Should Officers be required to have a Specific Degree in order to be commissioned?

I don't know about a specific degree to be commissioned but their degree should have somehow prepared them for the position they're put into. When I was a young sailor, we had an ensign (O1) put into the position of Main Propulsion Assistant, basically, in charge of the ship's propulsion division. This, in itself, is not a problem. The problem came from the fact that his degree was in marine biology...the guy knew absolutely NOTHING about engineering or anything mechanical. He lasted less than three months onboard before being reprimanded and transferred to a desk job in the base personnel office in a quite undesirable location overseas.

Professional Officers aside (Doctors, Lawyers, Nurses, Engineers, etc..), what degree would this be? Most of the officers I served under.... and I hate saying this.... didn't have good degrees. Most of them were liberal arts or humanities... with that said, from my observations, officers don't utilize their college degrees in the Army. My officers (the ones who lead; not the doctors and PA's I worked under) job duties seemed to consist of writing memos, making power points, conducting equipment layouts and every once in a while during deployment "Guest star" on patrols. I was enlisted when I was in the Army. Today I'm only 12 credits shy of my BS in Public Health. The only difference between 23 year old SGT Dave, and 26 year old college senior Suraj Dave, is the ability to write lab reports. If I were to go to OCS (Never going to do it, I enjoy being a civilian) as a college graduate or SGT, I don't believe it would make a difference., intellectually speaking.

Although I, as former senior NCO would prefer not to go commisioned, unless it was for Warrant Officer (who I believe never should have been Commisione), there were/are some great NCO's that would make good Officers. Their degree would come from the school of hard knocks.

SSG (Join to see), here's an excellent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal about this topic. While I believe commissioned officers do need a degree, the author makes some valid points.

http://www.wsj.com/articles/military-officers-dont-need-college-degrees [login to see]

I think the key is as SGM put it. Help teach. Help lead the leader. Colleges don't train leaders, and maturity is lacking amongst NCOs as frequently as the Os I've not noticed many officers in my units with that problem but when I have I've helped them. I had a 1LT in my last guard unit who was struggling to lead and gain the respect of her seniors. Instead of letting her flop in the wind, I helped her see how to resolve her problems and grow as a leader and an officer. Just because you're an E and they're an O doesn't mean you don't lead them along at times.

Do what I did and switch over then find it's not as easy as you think lol But seriously, a civilian degree will never equal to Military occupational experience and expertise unless you're medical(pretty much universal).

"I am noticing an increasing amount of mostly incompetent Officers joining the ranks."

The reason this sentence is grammatically incorrect is that "Officers" are plural and countable. Therefore, this sentence should read, "I am noticing an increasing number of mostly incompetent officers joining the ranks."

I also "like" how you randomly capitalize words because you think they denote importance or title.

Almost a year later and this thread has been revived.

I am impressed by the responses.

Thank You All.

I reported to a capt that had a degree in P.E. I know that's great for training but I'm not sure how it would be for military leadership. Though never having been an officer, I suppose my opinion on the topic is a bit invalid.