Joel Schofer’s Fitrep Prep

Sep 22, 2026

Guidance for efficiently writing an outstanding Navy medical fitness report (fitrep). Explains what inputs are needed before drafting, including prior fitreps, Performance Summary Report data when applicable, an organized list of accomplishments and collateral duties, and relevant date ranges for leave, transit, TAD, and deployments. Provides step-by-step instructions for filling key NAVFIT98A form blocks, including personal identifiers, rank and designator, command and promotion status, reporting and period dates, and proper placement of block selections and NOB/observation conditions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages22

Reading Time55 min

AccessFree to download

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO START?

Block-by-block fitrep entry guidance

Joel Schofer’s Fitrep Prep Joel Schofer, MD, MBA, CPE, FAAEM [jschofer@gmail.com](jschofer@gmail.com) [MCCareer.org](MCCareer.org) This document is designed to help you efficiently write an excellent fitness report (fitrep) . Your fitrep is the most important tool for documenting your achievements and potential for promotion. Currently, physicians get very little education on how to write them, but not anymore. Enjoy! WHAT DO YOU NEED TO START? Before you begin writing your fitrep, you’ll need to gather a few things. They include: • Your last fitrep, preferably your last 2-3 fitreps. • If you have previously received a fitrep from this reporting senior and it was in your current rank, you’ll need your Performance Summary Report (PSR) so that you know his/her approximate reporting senior’s average. The instructions for downloading this are in Joel Schofer’s Promo Prep. • A list of your accomplishments and collateral duties you’ve held since your last fitrep. This could be on a “brag sheet”(a document some commands require you to submit when doing your fitrep) or somewhere else you’ve chosen to track these items. For example, I use my CV for this. In reality, you can use whatever you want, but you need to find an efficient way to track this information that works for you. • Dates for any significant periods of leave, transit time, temporary additional duty (TAD), deployments, or anything else that took you away from your command for a significant period of time. • A Windows computer loaded with NAVFIT98A, which is the program the Navy uses to write fitreps. It can be downloaded multiple places if you just Google“NAVFIT98A.” • The file “FITREP Word Template to Optimize NAVFIT98 Block 41 Spacing,”which can be downloaded here: [https://mccareer.org/useful-documents/](https://mccareer.org/useful-documents/) Let’s get started… BLOCK 1-Enter your last name, first name, middle initial, and suffix, if any, separated by spaces. Place a comma after your last name. Omit spaces and punctuation within a name. The full middle name is acceptable, but not required. Examples: DENNEY, JOHN ASTJOHN, MELVIN J II WALTERS, J ARTHUR OBRIEN, MARY S MARTIN, PAUL T JR SMITHJONES, ANN Like in the last example above, you don’t need to put a middle initial/name if you don’t have one, nor do you have to put “NMN” like some people do. BLOCK 2-Enter the rank that you will be wearing on the ending date of the report. Use the standard grade abbreviations (CAPT, CDR, LCDR, LT, ENS) . If you are a LTJGin the Medical Corps, you have a problem. BLOCK 3-Enter your four-digit officer designator, which is 2100 . BLOCK 4 – Enter your social security number and make sure it is accurate. BLOCK 5 – All Active Duty will check “ACT”. BLOCK 6 – Enter your Unit Identification Code (UIC), which you can get from block 98 on your Officer Data Card (ODC) or your orders. The instructions to download your ODC are in Joel Schofer’s Promo Prep. For activities to which no UIC is assigned, enter five zeros. The first four characters of a UIC must be numbers. BLOCK 7-Get the abbreviated name of your command from an old fitrep. Make sure you put the name of the command where you are assigned, not your reporting senior’s command (if it is different) . If you are assigned to a civilian or foreign command, enter the civilian or foreign command, not your administrative reporting senior’s command. Do not spell out letters and numbers (e.g., use “A” and not“ALFA”, use “1” and not “ONE”) . BLOCK 8 – Put “SELECTED” if you’ve already been selected for promotion to your next rank, otherwise put “REGULAR”.“FROCKED” or “SPOT” are usually not applicable to Medical Corps officers, but if they are you will probably know it. BLOCK 9-In YYMMMDD format, enter the date you reported to your command. Example for October 17, 1996: 96OCT17 (The following formats are incorrect: 17OCT96, 961017, 101796.) BLOCKS 10-13-Place an “X” in each block that applies to

FAQs

What materials are needed before writing a fitness report?

Gather your last fitrep(s), your PSR when you previously received a fitrep from the same reporting senior in the current rank, a tracked list of accomplishments and collateral duties, and dates covering leave, transit, TAD, deployments, or other significant absences.

Which program and template are referenced for writing the fitrep?

Use NAVFIT98A, the Navy program used to write fitreps, and the Word template named “FITREP Word Template to Optimize NAVFIT98 Block 41 Spacing.”

How should you enter the reporting period dates in the fitrep blocks?

Enter the reporting date and FROM/TO dates in YYMMMDD format. For regular reports, the FROM date must be the day after the last report’s TO date (with allowances for en route leave, travel, or TAD), and for a first fitrep after commissioning, the FROM date is the commissioning date.

Sep 22, 2026

Uploaded by Quinn Holloway