The Pentagon is mandating that every colonel seeking promotion to general must pass a combat simulation test, marking the most significant overhaul of military promotions in decades as leadership targets officers who excel at career management over battlefield readiness.
New Combat Assessment Replaces Career Politics
Internal documents obtained by Fox News Digital reveal every military branch has developed its own version of the Joint Warfighting Evaluation, a standardized assessment measuring operational planning, decision-making and leadership under simulated combat conditions. The evaluation becomes mandatory for promotion boards starting with the fiscal year 2027 cycle. Senior Pentagon adviser Stu Scheller, leading the initiative, told Fox News Digital the current system rewards officers who focus on impressing superiors rather than developing combat capabilities.
The reform emerged from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s push to identify officers who can perform in combat rather than simply accumulate impressive career records. Scheller explained that traditional performance reports will remain central to promotions, but the new evaluation provides boards a separate measure of how well officers solve military problems they could face in command. The assessment cannot perfectly recreate combat pressures, and Pentagon officials expect to modify the tests as they learn what works best.
Different Tests For Different Services
The Pentagon developed six versions of the evaluation, one for each military service plus another through the Joint Staff. The assessments range from online simulations to hours-long, in-person wargames where officers face AI-powered adversaries that react to their decisions. The Army will test roughly 900 eligible colonels through a remote written assessment followed by a digital wargame. Approximately 1,330 Air Force colonels will complete a two-hour online analysis test and one-hour interactive simulation, with the Space Force using the same format for about 125 officers.
The Navy version requires roughly 308 captains to travel to the Naval War College for a three-hour written assessment followed by a two- to three-hour wargame. The Marine Corps plans an eight-hour remote evaluation for up to 175 colonels using an AI-enabled platform combining written assessments with situational judgment tests. Officers will make decisions as simulated enemies counter their moves in real time, forcing them to adapt under pressure.
Breaking The Career Management Culture
Scheller emphasized that no single task can perfectly replicate war, and the Pentagon is not seeking a perfect solution immediately. The new system addresses a fundamental problem where officers become skilled at career navigation rather than combat leadership. Traditional performance evaluations from superiors throughout an officer’s career have created incentives to focus on perception management over tactical excellence. The warfighting evaluation aims to identify commanders who can actually lead in combat situations rather than those who simply excel at building impressive career portfolios.