Hegseth Unveils Battlefield-Style Test for Future Generals

The Pentagon wants to see how would-be generals actually fight wars, not just shuffle paperwork. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday unveiled the "Joint Warfighter Evaluation," a new battlefield-style test for colonels and Navy captains seeking their first star, aimed at judging how they "fight, adapt, and win," reports the Hill. Each service will run its own version, according to internal documents, from digital war-games for the Army to AI-enabled daylong evaluations for the Marine Corps, with the Joint Staff testing a hybrid model in Norfolk, Virginia.

The shift marks a break from promotion boards that largely rely on performance reports taken from throughout service members' careers, as well as their education, operational experience, and assignments, per the Military Times. However, Stuart Scheller, a senior Defense Department adviser who's leading the new initiative, says the JWE will simply supplement existing performance reviews, which will remain the "bedrock" of such promotion decisions. Hegseth, a critic of what he calls quota-driven promotions, casts the system as an "objective equalizer," likening it to the World War II-era Louisiana Maneuvers that helped elevate commanders like Dwight Eisenhower, per the Hill.