Posted on Aug 13, 2015
Military Officers don't need a degree? What say you?
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Military Officers Don’t Need College Degrees
Military recruiters and top brass like to repeat the refrain that the average member of the armed forces is better educated than the average American. It’s true. According to the Defense Department, nearly 94% of enlisted personnel have a high-school diploma, while only 60% of Americans do. About 83% of officers have a bachelor’s degree, in comparison with 30% of the general population.
These statistics, though, involve a bit of self-selection: Most officers have a bachelor’s degree because becoming an officer generally requires one, though this prerequisite appears increasingly anachronistic.
For one thing, the requirement of a college degree is simply a box for officer candidates to check. It doesn’t matter to the armed forces where you went to school, what you studied, or how well you did—short of a minimal GPA level of about 2.5 out of 4.0.
Scholarships provided by the Reserve Officer Training Corps and military academies such as West Point and Annapolis may have more stringent criteria, but in general anyone with a four-year degree who can pass the basic background checks and physical requirements of the military may apply for Officer Candidate School.
Instead of mandating that officers have college degrees, the military should expand alternative avenues to officership. A few exceptions to the degree mandate already exist: Warrant officers or limited-duty officers—typically highly trained specialists in technical fields like avionics or equipment maintenance—have worked their way to officership. Their service is akin to apprenticeship, where useful knowledge is gained through practical experience, not textbook theory. Why not offer the same deal to other recruits?
Historically, a college degree signaled superior intelligence, critical reasoning and writing skills, and dedication. A degree holder could be expected to form logical, coherent arguments and effectively communicate ideas. But a college degree in 2015 no longer signals—let alone guarantees—much of anything.
According to a 2014 Lumina-Gallup poll, “just 11% of business leaders strongly agree that higher education institutions in this country are graduating students with the skills and competencies that their business needs, and 17% strongly disagree.” In a Chronicle for Higher Education survey published in March 2013, employers said that applicants with degrees lacked decision-making and problem-solving abilities, written and oral communication skills, adaptability, and even the capacity to manage multiple priorities.
Even more than in civilian environments, those are skills needed for war. If a college degree no longer confers them, then why should the armed forces require it at all? Beyond the usual arguments about the prohibitive cost for many high-school graduates unable to take on debt, a college degree isn’t needed to be successful. Peter Thiel, an accomplished tech businessman, offers a fellowship of $100,000 for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to skip college and build businesses instead. Companies started as a result now employ 200 people and have generated $200 million in economic activity, according to the fellowship.
Some may argue that obtaining a bachelor’s degree shows responsibility or maturity. Yet how much responsibility does a typical single, childless 22-year-old college senior have? Has he demonstrated greater responsibility than a 22-year-old corporal at the end of his first tour of duty? Has he even demonstrated greater responsibility than a 19-year-old private first class after six months of service?
The only mark of distinction that a college degree still indicates, perhaps, is dedication. It usually requires four or more years to achieve, and following through to the end suggests long-term commitment to a goal. Yet clearly, college and putting off the working world is not for everyone. In 2013, the six-year graduation rate in the U.S. was only 59%, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Commitment is certainly important to success in the military, but the armed forces already have a way to measure and test it: a four-year enlistment. If aspiring officers must demonstrate commitment and responsibility, completing a four-year enlistment should suffice. If they must prove raw intellectual aptitude, high scores on the military’s own General Classification Test should be enough. If they must have general knowledge and the ability to think and write coherently, an exam akin to the State Department’s Foreign Service Officer Test would work.
A combination of these could easily form a new path to an officer’s commission—and providing an alternative to the bachelor’s degree would produce an even more qualified officer corps.
http://www.wsj.com/article_email/military-officers-dont-need-college-degrees [login to see] -lMyQjAxMTI1NzE3MzMxNTM3Wj
Military recruiters and top brass like to repeat the refrain that the average member of the armed forces is better educated than the average American. It’s true. According to the Defense Department, nearly 94% of enlisted personnel have a high-school diploma, while only 60% of Americans do. About 83% of officers have a bachelor’s degree, in comparison with 30% of the general population.
These statistics, though, involve a bit of self-selection: Most officers have a bachelor’s degree because becoming an officer generally requires one, though this prerequisite appears increasingly anachronistic.
For one thing, the requirement of a college degree is simply a box for officer candidates to check. It doesn’t matter to the armed forces where you went to school, what you studied, or how well you did—short of a minimal GPA level of about 2.5 out of 4.0.
Scholarships provided by the Reserve Officer Training Corps and military academies such as West Point and Annapolis may have more stringent criteria, but in general anyone with a four-year degree who can pass the basic background checks and physical requirements of the military may apply for Officer Candidate School.
Instead of mandating that officers have college degrees, the military should expand alternative avenues to officership. A few exceptions to the degree mandate already exist: Warrant officers or limited-duty officers—typically highly trained specialists in technical fields like avionics or equipment maintenance—have worked their way to officership. Their service is akin to apprenticeship, where useful knowledge is gained through practical experience, not textbook theory. Why not offer the same deal to other recruits?
Historically, a college degree signaled superior intelligence, critical reasoning and writing skills, and dedication. A degree holder could be expected to form logical, coherent arguments and effectively communicate ideas. But a college degree in 2015 no longer signals—let alone guarantees—much of anything.
According to a 2014 Lumina-Gallup poll, “just 11% of business leaders strongly agree that higher education institutions in this country are graduating students with the skills and competencies that their business needs, and 17% strongly disagree.” In a Chronicle for Higher Education survey published in March 2013, employers said that applicants with degrees lacked decision-making and problem-solving abilities, written and oral communication skills, adaptability, and even the capacity to manage multiple priorities.
Even more than in civilian environments, those are skills needed for war. If a college degree no longer confers them, then why should the armed forces require it at all? Beyond the usual arguments about the prohibitive cost for many high-school graduates unable to take on debt, a college degree isn’t needed to be successful. Peter Thiel, an accomplished tech businessman, offers a fellowship of $100,000 for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to skip college and build businesses instead. Companies started as a result now employ 200 people and have generated $200 million in economic activity, according to the fellowship.
Some may argue that obtaining a bachelor’s degree shows responsibility or maturity. Yet how much responsibility does a typical single, childless 22-year-old college senior have? Has he demonstrated greater responsibility than a 22-year-old corporal at the end of his first tour of duty? Has he even demonstrated greater responsibility than a 19-year-old private first class after six months of service?
The only mark of distinction that a college degree still indicates, perhaps, is dedication. It usually requires four or more years to achieve, and following through to the end suggests long-term commitment to a goal. Yet clearly, college and putting off the working world is not for everyone. In 2013, the six-year graduation rate in the U.S. was only 59%, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Commitment is certainly important to success in the military, but the armed forces already have a way to measure and test it: a four-year enlistment. If aspiring officers must demonstrate commitment and responsibility, completing a four-year enlistment should suffice. If they must prove raw intellectual aptitude, high scores on the military’s own General Classification Test should be enough. If they must have general knowledge and the ability to think and write coherently, an exam akin to the State Department’s Foreign Service Officer Test would work.
A combination of these could easily form a new path to an officer’s commission—and providing an alternative to the bachelor’s degree would produce an even more qualified officer corps.
http://www.wsj.com/article_email/military-officers-dont-need-college-degrees [login to see] -lMyQjAxMTI1NzE3MzMxNTM3Wj
Officers
Education
Rank
Bachelors Degree
Commission
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 126
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Although I agree you need one to advance beyond O-4 for the most part. When they RIF non-degreed get the axe first.
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Officers need a "worldly" view to be effective leaders.
Formal education of some sort assists in opening minds, developing instincts that keep soldiers, sailors and airmen alive. I believe in mustangs. My father was a mustang that rose to Lt. Col USAF. He was always in some sort of non military training after hours. That and Command and Staff School was his formal education. Others ways of obtaining that view are available and yes, hard knocks works for me. But, the blanket statement that Offiers don't need college degrees and that over time increasingly so implies by substitution they don't need formal education. That is what I disagree with. How they get it will always be an open issue.
Formal education of some sort assists in opening minds, developing instincts that keep soldiers, sailors and airmen alive. I believe in mustangs. My father was a mustang that rose to Lt. Col USAF. He was always in some sort of non military training after hours. That and Command and Staff School was his formal education. Others ways of obtaining that view are available and yes, hard knocks works for me. But, the blanket statement that Offiers don't need college degrees and that over time increasingly so implies by substitution they don't need formal education. That is what I disagree with. How they get it will always be an open issue.
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I strongly disagree. IF officers do not need a degree, then what would be used to differentiate them from enlisted? I can understand not having a degree when initial commissioned but I think an officer needs to have an advanced degree.
I would not have a problem with restructuring the process and taking enlisted offering a process from which they were able to get their commission, but I do not think this is what you are speaking about, and that process would need to include civilian higher education in my mind.
I would not have a problem with restructuring the process and taking enlisted offering a process from which they were able to get their commission, but I do not think this is what you are speaking about, and that process would need to include civilian higher education in my mind.
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Ehh, this will come across, I'm sure, as self-aggrandizing, but it is truth.
I had occasion to stand before my commanding officer once, who said to me, quote, "Wright, your ASVAB score is higher than mine. What the fuck are you doing?"
A degree is -an- indicator of a person's mental acuity, of their determination. It is NOT the -only- one. You are not smarter, or more capable, than me, because you went to school. Period. IF you are smarter or more capable than me, it's simply because you just ARE, not because you have a degree.
I am entirely capable of performing the duties of an Ensign, when given the proper training that all Ensigns get, and then I would be capable of rising through the ranks with the training and experience given to all officers as they rise. All without a degree.
That's my answer. Let the beat-down begin. Lol. (By the way, this his hypothetical. I actually have 2 degrees. As an E-3, *GASP!!!*)
I had occasion to stand before my commanding officer once, who said to me, quote, "Wright, your ASVAB score is higher than mine. What the fuck are you doing?"
A degree is -an- indicator of a person's mental acuity, of their determination. It is NOT the -only- one. You are not smarter, or more capable, than me, because you went to school. Period. IF you are smarter or more capable than me, it's simply because you just ARE, not because you have a degree.
I am entirely capable of performing the duties of an Ensign, when given the proper training that all Ensigns get, and then I would be capable of rising through the ranks with the training and experience given to all officers as they rise. All without a degree.
That's my answer. Let the beat-down begin. Lol. (By the way, this his hypothetical. I actually have 2 degrees. As an E-3, *GASP!!!*)
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The degree doesn't make a successful officer, that's for sure. I've met some very incompetent CDR's, how they even made it far in their career is beyond me. That being said, there are some amazing officers out there but again, it's not the degree that turned them into great leaders, it's the type of qualities they already possessed & the military just strengthened.
Not everyone can be an officer, hell some officers can't (or shouldn't) be officers. I'm not saying anyone can fill the role & do a stellar job, but what I am saying is, whether you're going to succeed as an officer is not dependent on the degree you hold. I truly believe that after being an NCO for X amount of years they should be able to commission without a degree.
Not everyone can be an officer, hell some officers can't (or shouldn't) be officers. I'm not saying anyone can fill the role & do a stellar job, but what I am saying is, whether you're going to succeed as an officer is not dependent on the degree you hold. I truly believe that after being an NCO for X amount of years they should be able to commission without a degree.
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I do agree to an extenr. My Unkle became an Army officer. He was given a field commotion during WW2. To hold his commission he completed a BA. Degree. Coming into the Military we need some distinction who belongs ware.
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There has to be a litmus test for a commission. Unfortunately, the economy has given the military a lot of officer who under normal circumstances would not have joined. The military has an abhorrent way of picking officers. So I interview with three commissioned officers, who write me reviews that go into my package. If I get a bad review I just trash it and find another officer. OCS boards never even see the candidate. Anyone can look great on paper, just look at the evaluation system in the military.
The sheer size of the military does not allow for objective reasoning when handing out commissions. I will leave the military in four years as a PO1 I would imagine. My MBA will be finished this year, but I am too old to apply for the designators that commission the most Sailors (Pilot, NFO). Could you image a civilian company applying an age limitation to a position. Can you smell lawsuit? My undergraduate degree is in Supply Chain Management, but I am too old to apply for the Supply Corp. The Navy is telling me that a 22 year old with a Botany Degree is better suited to lead a division of Logistics Specialists than me. Look at the attrition rate of Surface Warfare Officers. How many SWO Ensigns does it take to create one SWO CDR? I bet it is a huge number.
The college degree has to be the litmus test unless they find a way for the board to actually interview the candidate. Something like 5% of direct commissions go to Sailors with prior service. The military is just dangling a carrot out in front of us Enlisted guys/girls to give us something to strive for. They commission just enough enlisted members to make it look attainable.
Can I pick an educated person out of a group of 20 Sailors? I feel pretty confident that I could in most cases. If you are not willing to work for it and show the military you can balance college and a job at the same time then why should we hand that person a commission; calling them the best of the best. With that being said, we just commissioned a PO1 as an LDO who is widely known as one of the finest of Sailors. He had no degree and I even heard a rumor there may be a felony in his record. He is driven and the military is now stronger with him as an Ensign. The question posed is a tough one, but I can say hands down that my ability to process information now that I am almost completed with my Masters Degree is far greater than when I enlisted.
I vote for degrees.
The sheer size of the military does not allow for objective reasoning when handing out commissions. I will leave the military in four years as a PO1 I would imagine. My MBA will be finished this year, but I am too old to apply for the designators that commission the most Sailors (Pilot, NFO). Could you image a civilian company applying an age limitation to a position. Can you smell lawsuit? My undergraduate degree is in Supply Chain Management, but I am too old to apply for the Supply Corp. The Navy is telling me that a 22 year old with a Botany Degree is better suited to lead a division of Logistics Specialists than me. Look at the attrition rate of Surface Warfare Officers. How many SWO Ensigns does it take to create one SWO CDR? I bet it is a huge number.
The college degree has to be the litmus test unless they find a way for the board to actually interview the candidate. Something like 5% of direct commissions go to Sailors with prior service. The military is just dangling a carrot out in front of us Enlisted guys/girls to give us something to strive for. They commission just enough enlisted members to make it look attainable.
Can I pick an educated person out of a group of 20 Sailors? I feel pretty confident that I could in most cases. If you are not willing to work for it and show the military you can balance college and a job at the same time then why should we hand that person a commission; calling them the best of the best. With that being said, we just commissioned a PO1 as an LDO who is widely known as one of the finest of Sailors. He had no degree and I even heard a rumor there may be a felony in his record. He is driven and the military is now stronger with him as an Ensign. The question posed is a tough one, but I can say hands down that my ability to process information now that I am almost completed with my Masters Degree is far greater than when I enlisted.
I vote for degrees.
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MAJ (Join to see)
Can you explain the concept of a Limited Duty Officer? How can an Ensign/2LT be an LDO? We don't have them in the Army. I understand what a Warrant Officer is.
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MCPO Roger Collins
What Is the Navy Limited Duty Officer Selection Program?
The Limited Duty Officer Program provides commissioning opportunities to qualified senior enlisted personnel and CWOs.
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I have seen personal with IQ off the charts and GT too with three degrees. But common sense was not issued at CIF. Even though the person had the paper requirements of an officer, he was in no way capable of being a leader of soldiers. I Believe a degree should be required or at a minimum 90 credits and a also a leadership test too.
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MAJ (Join to see)
OCS is one giant leadership test, and not everyone in my class graduated, contrary to the views expressed here it is not that easy to become a commissioned officer
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Book learning isn't going to teach you to lead, but I feel that a college education even if your major isn't related to your job will enhance your ability to think critically, solve problems, and gain insight into people and world affairs. Therefore, while it is possible to be a good officer/leader without one, having the degree will enhance it, therefore, I do believe officers should have a college degree. These days, the majority have masters or get them sometime during their career; and many NCOs re getting bachelors and even higher.
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The reality is the answer is Yes and No. It is job dependent. As an acquisition officer, you absolutely need a degree. I am an Electrical Engineer and have run very many technical programs across different areas of physics during my career. You really need the knowledge base to be able to ensure the contractors building the products aren't pulling the wool over your eyes. There are many career fields where specialized knowledge is not required....Security, Admin, etc. I could do most jobs in the military, but without my type of degree, most could never do mine. Not saying that there aren't technical people that can't do one of the jobs I have had, but the ability to quickly adapt to something outside their one knowledge expertise requires an engineering degree.
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