“Never task an Admiral.  If you want a recommendation, write it yourself and send it to them to sign.”

~CW04 Julius Marzan, USN (Ret)

The letters of recommendation you include in your officer package can make or break it.  In fact, I would go as far as saying that your letters of recommendation are the most important part of your package.  While it is true that all of the recommendations within your package are interrelated, important, and should complement each other — i.e. the CO’s recommendation, your interview sheets, and whatever letters of recommendation you choose to include — it is the letters of recommendation that can hold the most weight.  What it really comes down to is the politics of rank and community.  

Be Strategic

Be strategic about your letters of recommendation; don’t ask for letters of recommendation from just any officer.  Use the politics of rank and community to your advantage. 

It’s no secret that each community holds their ascension boards separately.  This means that the Naval Aviators pick the enlisted folks that want to be pilots, the Surface Warfare Officers (SWOs) pick the enlisted folks that want to be SWOs etc, etc.  This is as it should be.  You wouldn’t want Supply Corps officers picking Nuclear Submarine Officers, nor would you want Surface Warfare Officers picking Pilots. 

Other than this process being logical, it is also a very important piece of information for you to capitalize on when selecting from whom, and how many letters of recommendation to submit with your package.  Remember, you are trying to convince a board made up middle ranking officers in the community you want to join that they should select you to be a part of their club. You are trying to convince them that you will be a solid performer and contributing member of their community.  Therefore, it only makes sense to fill your package with recommendations from high ranking officers in the community you wish to become a part of (this become more complicated when submit your application to multiple communities, but you get the idea). 

If you are smart and choose your recommenders strategically, chances are the board members reviewing your package will know, or know of, the individuals recommending you. This gives you some serious credibility.  If you don’t choose your recommenders strategically, the board members will likely have no idea who your recommenders are and you’ve lost an opportunity to connect with the board on a personal or professional level.  

Play the Leverage Game

Your CO is likely a CDR, maybe a CAPT, and he or she may or may not be a member of the community for which you are trying to join.  So while their recommendation (even though it’s required) will hold weight, it will not hold as much as an Admiral from the community you wish to join.  Your recommendation letter(s) should be from officers no lower ranking than Captain (O-6) if you want to be a shoe in for selection. 

This is not to say that recommendation letters from Commanders and Lieutenant Commanders may not help your package, and it is certainly not to say that Sailors are not regularly selected without a single O-6 or above recommendation letter.  But, if you’re playing the leverage game with the board (and you should be), you need O-6 and above.  If you are able to get a recommendation letter from an Admiral than you really don’t need anymore.  This is what I did because who’s going to tell the Admiral no?  

The person chairing your officer selection board is likely a Commander or below.  Make sure you get as many Admirals and Captains in your package as you can; the Commander isn’t going to tell the Admiral no.

~CW04 Julius Marzan, USN(Ret)

Write it Yourself

This may seem counter intuitive, or brash even, but it is not.  Write the letters yourself and send them to the secretary or assistant of the officer from whom you are seeking a recommendation.  For one, seek recommendations from those for whom you believe will endorse you for a commission.  Second, make it easy for them to support you.  The officers you’re seeking a recommendation from don’t likely have the time to sit down and write your recommendation letter.  So make it easy for them, write it for them.  Give them a solid foundation to work with.  If you’re lucky they’ll make minimal changes and will just sign it.

When doing this, though, keep two caveats in mind:

• Your letter better be well written and free of errors.
  • Get someone you know to have good writing to read it and edit it.
• Don’t send cold letters.
  • Make sure you’ve talked to the person you’re seeking a recommendation from. Or, at the very least their assistant. You need to get an affirmative answer before sending them your letter.

I have sought two letters of recommendation in my career to date.  One from an Admiral and one from a Captain.  Both were successful and helped me achieve the results I sought.  I wrote both of them myself, and not a word was changed in either case; they just signed them.

What I Did

I submitted one letter of recommendation in my officer package.  The reason I only submitted one, and was successful, is because I was very strategic about from whom I sought a letter of recommendation.  I sought my letter from an Officer with whom I was familiar, who was in the community I was seeking to join, and who I knew out ranked everyone on the selection board. 

The letter of recommendation I put in my OCS package was from a Rear Admiral.  At the time he was the Commander of the Naval Supply Systems Command, Global Logistics Center out of San Diego, CA (the command in charge of the command I was serving in at the time). 

I was stationed at NAVSUP FLC Sigonella – Site Souda Bay, in the beautiful island of Crete. We had met several times because I volunteered to be his driver every time he made a site visit to Souda Bay. After I won Sailor of the Year for NAVSUP FLC Sigonella, I flew to San Diego to compete against the Sailors of the Year from each of the other seven FLCs for the title of Global Logistics Center Sailor of the Year (his Command).  After four days of interviews, impromptu assignments, physical training, observation, and general sight seeing, I won and was selected as the RDML’s Sailor of the Year.  This connection and professional acquaintance was the perfect opportunity to seek a recommendation letter.

Timing also played a big factor in my choice of recommender. I seized on an opportunity while it was still fresh.  I was playing with the idea of putting in an officer package when I won Naval Supply Systems Command Sailor of the Year.  I was slowly, apprehensively even, putting my package together when one of my mentors convinced me that I needed to capitalize on my recent success.  He told me, “An Admiral just had your name in his mouth.  That may never happen again.  You need to take advantage of that and submit your package now!”  I did, and here I am.

Does this mean that if you don’t have a letter of recommendation from an Admiral in the community you’re seeking to join your application won’t cut it?  Absolutely not!  This is just my story; how I did it.  You don’t need to be Sailor of the Year to get into OCS, most Mustangs have never been Sailor of the Year.  My point is, it’s not a deal breaker.  Get a recommendation from an Officer that is familiar with you and your work.  If they’re in the community you’re going for, great.  If they’re in the community you’re going for, and are a Captain or an Admiral, even better.

Final Thoughts

• Be strategic about from whom you seek a recommendation letter.
  • Ask for letters from Officers in the community you wish to join to boost your credibility.
• Play the leverage game with the selection board.
  • Letters from Captains and Admirals hold the most weight.
• Seek letters from Officers with whom you know (and who know you).
• Write them yourself
• Seize opportunities while they are still fresh, don’t wait!

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