Pete Hegseth announced a new test for colonels and Navy captains seeking a first star. It adds written work and computer-assisted wargaming, sometimes with AI, to promotion boards; the analysis says its aims and measures remain unclear and urges validation before use.
Evaluation designer Stuart Scheller served 17 years in the Marines and rose to lieutenant colonel, but the author questions his qualifications to design an assessment for strategic leaders, noting he had no operational command or senior-service War College education. After criticizing military and civilian leaders over the 2021 Afghanistan withdrawal, Scheller was relieved of command and later pleaded guilty to contempt toward officials, disrespect toward superior commissioned officers, failure to obey orders and conduct unbecoming an officer. The article says service exercises and career-long joint education and assignments already assess commanders.
Hegseth and Scheller cited Gen. George C. Marshall’s use of the 1941 Louisiana Maneuvers to identify future leaders. The author says the exercises primarily tested whether a rapidly expanding Army could fight, with leadership assessment only one part; roughly 400,000 troops and more than 1,000 newly built aircraft participated. The article proposes having retired senior officers with documented records take the evaluation anonymously and comparing results with decades of performance. It also says senior officers need skills beyond battlefield planning, including linking military action to political goals, managing alliances, logistics and civilian control.
