Look at yourself in the mirror Published Sept. 29, 2008 By Lt. Col. Jeanette Voigt 32nd Air Refueling Squadron commander McGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, N.J. -- Every day, you make a habit of checking your own appearance before going out into the world. You use a mirror in your home or office to gauge whether or not you "look right" before other people see you each day. But did you ever consider checking how you look in your records? "You never meet a board ... your record does." That's what my father told me when I was a young officer. At the time, I didn't think too much about it. After all, I wasn't planning on applying for any special assignments, and promotion to first lieutenant and captain are almost guaranteed. But as I progressed in my career, I realized how true those eight words are. Your official record is more than just a resume for the Air Force. Of course it includes the typical things contained in a resume: what you are currently doing, which positions you've held, your education level and accomplishments over your career. But it provides so much more information as well. Job performance is captured in your performance reports. Special accomplishments are detailed in decorations. Even your deployment history is documented on your Single Uniformed Retrieval Format, or SURF. All of this information comes together to provide the Air Force with a snapshot of who you are professionally. The question is whether this snapshot reflects who you are now. Whose responsibility is it to make sure your record is up to date? Ultimately, it's yours. After all, no one is more affected by your record than you. If information is incorrect or missing, you might not be considered for a special assignment or nominated for an award - in some cases, you may even miss out on a promotion opportunity. In the past, members had to go to Randolph AFB, Texas, to review their official record. Today, there are more ways than ever to verify your information. Through the Air Force Portal, you can access the virtual Military Personnel Flight, the Airmen Development Plan/Enlisted Development Plan and the Automated Records Management System. Through these applications you can review all aspects of your record, including copies of your performance reports and decorations. If you find anything missing or incorrect that you can't fix online, work with your supervisor and the Military Personnel Element to make the necessary changes. When should you review your record? Most people wait until they're meeting a promotion board or applying for a special-duty assignment or program to do a review. While it's always a good idea to review your record before these types of events, this shouldn't be the only time it happens. I recommend reviewing your record every time information changes on your SURF. That includes permanent change of station and assignment, change of duty title or Air Force Specialty Code, completion of performance reports and decorations, completion of a deployment and completing professional military education or an academic degree. While it may seem that you have to verify your record often, it is much easier to fix an error that recently occurred than to try to fix something from several years ago. One final note -- your military record tells everyone who you are now, but how do you communicate who you want to be in the future? The answer is ... your Airman Development Plan or Enlisted Development Plan. These tools are the way for you to tell the Air Force exactly what you want to do in your career. You can also communicate information about your life that you want taken into account, such as your spouse's education needs or the desire to be near elderly parents. The Air Force can't give everyone the exact assignment they want every time ... but they can't even consider what you want if they don't know what it is. Want to know how you look in the Air Force "mirror?" Log in to your e-record today and find out!