How to write OPB performance statements
A plain-English field guide to the Officer Performance Brief — the four Major Performance Areas, the two-statements-per-block rhythm, the 450-character duty description, the HLR push line, and stratification conventions, with worked OPB examples. Built on AFI 36-2406 and myEval's hard limits.
Write about two past-tense statements per MPA block, roughly 150–175 characters each, inside myEval's 350-character cap.
[Rank + last name] + [past-tense action verb] + [what you did] → [measurable result]
Have your notes? Draft it against the validator →
What an OPB is — and what differs from the EPB
The Officer Performance Brief is the officer evaluation under AFI 36-2406, entered in myEval. If you know the enlisted EPB, most of it carries over unchanged: the same four Major Performance Areas, the same hard 350 characters per MPA block, and the same statement construct — one standalone past-tense sentence that pairs an action with a measurable result. The shared fundamentals live in our EPB writing guide; this page covers what the OPB adds.
- 01 Duty Description · 450 · present tense
- 02 Executing the Mission · 350
- 03 Leading People · 350
- 04 Managing Resources · 350
- 05 Improving the Unit · 350
- 06 Higher Level Reviewer Assessment · 250 · strat and push
Duty description
A present-tense scope-setter — the one OPB section that is not a performance statement.
Statements per block
The ALQ writing guide advises about two per MPA, at roughly 150–175 characters each.
HLR push line
Stratification, school push, and next job — the Higher-Level Reviewer's assessment.
Stratification
A rater/HLR ranking with its own rules — never written inside your statements.
The same four Major Performance Areas
Every OPB statement maps to exactly one of four fixed MPAs — the identical taxonomy the EPB uses, straight from AFI 36-2406. Officer statements simply carry officer-sized scope: programs, budgets, flights and squadrons rather than a shop. Decide which area the accomplishment lives in, then write to that area's intent.
Executing the Mission
Job proficiency, initiative, and adaptability — how well the officer does the core job.
Leading People
Collaboration, emotional intelligence, and communication.
Managing Resources
Stewardship and accountability of people, time, equipment, and funds.
Improving the Unit
Decision making and innovation that leaves the mission better than you found it.
The statement formula
Strong OPB statements share the EPB's shape. Hover a component to see it light up in the first example further down; miss any piece and the sentence collapses back into a duty description.
+ + [what you did] →
One OPB-specific allowance: after the officer is named once, the subject may be assumed or a pronoun used — “Led a 12-officer planning cell…” is a legal second statement. Use rank and last name before any pronoun, and never invent rank, name, or initials.
Two statements per block
This is the biggest practical difference from the EPB. The official ALQ writing guide advises writing about two performance statements per MPA block, aiming for roughly 150–175 characters each — two accomplishments beat one padded sentence when a board reads the record. The math is unforgiving: one 240-character statement leaves only 109 for the second, which is too thin to land. Write both statements to the target, then check the block as a whole.
Capt Rios directed 214 combat sorties across 3 detachments, resolving 12 scheduling conflicts and delivering a 96% on-time launch rate for the squadron.
She then fused intel and weather feeds into a single mission brief, cutting preflight planning time 25% for 41 aircrews with zero late launches.
152 + 144 characters (plus the joining space) reads 297 of 350. Each statement passes on its own, the block clears the cap with air to spare, and the record shows two accomplishments instead of one.
The duty description
The duty description is the one OPB section that is not a performance statement. It sets role and scope in present-tense active voice — the position, the mission, and the people, equipment, budget, and programs the officer owns — inside 450 characters. Multiple short sentences are encouraged, one per duty. Past-tense rules, action verbs, and impact metrics don't apply here; the accomplishments belong in the MPA blocks.
Flight commander for a 42-member maintenance operations flight supporting 24 F-16C aircraft. Directs daily flying and maintenance scheduling, plans utilization for a 6,200-hour annual flying program, and manages $3.1M in support equipment. Advises the squadron commander on fleet health and sortie production.
Position, scope, and scale — aircraft supported, hours planned, dollars managed — with no claims of accomplishment. Save the wins for the blocks below it.
The HLR push line & stratification
The Higher-Level Reviewer assessment is a tighter instrument: 250 characters for strengths first, then the push — school and next job for company grade officers, command and staff for field grades. It reads as the HLR's bet on the officer's future, and boards read it that way.
Stratification — a ranking like “#1/25 Capts” — has its own rules: it renders in designated blocks, never inside your performance statements. Rater-level strats quote flight level only; squadron-and-above strats belong to the HLR. An unused strat block reads “THIS SECTION NOT USED.” Strats are rater and HLR judgments, not accomplishment text — which is why Brevet drafts statements and leaves stratification to the humans who own it.
My #2 of 27 CGOs — a sharp planner trusted with the group's hardest missions; send to IDE in residence now, then a MAJCOM staff job. A future squadron commander.
Strat, strength, school push, next job — the whole convention in one breath. Shown for shape: this is the HLR's voice, not a performance statement.
OPB examples: weak vs. strong
Four accomplishments, one per MPA — each shown as a rater would first receive it, then rewritten to the standard. The bar reads the 350-character block budget; counts are exact, verified against the same deterministic engine the generator uses. Every strong statement is sized so a second statement still fits its block.
Responsible for the squadron's flying schedule and always made sure sorties got off on time without any major issues.
Opens with “Responsible for” — a banned weak opener the validator hard-rejects. It describes the duty, not an action, and nothing is measured.
Capt Rios directed 214 combat sorties across 3 detachments, resolving 12 scheduling conflicts and delivering a 96% on-time launch rate for the squadron.
A finite verb (“directed”), quantified scope, and a defensible rate — sized at 152 characters so a second statement still fits the block.
Takeaway — Kill the duty-description reflex — lead with a verb you can defend and a number you can prove.
Was a great mentor to the flight's junior officers and always made time to help them develop professionally.
“Was” is not an action, and “great mentor” is an opinion. No count, no timeline, no outcome — a rater has nothing to stratify on.
1st Lt Boyd rebuilt the flight's upgrade program for 14 lieutenants, cutting time-to-certify 35% and delivering 6 mission-ready flight leads in one cycle.
Ownership of a program, a count of officers developed, and two hard results — in 154 characters.
Takeaway — Leadership is provable: who you developed, how many, and what it produced.
Maj Chen managed the group's $14M flying-hour program and was responsible for tracking monthly execution, reallocating hours between the squadrons, briefing wing leadership every week, and also chairing the budget working group, while mentoring two company grade officers on financial management and supporting every wing exercise throughout the entire fiscal year.
Fifteen characters over the 350 cap with seven accomplishments fighting for one block. myEval rejects it on length alone — and the block only had room for two statements anyway.
Maj Chen steered a $14M flying-hour program, reallocated 380 unexecuted hours across 4 squadrons, and closed the fiscal year at 99.8% execution with zero findings.
One idea, sharply told: the dollar scope, the reallocation, and the year-end result do the persuading.
Takeaway — When you're over, don't trim adjectives — cut to one accomplishment and let a second statement carry the rest.
Always thinking outside the box and coming up with innovative ideas that make the squadron's scheduling processes way better.
Present tense, no name, and pure cliché — “way better” measures nothing a promotion board can weigh.
Capt Lane led the wing's shift to automated aircrew scheduling, eliminating 320 manual schedule builds a year and returning 15 duty-days to 4 flying squadrons.
A real change with a before and an after: what was eliminated, what was returned, and to whom.
Takeaway — Innovation needs a before and an after — name what changed and quantify what it bought.
Pre-paste checklist
Run every statement — and the block it lives in — through this before myEval.
- Past tense, finite action verb. Statements only — the duty description stays present tense.
- Rank + last name before any pronoun. The subject may be assumed after first mention (“Led a 12-officer planning cell…”).
- ~150–175 characters per statement. Two statements fit a 350 block; one giant statement crowds the second accomplishment out.
- 350 / 450 / 250. MPA block / duty description / HLR assessment. Spaces and punctuation count.
- A measurable result in every statement. A number, percentage, dollar figure, or time recovered.
- No stratification in statements. Strats are rater and HLR judgments — they live in designated blocks.
- Only approved acronyms. AFPC list + AFSCs, MAJCOMs, weapon systems. Use “Data Masked” for protected data; keep classified and CUI out of any drafting tool.
Frequently asked
What is an OPB?
The Officer Performance Brief is the officer counterpart to the enlisted EPB under AFI 36-2406. It documents an officer's duty description, performance statements across the four Major Performance Areas, and a Higher-Level Reviewer assessment, entered in the myEval system.
How many characters can an OPB statement be?
Each Major Performance Area block holds 350 characters including spaces — the same myEval cap as the EPB. The duty description is capped at 450 characters and the Higher-Level Reviewer assessment at 250.
How many performance statements go in each MPA block?
Minimum one. The ALQ writing guide advises about two per block, at roughly 150–175 characters each, so both accomplishments fit inside the 350-character cap; unit guides commonly suggest two to three.
How is an OPB different from an EPB?
The four MPAs and the statement construct are identical. The OPB adds a 450-character present-tense duty description, expects about two statements per MPA block instead of one, and carries stratification and HLR push-line conventions that matter to promotion boards.
What is stratification on an OPB?
A numerical ranking against a peer group, written like “#1/25 Capts.” Stratifications are rater and HLR judgments rendered in designated blocks, never in accomplishment text. Rater-level strats quote flight level only; squadron-and-above strats belong to the HLR assessment. When unused, the block reads “THIS SECTION NOT USED.”
What goes in the OPB duty description?
Role and scope in present-tense active voice: the position, the mission, and the people, equipment, budget, and programs the officer is responsible for. It is capped at 450 characters and is the one OPB section that is not written as a performance statement.
Beyond the OPB
The EPB uses the same four MPAs and the same 350-character cap — see 48 EPB examples by MPA for worked statements. Award nominations follow different rules: the DAF Form 1206 award guide covers narrative statements, the line budget, and the one-page rule.
Size every statement for the block.
Brevet drafts OPB statements to the 150–175 shape, then a deterministic validator checks every rule — the 350 block, action + impact, the acronym policy — before you paste into myEval. The model suggests language; the validator enforces the law.
Generate an OPB statement →Sources
This guide reflects the official evaluation system. Always confirm against the current instruction before you submit: