Coast Guard Enlisted Person of the Quarter: Nomination Memorandum
A nomination memo organized on the Enlisted Person of the Year program's four evaluation areas (Core Values, Leading Others and Teams, Accountability and Responsibility, Technical Proficiency), two pages maximum, plus the nominee's bio.
What this worksheet covers
Name, rank, and unit prefill from your service profile.
Form details
- Unit name (letterhead)
- Unit address, staff symbol, phone
- SSIC
1650 is the awards series (the Medals and Awards Manual is COMDTINST M1650.25); confirm with your admin.
- Date
- To
Prints as "To:" on a Coast Guard memo. Address the CMC or board president named in your unit's solicitation.
- Thru
- From (nominating supervisor)
- Subj
- Nomination statement
- Core Values
Adherence to Honor, Respect and Devotion to Duty; holding peers accountable; values-based decisions.
- Leading Others and Teams
Fostering cooperation, trust and cohesion; mentoring; strong working relationships.
- Accountability and Responsibility
Ownership of tasks and collateral duties, managing resources, setting priorities.
- Technical Proficiency
Professional competence, self-motivation, results, and continued development.
- Off-duty education and community involvement
- Enclosure(s)
Nominee data
- Nominee (rate, name)
- Paygrade
- Unit
- Category
Use the categories in your unit's solicitation. EPOY covers E-2 through E-6.
- Nominee biography (enclosure)
A short third-person bio: hometown, enlistment date, prior units, qualifications, education, awards. Keep it to one paragraph and gender-neutral.
How to fill out the Memorandum (COMDTINST 5216.4E)
Enlisted Person of the Quarter programs are run locally by units, Sectors and Districts. Most follow the servicewide Enlisted Person of the Year (EPOY) model: a standard Coast Guard memo, two pages maximum, written against four areas. EPOY is open to E-2 through E-6, active and reserve. When: At the end of each quarter when your unit or CMC solicits nominations. Only actions within the quarter count (EPOY counts only the calendar year).
Step by step
- Confirm your local instruction's categories and deadline. Some units split junior (E-2 to E-4) and senior (E-5 to E-6) categories.
- Write paragraph 1 as the nomination statement with the nominee's rate, name, billet and the period.
- Write one paragraph for each EPOY area, leading with the strongest quantified examples.
- Add a short paragraph on off-duty education and community service.
- Attach the nominee's bio and route through the chain to the CMC or board.
What a strong one looks like
- Lead each bullet with the result: "Saved 3 lives as coxswain on…" rather than "Was coxswain for…".
- Use numbers the board can compare: cases, qualifications, hours, dollars, people trained.
- Write gender-neutral: rank and last name, no pronouns, to match current award and evaluation policy.
- Coach the nominee for the board interview: uniform, current events, Coast Guard history, the rating's missions.
Common mistakes
- Going over two pages.
- Listing duties instead of achievements.
- Counting actions from outside the nomination period.