Army Enlisted Record Brief (ERB)

May 30, 2020 — Jt Spratley

First published on March 16, 2015

This blog is informational. See my newer blog to learn how to use your ERB (SRB) for professional development.

Leaders, fix your records. Afterwards, sit your Soldiers down, check and educate them about theirs, and get them fixed. That way, they know what “right” looks like, and when they become Leaders they can continue the trend to improve the NCO Corps. Service Members of other branches, just take note whenever applicable.


Also, don’t forget about the Promotion Point Worksheet (PPW) for Specialists (E-4) and Sergeants (E-5).

The many things that usually go uncorrected on a ERB are:

SECTION IV: Personal/Family Data

Country of Citizenship – blank when should state “US”

Mailing Address – should be your physical address, not home of record. If you stay in the barracks, that’s your mailing address

SECTION VI: Military Education

There are many courses and certifications that may have an Army Training Requirements and Resources System (ATRRS) code to input in this section. There are many resources available to help you find those codes. No, they are NOT all worth promotion points - SOLE certification for example. So what? It can help separate you from your peers during competition and promotion boards.

Correspondence Course hours should NOT BE “0.” Regardless of your MOS, there is ALWAYS an online course on Joint Knowledge Online (JKO), ATRRS, Skillport, and Army Learning Management System (ALMS) you can complete to improve yourself as a Professional, Leader, and person.

SECTION VII: CIVILIAN Education

Level Completed for most state 4 YRS HS, HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA and the Year. If you’ve taken college, # YRS COLL.

Number of Semester Hours Completed should be equivalent to your college hours on your transcript.

Many certifications go in Technical Certification and NOT Military Education. CompTIA and Microsoft certs do NOT go in Military Ed. More on this later.

SECTION VIII: Awards and Decorations

COAs DO GO HERE. Certificates of Achievement DO GO HERE. Also, if you place it on or around your Army Service Uniform (ASU) left pocket – Driver’s badge, MARKSMANSHIP BADGE… pause… If you have weapons qualification info in Section VI, you should have a badge under Awards – e.g. MQBE-R. Translation – MQB (Marksmanship badge), E/SS/MK, -R(Rifle)/-P(Pistol). For example, the MQBSS-R Army badge is the marksmanship badge, sharpshooter - rifle.

ACM-CS – Afghanistan Campaign Medal – Combat star. OEF = ACM-CS

National Defense Service Medal (NDSM), Global War on Terrorism Service Medal (GWTSM), Army Service Ribbon (ASR) - All Soldiers should have these.

Overseas Service Ribbon (OSR) – (eligible after 11 months) quantity should generally match your Section I.

SECTION IX:

Ensure the two boxes to the left and right of “SECTION IX” box is correct.

Be careful when requesting amendments to this section. This section can show how important your personnel files are to you. Sometimes, more data is removed from the section than requested. Keep copies of what you submit for corrections.

MO – months. There should be no blank spaces in previous assignments.

Organization – There should be only one of each for a single duty position.

Duty Title – Leaders, ensure this matches your Evaluation Reports.

SECTION X:

REGMT AFL, short for "Regimental Affiliation," is generally determined by your MOS. For Soldiers within a Combat Arms career management field (CMF), or branch, (Infantry, Artillery, Armored, Cav, Aviation, etc.), the regimental affiliation and crest are determined by personal preference and assignment history. Simply put – they have options.

All other Soldiers hold a MOS under a CMF which governs a specific regimental crest and affiliation based on your branch. But they’re also authorized to wear the Regimental Distinctive Insignia (RDI) of a unit they’ve served in. Check out the latest AR 670-1 for more info.

And only Leaders of the rank of Staff Sergeant (SSG) and above may place a DA Photo on the ERB. Don’t argue. Just ask G1 or click here.

That’s only highlighting what I saw wrong with ERBs regularly, especially Soldiers straight from Initial Entry Training (IET).

Your sources for more info include the following:

  1. Leaders, Chain of Command, S1
  2. Army Publications
  3. Joint Knowledge Online (JKO)
  4. Army Learning Management System (ALMS)
  5. Army Training Requirements and Resources System (ATRRS)
  6. Joint Service Transcript (JST)
  7. RallyPoint
  8. My latest blog post on guiding professional development with your ERB and SRB

Tags: military

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