Hegseth announces new assessment for candidates for general and admiral posts — Anadolu Agency

In the United States, the Department of Defense will introduce a new assessment this year for colonels and Navy captains being considered for positions carrying their first general or admiral rank. Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said the changes are intended to reduce bureaucracy and strengthen the principle of merit-based selection.

As Anadolu Agency reports, the new mechanism will be called the Joint Warfighter Evaluation. According to Hegseth, the combat-style assessment will test officers' ability to fight, adapt and win.

Assessment formats

According to internal documents obtained by The Hill, each branch of the armed forces will use its own version of the assessment. The U.S. Army will combine a written test with a digital war game.

The Air Force and Space Force will conduct a two-hour online analysis test, followed by a one-hour simulation. Navy officers will take a three-hour written assessment and participate in a two- to three-hour war game at the Naval War College.

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The U.S. Marine Corps will conduct an eight-hour remote assessment on an artificial intelligence-powered platform. It will combine written tasks with decision-making tests in situational scenarios.

Assessment of college students

The Joint Staff will also assess between 50 and 60 students at the Joint Forces College. The hybrid process will begin with a written analysis and conclude with an in-person stage involving artificial intelligence-enabled tasks in Norfolk, Virginia.

Hegseth stressed that victory depends on commanders who lead service members and said commanders must be selected based on proven competence rather than formal documents. According to The Hill, in July Republican Senator Susan Collins criticized Hegseth, saying that he had dismissed more than two dozen senior military officers and blocked officer promotions. She called this deeply troubling.