some loose ends which you had to sort out. Thinking back to the Armed Forces Minister visit, it was his lack of foresight and ability to listen to the advice from the MT Senior Rate, which caused the timing problem. Carrington is prepared to take the advice from his seniors, but appears to completely shun that from his subordinates. The good news is that he is learning from his mistakes. That said, he does have a good handle on his role as Documentary Security Officer. It was good to see that he was putting himself out to get on the CBO course and he even investigated the possibility of attending the STRAPSO course at GCHQ. The inspection at the end of Jan resulted in some good feedback. Again though, the POWTR is not too keen on his use of the long red screwdriver.

Now as for the future, I know the appointer is desperate for FNO Course candidates and has sent out a missive to all employing officers specifically asking for recommendations, professionally I am not really able to make a judgment, though I suspect that Carrington has the brains to give FNO his best shot and I am confident that he will be able to pull it off. However, I can see why he wants a small ship XO’s job - they are cracking jobs with plenty of face time and it might stand him in good stead for promotion. Of course it would either make or break him! It might be the making of him and working alongside senior rating Heads of Department might make him start to listen to the voice of experience. Given his background and progress, he could go from there straight to PWO course, but a lack of Ops room time might let him down.

I am worried that he hasn’t come out of his shell yet – I’ve heard he used to be a handful in the third half after rugby games! I know he is dedicated to his family (Jenny (wife), Jack and Jill) – they are in a quarter back in Guzz – seems pretty stable but I wonder if he’s not just strapped for cash – I didn’t see him at the Admiral’s Birthday Party,will need a bit of encouragement to liven up in the Wardroom.

Annex C to

ICSC(M)/DW/OJAR

Undated

Attribute / Grade / Attribute / Grade
Leadership / Initiative
Professional Effectiveness / Reliability
Effective Intelligence / Powers of Communication
Judgement / Subordinate Development
Management / Courage and Values
Overall Performance
Recommendations / Yes/No/Dev / Recommendations
Promotion – 1 Rank / Instructional Duties / No / Any / Phase 2/3 only
Commission Transfer
Performance:
Potential:

Student Name

Rank

Syndicate

ICSC(M) X/XX

RN REGULAR OFFICER'S APPRAISAL

Number / Rank / Name
C037380T / Lt / CARRINGTON, BRIAN ANTHONY GORDON
Period:5 Jun XX – 31 May XX / Appraisal Year: 20XX/XX / MPAR Date: XX Dec XX

Personal and Employment Details

Date of Birth: / 14-Feb-XX
Engagement Type: / Navy-IC / Projected Termination: / 07-Apr-XX
Branch/Arm: / Warfare (General Service)(Officer) / Sub Branch/Regiment:
Main Trade:
Substantive Rank: / Lt / Seniority Date: / 01-Sep-XX
Position: / OF2 FONWA FLAG|1245838 / Date Assigned: / 05-Jun-XX
Organisation Unit: / FONWA / Job: / RN|Warfare|General

Role and Responsibilities

Unit Role: / Northwest Approaches Command
Position Role: / Flag Lt
Responsibilities: / To conduct duties as Flag Lieutenant iaw QRRN Ch 22
Provide advice on ceremonial matters
Act as Divisional Officer to PA, Office Manager, Driver, House Manager
Coordinates and undertakes duties as Duty Admin
Act as Liaison Officer for the Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) and LiverpoolSea Cadets
Document Security Officer
Date Applicable / Objective
31-May- XX / CBO Course
28-Feb- XX / To organize and manage a visit to Royal Tank Regiment
31-May-XX / To pass RNFT.
31-May-XX / To undertake ICSC(M).

Personal Objectives

Career Preferences and Aspirations

First Choice / Second Choice / Third Choice
Location / South England / Greater London / Devon
Job / XO MM/PP / MOD Main Bldg / Trng Establishment
Change of Commission
Volunteer for / CC
Officers' Mid-Period Appraisal Review
Service No / Act/Loc Rank / Rank / Seniority / Surname & Initials
C037380T / - / Lt / 1 Sep XX / CARRINGTON B A G
Date of Birth / Commission / Branch / Specialisation / Mid-Period Appraisal
14 Feb XX / IC / X / 10 Feb xx
Duties / DO / Unit / Period
Flag Lt / EA2 / FONWA / 5 Jun xx – 31 May xx
Current
Leadership – misdirected at times. Can get too close to the coal face, must learn to use his SR’s.
Prof Effectiveness – Good progress as Flag Lt; again can micro-manage. Has good grasp of Document Security Officer duties and did well in the audit.
Effective intelligence – does not listen to SR advice but hoists things in from his seniors very quickly.
Judgement – Needs to think through and be more aware of the risks and consequences of his actions.
Management – Does not delegate. Has not managed to gel with SRs yet. Needs to listen to them more often.
Initiative – This is improving, although planning for the RTR visit could have been better.
Reliability – Tries hard. Conscientious and loyal, keeps tight control of all Document Security aspects and the Duty Admin roster.
Powers of communication – Confident briefing a small team, not yet challenged on the larger problems.
Subordinate development – Places a big emphasis on improving his JRs. Needs to ensure he keeps the right balance and acknowledge the expertise of his SRs.
Physical fitness – has yet to take his RNFT due to injury, should pass it without problems when upgraded - very fit normally.
Courage and values – Bit too quiet. Needs to mix more.
Potential
Leadership Style – Effective but needs to think about delegation.
Professional Ability – Has scope to develop after further training. Could do NO job but wants to be small ship XO.
Application of intelligence – Takes him a while to get to the heart of the problem. Thinks too much at his own level.
Management qualities – Needs to delegate more.
Interpersonal Skills – Should mix more.
Name / Rank / Appointment
Your name / Lt Cdr / EA2
Branch/Unit / Signature / Date
FONWA / 10 Feb xx
Subject Officer's Certificate
I have participated in a Mid Period Appraisal today
Signature / Date
++++++++ / 10 Feb xx