Action Impact Magnitude
Every strong bullet has three parts: what you DID (action verb past-tense), what HAPPENED as a result (impact, usually quantified), and how big the effect was (magnitude — squad, platoon, company, unit-wide). A bullet missing any one of them is incomplete, and the board skips it.
// 01Action: the past-tense verb
The regulation says use action words and past tense. Pick the verb up front. "Led." "Built." "Trained." "Resolved." "Mentored." The verb tells the reader what kind of work this was.
Avoid "responsible for" (no past-tense), "helped" (too vague), and stative constructions like "was instrumental in." The regulation literally says past tense. Use it.
"Bullet comments will— (1) Be short, concise, and to the point. Bullets will not be longer than two lines, preferably one, and no more than one bullet to a line. (2) Start with action words (verbs) or possessive pronouns (his or her); personal pronouns (he or she) may be used; use past tense when addressing how the NCO performed and his or her contributions made during the rating period."
DA PAM 623-3 ¶3-6b
Checkpoint
Which opening verb satisfies ¶3-6b(2)?
The regulation requires action words AND past tense. "Led, coordinated, mentored" are past-tense action verbs. "Responsible for" is stative (not action), "was instrumental" is stative + past, "Will lead" is future tense (forbidden for rater bullets — also potential language).
// 02Impact: the quantified result
The result the action produced. Quantify when you can. "Raised company qual rate from 73 to 91%." "Cut platoon CTC turnaround by four days." "Mentored three E-4s into E-5, two on first-look."
Numbers are good. Specific named outcomes are good. Vague "improved morale" is bad. The board has read thousands of "improved morale" bullets. They mean nothing.
If the impact is not quantifiable, name it specifically. "Recovered the missing sensitive item within four hours; zero days of lost training time." That is not a number but it is specific enough that a board can use it.
Checkpoint
Which version is the stronger impact phrase?
Only the third option has a quantified before-and-after and a timeframe. The others are vague impact claims that boards have learned to discount. Quantification + timeframe is what makes impact readable.
// 03Magnitude: the scope phrase
The scope of the effect. Was it your squad? Your platoon? Your company? Your battalion? Brigade-wide? The Army? Magnitude is what tells a board "this NCO operated above their billet" versus "this NCO did their job well."
A platoon sergeant who runs a battalion-level training event is operating up. That is worth saying out loud. A SSG who built a brigade-wide SOP did work that scales beyond their unit — that is the magnitude marker that supports Far Exceeded Marker 1 (extraordinary scope).
Checkpoint
A bullet describes work that "raised the company qual rate." A second bullet describes work that "raised the brigade qual rate across six companies." What does the second add?
Brigade scope across six companies is the magnitude marker that fires the leadership multiplier (Far Exceeded Marker 4) and the extraordinary scope (Far Exceeded Marker 1). The company version stays at Exceeded. The brigade version climbs to Far Exceeded territory.
// 04The template
A bullet template that combines all three:
[Past-tense verb] [object, with quantification], [magnitude phrase]; [enduring effect or multiplier, if Far Exceeded]
Concrete:
Built the battalion's NCOPD curriculum, instructing 47 NCOs across three companies; curriculum now in use at brigade level.
Action: Built. Impact: 47 NCOs instructed. Magnitude: battalion-wide, escalated to brigade. The Far Exceeded multiplier ("now in use at brigade level") is the bonus marker.
// 05Worked examples
Worked example · Met
A SSG ran the company's quarterly range cycle.
Led company range operations supporting 120 qualifications; met training standards and supported the company's 78% qual rate.
Action = "Led." Impact = "supported 78% qual rate." Magnitude = "company." Three parts present, all Met-tier vocabulary. Clean bullet.
Worked example · Exceeded
Same SSG, frequent initiative across the cycle.
Often coordinated cross-squad training across the rating period; raised company qual rate from 78% to 91% within the cycle.
Action = "coordinated." Impact = "from 78% to 91%." Magnitude = "company." Three parts present, Exceeded-tier vocabulary (often + immediate impact). Strong Exceeded.
Worked example · Far Exceeded
Same SSG, brigade-scale work with enduring effect.
Built the brigade ammo SOP now used as the division template; trained six company supply NCOs who ran the next ITX without rater involvement; division qual rates sustained up 18% through the next quarter.
Action = "Built, trained." Impact = "sustained up 18% through the next quarter." Magnitude = "brigade / division." Plus enduring-effect marker and multiplier (six NCOs trained). Three Far Exceeded markers fire.
// 06Practice: name the tier
Read each bullet, decide the tier it honestly supports, then check the answer underneath.
Answer · Exceeded
Coordinated brigade-wide ammo resupply across six companies during the ITX, raising company qual rates 18%.
Markers: often take disciplined initiative; immediate impact
Action = "Coordinated." Impact = "raising 18%." Magnitude = brigade across six companies. One event, no enduring effect, no multiplier language. One Far Exceeded marker (extraordinary scope) fires, plus solid Exceeded vocabulary. Lands at Exceeded.
Answer · Did Not Meet
Did good work.
No action verb's specific object. No quantified impact. No scope. A board cannot use this bullet for any box check. Even a thin Met needs the three template parts present.
Answer · Exceeded
Mentored three E-4s into E-5, two on first-look, with weekly NCOPD sessions and structured PT across the rating period.
Markers: often take disciplined initiative; immediate impact; leadership multiplier (partial)
Action = "Mentored." Impact = "three E-4s into E-5, two on first-look." Magnitude = section level. "Weekly across the rating period" is the frequency marker. Two Exceeded markers plus partial multiplier. Strong Exceeded.
Answer · Did Not Meet
Responsible for the platoon during the rating period.
"Responsible for" is stative, not past-tense action. Violates ¶3-6b(2). Rewrite: "Led the platoon for 47 days during PSG R&R" — past-tense action, specific scope, quantifiable.
Answer · Far Exceeded
Built the brigade's first integrated cross-MOS training cycle; trained eleven NCOs across three companies who ran subsequent rotations without rater involvement; brigade lethality metric sustained above division average through the next quarter.
Markers: extraordinary performance; leadership multiplier; enduring effect
Action = "Built." Impact = "metric sustained above division average." Magnitude = brigade. "First integrated cross-MOS" is extraordinary (Marker 1). "Eleven NCOs across three companies who ran subsequent rotations" is multiplier (Marker 4). "Sustained through the next quarter" is enduring effect (Marker 3). Three markers.
Answer · Did Not Meet
Will lead the company through the next training cycle.
"Will lead" is future tense — forbidden in rater bullets per ¶3-6b(2) AND potential language reserved to senior raters per AR 623-3 ¶1-40c. Rewrite as past action: "Led the company through the rating-period training cycle."
// 07What most get wrong
The most common failure: bullets stop at action. "Led the company range qualification." That's the action without impact or magnitude. The board can't tell if the company is 30 Soldiers or 300, can't tell if the qualification went well or badly. The bullet did no work.
The rewrite move: for every bullet, ask "what number can I put on this?" and "what scope phrase tells the reader how big this was?" If you can't answer either question, the action you described might not be worth a bullet — and that's information too.
// 08Regulations cited in this lesson
- DA PAM 623-3 ¶3-6b
// 09More in Writing Patterns
The facts behind a good bullet get written down in February, not remembered in November. The free Accomplishment Log keeps them.
Get the free logWriting one right now? Open BulletForge.