To put it kindly, the Army EES portal looks dated and can be complicated to navigate. How the military has a budget closing in on $1 trillion per year with a webpage that looks like this is a question that may never be answered. But it’s an important portal for those coming into the military and enlisted members looking to advance their careers. It's also just good general common knowledge for Soldiers at any stage. We’re going to try to somewhat tackle the U.S. Army EES to help guide you through it.

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The Purpose of the EES Army Evaluation System

Operated by the United States Army Human Resources Command (Army HRC), the Army Evaluation Entry System (EES) is used after completing the ASVAB for your military occupational specialty (MOS) to help determine your career path while in the Army. The Army EES is also used by Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs) to input your Army Officer Evaluation Reports (OERs) and Non-Commissioned Officer Evaluation Reports (NCOERs), which help you advance in your Army career. For those entering the Army, the EES Army portal will be a resource filled with guides, navigational links, and sites you’ll definitely need clearance to access from the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).

Your Career as a Soldier

Advancing your career as a Soldier means moving up the ranks. There are different occupational codes for each, and to avoid having too many leaders with an unbalanced structure, the Army has quotas for how many people can hold a certain position. For example, if you are E4 and looking to become E5, you may be qualified, but you’ll have to wait for such a position to open up if the quota has been met. Additionally, you may be qualified, but others will likely also meet such qualifications. This is where the Army EES comes in. Your forms will serve as an application as if you were applying for any other job. Listing your accomplishments, skills, and military record, this is submitted through the portal to a board that will evaluate your service. From there, if you're selected, you’ll have to meet the board in person, and you need to prepare. Here, you’ll be asked many, many questions ranging from your skills and qualifications to general American history to questions specific to the Army and so forth. Everything will be evaluated. How you present yourself. Your composure. Even your posture will come into play here. You’re going up against many other candidates, and it’s your job to erase any shadows of doubt that you are, in fact, the best person for the opening. Due to the selective nature of the Army and the intensity of these interviews, don’t be surprised or discouraged if it takes a while before making the move. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Army EES Login and Access Issues

It should be as simple as using your Army email and passwords to access this portal, but it’s not. We’re not even going to try to make sense of the clearances you’ll need (your CO can help you there), but the technical side of simply accessing this portal is a dumpster fire. Again, we're trying to put it kindly. First off, if you use Internet Explorer, we have questions, but you can’t access the site. You’ll need to use Edge or Chrome or Safari or something else. But that’s an easy fix. Depending on where you go, you’ll also need your common access card (CAC) reader to gain clearance. Next up is facing the technical issues that can arise from the type of hardware you use. Some users have had issues with accessing their EES Army login using a Mac. Others have had issues accessing the website at all due to maintenance or poor performance. The overarching theme here is that you’re going to need to do a bit of trial and error. Worst of all, you’re kind of on your own. Many of the top-ranking troubleshooting results will find you looking at very dated articles from around 2014 when Internet Explorer was still an option. Contacting the HRC’s IT help desk can even be challenging because, as of the time of this writing, while a legitimate resource, the site was sadly experiencing its seemingly trademark technical issues. Here's some additional contact information to help you submit a ticket via their featured snippet:

• Phone

  : 1 (502) 613-7777

• DSN

  : 983-7777

• Email

  : usarmy.knox.hrc.mbx.it-help-desk@army.mil
• Request that the ticket is assigned to the SEPS Support Team

The Army EES User Guide

Thankfully, before the website gave such difficult circumstances, we were able to grab the official Evaluation Entry System (EES) User's Guide available for download. This is a 50+ page document that will walk you step-by-step through the process of submitting your evaluation, and it even has a portion specific to troubleshooting this process. The Army EES portal may need some work, but it’s an important tool for Soldiers looking to advance while they serve our country.

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