[BadAndy]

I read the comment section on the fitrep and it seems positive to me. What am I missing?

[EternalHope]

I read the comment section on the fitrep and it seems positive to me. What am I missing?

Officer evaluations at the time were ALL glowing. To understand what was really being said you have to compare Kerry's with the typical report at the time.

The typical officer was rated at the very top of every single category. It was an obviously screwed up system, and has since been changed. I was in the Air Force, not the Navy, but I can guarantee this was a problem in the Air Force.

[MindBender26]

>I read the comment section on the fitrep and it seems positive to me. What am I missing?

You're not missing it. The comment section is.

It's basically boilerplate. A reviewer would never write anything he could be criticized for. Your not missing anything. A good OER would cite many instances illustrating superior performance in the rated areas, be at least one attached page if not more, talk about his future, the need to promote him ASAP, give him a command at sea, get him admitted to the "good" schools, get him some Pentagon-level staff time, sone Joint Assignments, etc.

This is like the retirement speech for Strom Thurmund. Vanilla, meaningless.

Look at the comparative categorical ratings for the reality. Any good officer got "Straight A's"

[PatriotCJC]

The words such as "stellar", "outstanding" "superior" "ahead of others" are common in a FITREP even in a poor FITREP.