Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, that the Pentagon is introducing a new battlefield-style assessment for officers seeking promotion to the rank of general or admiral. The Joint Warfighter Evaluation is intended to screen eligible colonels and Navy captains on their ability to lead and make operational decisions under pressure.
The current military promotion system relies on promotion boards that review an officer’s accumulated evaluations from superiors throughout their career. Hegseth stated that the new evaluation aims to prioritize proven competence over "paper credentials" and likened the initiative to the Louisiana Maneuvers, a series of 1941 wargames that evaluated U.S. military readiness and leadership prior to World War II.
Each military branch will implement a specific version of the evaluation according to internal documents. The Army will utilize a written assessment and a digital wargame, while the Air Force and Space Force will require a two-hour online analysis and a one-hour simulation. The Navy’s process involves a three-hour written test and a wargame at the Naval War College, and the Marine Corps will use an eight-hour remote AI-enabled platform. Additionally, 50 to 60 students at the Joint Forces Staff College will undergo a hybrid evaluation in Norfolk, Virginia.
This policy change affects senior military officers, specifically colonels and Navy captains, by adding a standardized performance-based test to a promotion process that previously relied on historical personnel files. The shift introduces a new metric for the roughly 50 to 60 joint-service students and hundreds of other eligible officers across all branches each year. Officers will notice a change in their professional requirements, moving from a multi-year track of performance reviews to specific, timed wargaming simulations and written exams, such as the three-hour Navy test or the eight-hour Marine Corps assessment, which will determine their eligibility for one-star rank.
The new evaluation represents a shift in Defense Department personnel policy, moving toward what Hegseth calls a "warrior ethos." By standardizing the promotion criteria through digital and AI-enabled simulations, the Pentagon is setting a precedent that warfighting skill during a single assessment is a qualifier for senior leadership. This could influence how mid-level officers prioritize their training and assignments.
What happens next is the rollout of a pilot program, with development updates provided weekly. The implementation is being led by Stuart Scheller, deputy chief of staff for personnel and readiness, in coordination with Under Secretary of Defense Anthony Tata. While the evaluation is being implemented this year, it remains unclear if these new requirements will apply to Staff Corps officers, such as those in Navy Medicine. The Pentagon has not yet provided a specific date for when the results of these evaluations will officially begin to dictate promotion board outcomes.