Should NCO rank progression and commissioning be tied to educational degrees?

My gut reaction is "hell no".

The reason why is that if promotion is now heavily dependant on higher education, then the Army had better give time for NCOs to attend classes. This would further dilute the significance of a college degree, which is becoming increasingly irrelevant in a market where experience matters a lot more, and it would make the Army look "better" because it would have a more educated force on paper but a degree does not equal competency outside of STEM.

Mirroring the progression of law enforcement could definitely work if technical ranks were brought back. Plenty of law enforcement officers just don't want to deal with the politics of a leadership position and would rather work as law enforcement until they retire. I would say the same of soldiers. It's not that people don't want to lead, but that people just don't want to deal with the bullshit.

Good question.

Let me get this straight.... OP wants to be more like the Russian military? #nope this is a HORRIBLE idea.

Former Senior NCO here. Prior to switching to Warrant Officer, I wonder about a similar question since we have a more professional and educated NCO Corps than what we had in prior generations. There are a lot of NCOs these days with enough civilian ed (Bachelors and above) AND experience that makes them great candidates for a potential program like the one mentioned in the idea from the original post.

I would probably take a more radical approach and reduce the amount of slots for Officers that get commissioned from West Point and ROTC to increase the amount of OCS. That could potentially allow to the amount of NCOs going through commissioning training and return Officers to the workforce that have operational and institutional knowledge that’s meaningful at the platoon/company level. For example, if you take a SFC and you turn him/her to a 2LT by streamlining commissioning processes, that could translate into a potential solid and well-rounded 2LT that doesn’t need years to get trained by NCOs so they can do their job.

I think we are the only profession in 2023 that takes someone with just a degree and we put them in charge based on solely that factor. Probably, every single other profession out there requires managers to have education AND experience before taking charge of a section, department, etc. Perhaps, start the program at SFC level and the system allows them to either commission, go Warrant (for those that prefer to specialize), or stay as a Senior NCO.

I think it's a shame that combat arms need nothing to be promoted, but a technical mos needs to max out everything in order to be promoted.

I am one of many nco's that has more education that many officers. I choose to stay enlisted. Also the army is trying to promote so fast that we could do away with lower enlisted and just start at e4

As a military vet (8 years US Army) and a current police lieutenant, I'd like to weigh in. First, law enforcement is para-military, the military is not para-police. LE models itself after the military by taking aspects of military that work well for our profession, including (loosely) rank structure. However, there is a MASSIVE difference between the two. First of all, the huge majority of police agencies have fewer than 100 officers. So, having 9 enlisted ranks, 5 WO ranks, and 10 officer ranks just doesn't make sense. It would just muddy the waters. Our agency (50 sworn) has patrol officers, detectives, sergeants, lieutenants, a deputy chief, and a chief. I can see some agencies adding a few ranks in between, but for most agencies, that is plenty.

In the military, though, you are talking about 1.4 million people spread across five branches (I can't bring myself to include the Coast Guard), and installations scattered around the globe, there needs to be a more robust rank structure. NCOs are needed for the direct leadership, while officers are more indirect leadership. I think of it like the difference between architects and construction workers. Architects can come up with some amazing designs on paper, but the construction workers and site foremen are the ones that know how to make it work in real life.

This is something, given time, that I could write a damn book on, but ain't nobody got time for dat!

I think it could work, if anyone has read the Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger, during the Great War or WW1, Ernst Junger volunteered into the German Imperial Army going from Soldat (Private) to becoming an NCO then he was admitted as a Cadet in 1916 and became and Officer that year. He served as a Junior Enlisted, NCO and Officer by wars end with no fancy degrees or academy. He was a well renowned Officer and National Hero of Germany, earning the Highest Award of German, the Pour le Mérite, their version of the Medal of Honor. In Germany too at the time they only had seven Enlisted Ranks and Company Sergeant was the last level an Enlisted would go in his career unless they wished to become an Officer. The Germans were always renowned for have a great Army performance, typically because of the quality of their Officer Corps. Imagine if we took the talent from the Enlisted and brought it over to the Officer Corp, E6s receive a commission without needed a degree, just their experience. I think it would work.

Oh, I have seen what happened when the Army did away with the Skills Qualification Test (SQT) I think it was around 1988. It was a test for your skill level equal to your rank. In order for promotion to the next higher rank you had to pass the SQT. Then the Army did away with the SQT, and people I know for a fact that failed the test at their skill level were getting promoted to the next higher rank. Now tell me would you want a Sergeant promoted to Staff Sergeant who could pass their skill level as a Sergeant.
There is a correspondence education system in the Army. completion of each of these courses would give you a few points towards promotion. The same group who failed the SQT would each order a separate test when they got the results back, they would share the answers with all the other guys. then they only had to pencil wipe the that test that the others had passed. they were just round robin the test answers. Scoring up points and when the SQT was dropped they were promoted quickly. I reported the situation to my command as to their action and I was just blown off "It not hurting anyone but them" I disagreed that they would be promoted over others that did know their job and duties therefor denying those who are qualified. Up my concerns fell on deaf ears, for it wasn't like they were commissioned officers or something.

The rules are the same for any great corporation or massive army complex. Great leaders that inspire confidence and raise morale are priceless. All the rest are replaceable. it’s just that simple. Education has nothing to do with it, great leaders are instinctive great tacticians are tought.

No. I think that educational credentials have a place in consideration for rank, but a lot of mighty find NCOs never bothered with going to college, didn't want to bother with it. They WANTED only to be good NCOs, were/are good NCOs and should STAY NCOs. I can't imagine a much bigger "come-down" than going from E-8, E-9 to 2LT! The very thought of doing away with PSGs and 1SGs and such is absurd. We NEED those ranks and the good men and women who serve in them. When I was a 2LT, I learned rather quickly that it was a good idea to listen to those guys. I found that my greatest value in the early days was being a buffer between them and higher-ranking officers in the company-BN to take care of BS meetings and administrivia while they got the jobs done, and while I was learning about the real world in the military. Yeah - the'll already have that real-life experience, so will have an advantage, but still will be butter-bars for a while. I think that turning those NCO levels into specialist grades rather than "hard-stripe" NCOs in the chain of command would lessen their effectiveness significantly. I vote NO. That's the model that the Navy uses, with "ratings" rather than "ranks" and it works for them, and might be okay in Finance, Ordnance, even Engineers, Quartermaster, and Transportation, but NOT for combat units..