The officer promotion process is one of the weakest elements in the US military. All rating systems have become inflated to the point they are useless except for serious punishment. As a result, many officers lacking intellect manage to accumulate an excellent record for promotion. They use flattery while avoiding problems and rely on subordinates to get their job done. Their superiors mark them outstanding as is customary, although those who work with them know they are incompetent. They may be professional, polite, and hardworking, but have difficulty understanding new concepts or even basic math. Nevertheless, so long as they stay out of legal trouble, don't rock the boat, and demonstrate total loyalty to their boss, they are often promoted into the career force.
One solution is to require all officers to
take the Graduate Management Admissions
Test (GMAT) within four years before consideration by a promotion
board to O-3, O-4,
0-5, and O-6. Officers who fail to take the test will be passed over for
promotion. The GMAT is a key part of the selection process for all graduate
business schools. It is much better than the simple vocabulary/math test used for SAT and ACT college entrance examinations. The GMAT involves reading comprehension,
deductive reasoning, and problem solving. Universities use testing because
of the difficulty in comparing grades and accomplishments from hundreds of
undergraduate schools
with varied standards and different levels of peer competition. Likewise, the GMAT
can help military promotion boards with no cost to our military. Officers can take the GMAT
at any
of the hundreds of test sites around the globe and simply enter a code on
their test form so their official score is sent directly their to their service
record branch. 
Intelligent officers are often frustrated by military service since everyone is generally promoted at the same pace, based solely upon pleasing their raters and working the bureaucracy to secure the best career path. They may irritate their superiors by trying to fix problems others don't recognize. The brightest lieutenants soon realize they are likely to advance at the same rate as below average officers. There is no easy solution to this problem, but if GMAT scores were part of the promotion process they will be encouraged to stay in the military knowing they have an edge.
Less intelligent officers will complain about promoting good "test takers" rather than leaders. However, the GMAT score will only be part of the selection process. If two officers have the same leadership record, yet one has a much higher GMAT score, it is best for the service to promote the smarter officer. Old arguments that standardized tests are culturally bias toward whites are no longer valid, if they ever were. GMAT administrators carefully screen questions for any bias, yet Asians continue to outscore whites. Once GMAT test scores are required, promotion boards will wonder how some captains ever graduated from college.If GMAT tests are required, officers will devote hours attempting to improve their GMAT score. They will work on math puzzles, read more books, and study vocabulary. These years of self-study for the GMAT will improve the mental agility of all officers. This is far better than the current incentive to spend time pleasing their raters by improving their golf or tennis game, or hosting dinner parties. A GMAT score will also help select the best candidates for military graduate-level schools. Taking standardized tests is not the solution for selecting officers for promotion, but requiring the GMAT will inject an element of fairness and provide a valuable tool to improve the quality of the officer corps.
Carlton Meyer editor@G2mil.com
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