Should we bring back MOS testing as part of a promotion criteria?

Well, we can certainly hope so...

I may be wrong. I believe the reason these went away was because of Soldiers working outside of their MOS. I was an Ammo guy for 4 years before I really had any Ammo MOS jobs. I worked in a 2,4&7 warehouse, I worked in the orderly room and my final "job" was driving for the commander. I think the SQT should definitely be brought back. If a NCO is not motivated to stay current on their job, even when working another duty position, perhaps that is not the best person to be an NCO. No one is more Professional than I. Competence is my watchword.

This should return ASAP!

I remember having to take the SQT when i was a young private in the 82nd. As an Infantryman you had to pass it in order to be able to qualify for the EIB testing. I think these exams are greatly needed after so many years of the "War on Terror". They should institue them for promotion to E-5 and above.

As an nco knowing your mos is part of your job. Since I became sqd ldr, I have done very little in the ways of my mos & more leading soldiers, directing, training, etc. Most mos are simple easy jobs that doesn't take any real thought to do. Nco must know their mos but also need to learn how to lead. Knowing your mos helps with that but isn't biggest part of a leader. Company commanders are often not mosq in the field that their unit assignment has. My CO is a artillery officer in a company of 88M & Mechanics. So the mos part is honestly a small part of your job as a leader. Not the end all be all.

But also you should be able to know how your mos functions or works in order to lead troops in that mos but remember you lead more than 1 mos.

Oh I absolutely agree! I was an E5(P) in panama, had an E6 squad leader come in, he FAILED his SQT, and on top of that Absolutely COULD NOT perform his job! Unfortunately he wound up getting promoted to E9, all because he kissed ass, and was a PT Stud. Me solid 270s, yet could build anything...WTF

I started MOS (11E) Testing in 62 (?) as an E4, I never fail to get Pro Pay. If I remember correctly you had to score in the upper 2/3rds of the MOS in order to get an additional $30 a month. Once I got my secondary MOS (11D) I also scored high enough to be in the upper 2/3rds. I always thought it was a good measure of proficiency and I never thought the Army should get rid of it because of that. I do know that in 1962 my Battalion was testing the Expert Armor Badge, it was never approve because of the Infantry Board didn't want to make their award less special. Only 5 people in the Battalion passed the test, which was very thorough and measured every aspect of being a tanker by testing hands on map reading, weapons field stripping, marksmanship with tank weapons and maintenance of the tanks. Passing it got me promoted to E5, but more important, it got me to become a better tanker.

It should be based on your MOS. Too many people that got away from their MOS, and moved to company needs bypassed more capable soldiers to the nco rank. This is because they sat in front of a computer and could knock out correspondence courses all day, while their counterparts are out turning wrenches actually doing the job. It is an unfair system.

Yes ... you dont know your job ...dont anvance ,,,,

It's odd that the Army decided against keeping the SQT requirement in promotions. Problem with the testing was normally that the material tested wasn't current, and that made tests invalid statistically at times. Oddly, anybody who's ever taught a class and discovers that the test material is wrong would know how to fix that. I think we just have a lot of very inflexible fools in certain leadership positions. The other services, last I checked, all paid attention to proficiency for promotion. In fact, it used to be the basic requirement for enlisted promotions south of chief back in the day for the Navy.