Posted on 08/21/2026 8:09:08 AM PDT by Salman
WASHINGTON — Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is fuming over the Army’s decision to withdraw new academic standards for college students in the ROTC program — including requiring a score of at least 1000 on the SAT — to block “stupid people” from becoming military officers.
The new standards were announced on Aug. 5 in an internal memo issued by then-assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs Jules Hurst and were withdrawn Wednesday.
“The Army must cultivate intelligent and adaptive officers to build a lethal and ready Army prepared to deter, fight, and win our nation’s wars. The strength of our Officer Corps is the strength of our Army,” Hurst wrote, two days before the Senate confirmed him as Pentagon comptroller.
The requirement would have taken effect in January, but was rescinded in an Aug. 12 memo from under secretary of the Army Mike Obadal, who cited a need for “further staffing and analysis.”
Pentagon sources told The Post the pivot demonstrated dysfunction within the Army, whose Secretary Dan Driscoll has clashed with Hegseth over the past year, including on personnel decisions — with the men hardly on speaking terms despite the ongoing Iran war.
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(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
As I understand, he ultimately received an other-than-honorable discharge for conduct unbecoming of an officer.
The Marine Corps can continue with its current system of measuring intellectual capacity.
I came close to Heinlein’s quote. I enlisted as a PFC (E-3) because I had my BA in history. 6 years later, as a SSG on the SFC list, I received a direct commission as Captain (O-3) and retired as a Major after 20 years
SAT was originally designed as a predictor of how well one would do in college, back when “college” was a positive thing. As such it worked well for years, including back in my day. It, or something(s) like it was, as a screen for officer material entry amongst college students, ie. ROTC, seems reasonable. Allowing other paths, eg. letting observed merit rise through the ranks at whatever speed it earns, is also reasonable. Hegseth reaching Sec War is an example of the latter. Whether the current SAT remains suitable is another issue; I’m out of date to answer.
Spenser Rapone was discharged from the military with an "other than honorable" discharge.
https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2018/06/19/commie-cadet-sends-vulgar-message-on-his-way-out-of-the-army/
He should have been shitcanned the day after that photo hit the news.
“ And if you’re absolutely GOING to base it on a written test, then use the ASVAB, not the SAT”
Assuming ‘you’re’ stands for Hegseth, where do you get the information that that is all he’s basing it on?
Another policy change without a meaningful purpose.
The whole point of a SAT is to gauge the student’s baseline of knowledge and make a general assessment of their ability to succeed in college level academic work.
If they’ve already got a bachelor’s degree, they’ve proven that they are capable of college level academic work, so their SAT scores are no longer meaningful.
I don’t know the specifics of Army officer selection, but the Air Force requires a candidate to pass the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT), which is more like a GRE, MCAT, or LSAT exam.
MIT brought SATs back—for a good reason! ROTC should follow MIT’s lead!
Well OK, so if a SAT score of 1000 is too high a threshold, then what is? I might suggest 961, which is one point higher than Gov. Newsom’s score.
During the Vietnam War the Army started allowing people who couldn’t meet the already minimal IQ standards enlist because of the difficulty meeting the draft quotas. This didn’t work out very well for the dummies or the regular troops. We are talking actual morons.
I like this guy!!
That is a major setback for America.
Block “stupid people” from becoming military officers.
Kiss
It
Simple
Stupid
Unfortunatly a lot of soldiers under the stupid officers get removed first
Go by the service wide exams we took in 1968 and put a cut-off point in the scores, like upper 10%.
1410, then a 1470 on my SAT - mid-1970’s.
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mid 1960s - Got around that a bit higher, would have done better, but hangover headache was killing me.
Well stated, counselor.
Arrogance IS a problem.
The leaders I admired most, and who generally got the best results, were humble and non-self-aggrandizing.
Smart and arrogant is problematical.
Dumb and arrogant is a disaster in the making.
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