Letter of Recommendation (LOR) questions

[ripster]

Situation:

I was 17 years old and through friends of the family got a Major General (Two stars so excuse me if im wrong on the major part) to write me letters of recommendations for college. It was great and was accepted to the school I wanted. However, it was never me who initially wrote him to ask about this letter for me. Also, as soon as I got it I heard he relocated somewhere and I didn't know where. So many things were going on from my dad having a failed surgery in hospital and died a few times in a row afterwards. Luckily he pulled through but it took literally a year of babysitting him here at home. My mind was not in the right place nor was I mature enough to send him a thank you letter. I regret this terribly since I am applying to a unit in the guard and could really use another letter of recommendation from him. However, sister is pissed at me and said i burned bridges and she will not let me know where he recently retired to. Should I pursue his letter of recommendation or did I really burn a bridge? You think the general remembers me not sending a thank you letter? Please let me know if I should not pursue him and get back in contact with him. He would definitely give me a heads up over the competition.

Thanks :confused:

[Guest laurendenise28]

Personally I think it depends on how well he knows you. If it is a person that can definately provide insight as to how you would be as an officer first and foremost, I would try to get back in touch. If this person does not know you very well, I would try to go with others that know you better. Just my 2 cents...

-Lauren

[UPT-hopeful]

Good day,

I am wondering if the people I am getting letters of recommendation from have to individually print and sign 25 copies of each letter. I am obviously applying to multiple units in order to increase my chances.

The first person I got a letter from just emailed me the .doc (so it's not even signed).

What do you do in this type of situation? Have them sign 1 copy then just make photocopies of it and send the copies in your packet?

The FAQ did cover this slightly but it didn't really fully answer my question.

Thank you for your time.

[Guest chaw]

Kinkos is a wonderfull thing. I got 3-4 signed letters from my various sources. I wanted enough that if I lost my origional, I wouldn't have to ask for another from the letter writer. I took those letters and put them on the color copier at kinkos and viola, instant letters that look exactly like the origional.

[ripster]

E-mail the person back with a fax number. Have them sign the document and send it via fax to you. It is easy to get the fax header off with some correcting tape. Then kinko it like chaw said. Mention to them that you are applying to many units. They may have the initiative to give you 25 original copies. Or...one guy lived about an hour from me that sent me a .doc. I went over to his work, where I used to fly so it wasn't a weird situation, and after him letting me test fly his new pitts I asked him to sign the letter.

[Guest jkfaust]

I was just wondering what would be in a good LOR. I figure work ethic, leadership skills, attitudes, that sort of thing. What else should go in them?

[Guest Roy Rogers]

Maybe your passion to fly etc. Get someone who knows your dream of becoming an aviator and have them explain it a little in their letter. Also, with my experience in "what makes a good LOR or not" get some from some "higher ups" and also from some ordinary people who know you best. I had a total of seven letters: governor, state representative, B-1 pilot, Federal Judge, Church leader, Football Coach and a neighbor in the Army. Each touched on my: attributes, personality, desire to fly, goals and achievements, leadership and my background and family history. Anyway, hope this helps you a little. Let me know if there's anything else I can do for ya.

[Guest RaptorwannaB]

I have a question regarding the right way to go about asking for letters of reccomendation for the pilot boards.. are you supposed to ask your cadre for these letters or are they only going to write them if they were going to write them in the first place?

I dont want to ask for some sort of recommendation and sound cocky. Also, what is the timeline like for submitting your package in for the pilot boards? We have had some paperwork problems in the past (wrong heights, wrong scores) and I dont know if i should ask to review my package before they send it off just so I can see that there arent any problems since ive been working towards this goal for like 8 or so years now.. id hate to see a mistake mess it up.

[Guest jmac2626]

I have some pretty good letters for the board. IMHO The best way to go about this is to write the letter yourself. It's tough but you have to make yourself sound like you are superman, I mean go overboard! Then ask the person to sign it (either in person or through coord game). I beleive the reg says they have to be from in your chain of command so this could be tough for college students

[Guest jriggoMOANG]

Who makes good recommendations? Would a retired Naval F-18 Commander and a retired Army Colonel be good people to have letters from? Thanks for any info.

[Guest CAVOK]

Jason,

Regarding letters of recommendation.

Any military officer would qualify as a solid recommendation. The person is testifying to your character, and who better to do it than someone who has served or is serving?

The branch of service is not that important. The main thing it does for you is let the interviewer & selection board know that you have heard about being in the Air Force by someone who was in it & (that you heard about being a crew member by someone who has walked that walk).

We all realize that not everyone can talk to an actively flying AF pilot or nav and get a letter from that person. So use the next best thing at your disposal.

This post does not address the question of needing one from your chain of command, but if you are in ROTC & trying to get to pilot/nav training, then a letter from your chain of command would make sence (but I deal with OTS).

CAVOK

[Guest dustanas]

Would a letter of rec. from an enlisted member of a flight crew be laughed at? After all they deal with the officers on a daily basis, and certainly have their own ideas concerning what makes a good AF officer/pilot. I think it would be an interesting perspective--officer or not, everyone is on the same team and must know what works and what doesn't. I see the obvious downsides too...

[Guest CAVOK]

Like I said, I deal with OTS...

but a letter from an enlisted crew member, if well written, can speak volumes.

Having things in there like "I would love to be on a crew with ###" or "### shows many of the same leadership traits as the best aircraft commanders I have worked with"

CAVOK

[Guest CAVOK]

ROTC folks:

Here is some info on ROTC letters of rec, etc:

1. The only letter that counts is from your commander (as said by Riddller). The commander counts for 50% of your score.

2. Because the CC score is so important, you might think that the AFOQT and PCSM are less important--wrong. Dets get a little egg on the face when they have people wash out of pilot training. So if you have strong scores, you will probably also get a stronger recommendation from ROTC because you are more likely to get through pilot training (in theory).

3. Last year approximately 55% of the ROTC folks who wanted a pilot slot got one. What does that mean to you?

a) If you wanted one last year, your chances were good.

B) If the numbers hold, the same should continue to be true.

c) There is no solid line in the sand which you need to target (which is very bad).

ROTC will rank order everyone & then start at the top handing out the slots until the slots are gone. ONE pushup can make the difference between your chances for an F-15 or a D-4D (desk--4 drawer), and did last year.

With OTS, on the other hand, you will be rolled to the next year's slots if your scores, etc, are good enough to be selected. But there are less slots overall, so the competition is pretty high.

Yes, this goes beyond the scope of the question, but I thought it was information that you may want.

CAVOK

[Guest CAVOK]

Found out that the OTS recruiters have been asked to only include 3 letters with the packages. It was taking too long to read all 5 at the boards!

Do not be suprised if the recruiter still wants 5 so that they can pick the best 3. I recommend actually rank ordering them yourself. Pick the ones that show you are a hard worker, integrity, etc. Not the one from your shop teacher that says you never lost a finger!

CAVOK

[Guest jriggoMOANG]

Cavok,

Just one additional question about LOR's. I have a buddy that is a Warrant Officer in the Army Helo training at Fort Rucker right now. I would like him to write a Rec for me. Would this be ok?

Jason

[Guest CAVOK]

Sure. You may even offer to write a "draft" for him (which probably won't change much before signed).

CAVOK

[Giggity]

I'm wondering two things. First a simple question - Is it okay to make photocopies of an orginal letter of recommendation? Does it make a difference to the board? Second question and the one that bothers me a little bit - Is it adviseable to seek more than 1 LOR from politicians? Before I felt lucky to get one from an assemblyman. Now I have one in the works from a congressman. And I just realized I have ties to a United States Senator, city councilman, a few senators, and maybe (not sure about this one) but just maybe even my state governor. I'm only planning on applying to ANG units if this makes a difference to any answers. The last thing I want to do is give off the impression that I have all the political connections and that I should get the pilot slot cause I know that is simply not the way to go about it. I have 2 LORs from college proffesors and 1 from a community center worker talking about my volunteer work in the community. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Guest delta]

LowNdirty,

Hey dude, First question, yes you can make photocopies of an original letter or rec. I made about 40 of each letter for all my packets. Second, it doesn't matter if you get more than one letter from a politician. I had one from my state Governor and one from my state Representative. None of the units cared, they just wanted to know my connection with both of them. Whatever you do, make sure you get some kick a@@ letters and at least five or six of them. If you've got any more questions pm me and I'll help you all I can. Good luck!

[Guest BLEEDS ON]

Words of caution, make sure the politician actually KNOWS you and can testify to your character. Otherwise the rec. means nothing. However it might, just might show them you have enough ambition to pursue people in office. Your best bet is to ask several people for recommendations and then pick your top two or three. Although I didn't do this, some people will have YOU write the recommendation and they'll review it and put their letterhead and Herbie Hancock on it. Bottom line, make sure they can testify to your character, it's likely that they'll get called if you're considered for selection.

[Giggity]

Thanks much for both of your replies. BlEEDS ON, I don't think I would get to meet one on one with any of the politicians for them to actualy know me or testify to my character. All these politicians have public relations staff and so on who take care of requests for LORs on a case by case basis never actualy giving me the chance to meet lets say my congressman. Do you think it would be just as equal to have that congressman's office worker who might write the letter to testify to my character? Thanks again for your input or anyone else who might have a few words to share on this topic.

[Guest flecth033]

It would not be equal to the congressman's office worker to testify for your character because they are not the congressman. Some staff people are interns (I know this because I was one) and don't hold any clout. If you can get one from the congressman then get one and have them personally recommend you. Like Bleeds said make sure they know you. It would be best for them to sit down and interview you in order to write the best recommendation. If the question comes up on how they know you, you want to be able to have something to say instead of your parents know them, or you called into the office to get one. They want letters from people you know or have interviewed you. You might be able to get away with one LOR from someone to who doesn't know you but if you have many they will start to wonder the connection.

[Guest jkfaust]

I'm an OTS applicant and I just got back my last letter of recommendation. I just realized that the person who wrote it for me dated it. I had heard that they should not be dated because they are no good after 30 days, but if left undated then they are good indefinitely. Is this true and should I worry about going back to the person and have it changed?

[Guest flecth033]

If you think its a problem, make a copy, white out the date, and then send in a copy of that one. Unless there is a seal that you want to keep.

[Sean00xj]

They expire in six months.