If you’ve received notice that unfavorable information under AR 600-37 is about to be filed against you, you have a narrow window to submit a written rebuttal before the filing decision is final, and if the document ends up permanently in your record, you can ask the Department of the Army Suitability Evaluation Board to transfer it to the restricted folder or remove it entirely. Miss the rebuttal deadline and your options shrink fast. What you do in the first week often matters more than anything that follows.
What AR 600-37 Covers and Where Documents Get Filed
Unfavorable information is any credible material that reflects negatively on your character, integrity, trustworthiness, or reliability. The regulation covers letters of reprimand, admonition, or censure, formal investigation reports, records of non-judicial punishment under Article 15, and certain unfavorable performance evaluations.1National Archives and Records Administration. Standard Form 115 – Request for Records Disposition Authority for AR 600-37
The document that draws the most attention is the General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand, or GOMOR. Selection boards treat a GOMOR in your performance file as a serious red flag, and it can effectively block promotion, school selection, and choice assignments.
The filing destination controls how much long-term damage a document does. There are two:
Local Filing
Local filing keeps the document with your unit for up to 18 months or until you transfer to a different general court-martial jurisdiction, whichever comes first. After that, it’s destroyed. Painful in the short term, but it does not follow you.
Permanent Filing in the AMHRR
The more consequential outcome is filing in your Army Military Human Resource Record, specifically the performance folder. Documents in the performance folder are visible to promotion selection boards and career managers. Only a general officer (including one frocked to brigadier general) who is senior to you and in the same military status can order permanent filing in the AMHRR.
The AMHRR also has a restricted folder. Documents there are generally shielded from selection boards and career managers. Getting a document moved from performance to restricted requires a formal appeal.
The Rebuttal Window Before Filing
Before a final filing decision is made, you have the right to respond. The imposing authority notifies you of the intent to file, gives you access to the underlying documentation, and sets a deadline for your written rebuttal.
How much time you get depends on your duty status:
- Active duty soldiers (all components) and USAR soldiers in Troop Program Units: 7 calendar days.
- Army National Guard and Reserve soldiers not on active duty: 30 calendar days.
Seven days is not much time for a document that could define your career. Extensions are available on request. The standard move is to sign the acknowledgment of receipt, check the box indicating you intend to submit matters, and contact your installation’s Legal Assistance Office the same day.2U.S. Army Fort Bliss. The Importance of Rebutting GOMORs A legal assistance attorney can submit a memorandum requesting a two-to-four-week extension for you.
What to Put in the Rebuttal
Your rebuttal is your single best opportunity to influence the filing decision. You can challenge the factual basis of the allegations, present mitigating circumstances, provide character statements, or argue for local filing instead of permanent filing. Whatever you submit, the officer authorized to direct filing must review and consider it before deciding. If the document is ultimately filed in your AMHRR, your rebuttal is permanently attached to it, so future selection boards and the DASEB see your side of the story.
Skipping the rebuttal is almost always a mistake. If you refuse to acknowledge the referral, the reprimanding official documents that refusal and the filing process moves forward without your input. There is no second chance once the deadline passes.
Getting a Document Transferred to the Restricted Folder
If unfavorable information ends up permanently filed in the performance folder, your first formal appeal goes to the Department of the Army Suitability Evaluation Board. The DASEB can transfer a document from the performance folder to the restricted folder, effectively removing it from the view of selection boards.3U.S. Army Fort Bliss. Appeals to Remove or Transfer Unfavorable Information in Military Records
To qualify, you have to show the document has served its intended purpose and that transfer is in the Army’s best interest. AR 600-37 lists specific criteria:
- Time elapsed since filing (required). More time strengthens your case. A transfer request filed six months after the GOMOR rarely succeeds.
- Demonstrated remorse (required). Your application should acknowledge the conduct that led to the filing.
- At least one positive evaluation report since filing (required). Academic evaluations do not count; you need a standard OER or NCOER showing strong performance.
- No repeat offenses (required). Any additional misconduct after the filing undermines your case.
- Support memorandum from the original imposing authority (recommended). A memo from the general officer who issued the GOMOR carries significant weight.
- Support from your current chain of command (optional). Letters from supervisors at the time of the offense or your current leadership can help.
The strongest transfer applications combine several of these elements. Even well-supported applications sometimes get denied the first time and succeed only on reconsideration.4Army Board for Correction of Military Records. ABCMR Docket Number AR20200009291 Expect pushback and plan accordingly.
Getting a Document Removed Entirely
Removal is a harder ask than transfer. The DASEB can remove a document from the AMHRR, but you must present clear and convincing evidence that the unfavorable information is untrue or unjust, in whole or in part. That is well above a simple disagreement with the filing decision.
Evidence that supports removal typically falls into a few categories:
- A subsequent investigation overturning the original findings. If the conduct that prompted the GOMOR was later found unsubstantiated, that directly undermines the document’s basis.
- A decision by higher authority invalidating the document. If an appellate or review authority reversed the underlying action, the GOMOR may lack a factual foundation.
- Procedural errors in the filing process. If notification, referral, or filing authority requirements were not followed, the document may be legally deficient.
Removal requests that amount to “I’ve been a good soldier since then” rarely succeed. That argument goes to transfer. Removal is about whether the document should have been filed at all.
Appealing to the ABCMR After a DASEB Denial
If the DASEB denies your request, you can escalate to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records. The ABCMR has broader authority to correct errors or injustices in military records, but it requires you to exhaust other administrative remedies first. For unfavorable information, that means going through the DASEB before the ABCMR will consider your case. Apply to the ABCMR without a DASEB decision in hand and your application gets returned without action.5Army Review Boards Agency. Army Review Boards Agency
One exception matters: retired soldiers, separated soldiers, and those in the Individual Ready Reserve skip the DASEB entirely and apply directly to the ABCMR.5Army Review Boards Agency. Army Review Boards Agency
Federal law sets a three-year statute of limitations. You must file your ABCMR application within three years of discovering the error or injustice.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 1552 – Correction of Military Records Claims Incident Thereto The ABCMR can waive that deadline in the interest of justice, but counting on a waiver is risky. Processing runs roughly 12 to 18 months from receipt, so build that delay into your career planning.
Security Clearance Consequences
Unfavorable information filed under AR 600-37 does not exist in isolation. If you hold a security clearance, derogatory material in your record can trigger a review of your eligibility. Clearance holders are required by law to self-report life events or incidents that could affect their ability to meet clearance requirements.7Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. Report a Security Change, Concern, or Threat A GOMOR for conduct involving alcohol, financial irresponsibility, or dishonesty falls squarely within the adjudicative guidelines clearance reviewers evaluate.
Report through your unit security officer. The self-reporting requirement exists independently of the AR 600-37 process, so even if you eventually get a GOMOR transferred to the restricted folder, the clearance investigation may have already flagged the underlying conduct. Failing to self-report creates a separate integrity issue on top of the original problem.
Where to Get Legal Help
Every installation has a Legal Assistance Office that can help you draft a rebuttal, request an extension, or prepare a DASEB appeal. This is not the same as Trial Defense Service, which handles courts-martial and other criminal proceedings. For administrative actions like GOMORs, Legal Assistance is the correct office.2U.S. Army Fort Bliss. The Importance of Rebutting GOMORs Schedule that appointment the day you receive the notice. Waiting until day five of a seven-day window leaves almost no room to build a meaningful response.