In Generational Shift, Army Uses a New System to Promote Hundreds of Officers The Army is revamping its process and adapting private-sector techniques to choose new battalion commanders, a keystone position The Army’s new process for evaluating officers for promotion to battalion commander aims to eliminate possible biases and weed out unqualified applicants. Photo: Timothy L. Hale/Zuma Press By Nancy A. Youssef Updated March 4, 2020 2:55 pm ET FORT KNOX—The U.S. Army has initiated the biggest shift since the Vietnam War era in how it selects a key class of officers, drawing on the hiring practices of private-sector organizations and corporations such as the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Google. The aim is to move away from techniques used for over 50 years that rely on past military jobs, physical fitness scores and the recommendations of generals to promote officers to the job of battalion commander. The new system includes surveys by subordinates, writing tests, psychological assessments, cognitive evaluations and a series of simulated militarylike scenarios in a wooded area on base to gauge leadership and problem-solving abilities. It stresses anonymity to eliminate any possible bias. As soon as candidates arrive, they are assigned a number and aren’t known by their names. At an interview, candidates are seated behind a black curtain, and a five-member selection panel is unable to see a candidate’s uniform, with its career-defining ribbons and patches. In the process, officials hope to generate more information, weed out unqualified applicants and reduce or eliminate gender, racial and other biases. “The legacy system for selecting battalion commanders in our Army was good, but in today’s world, good enough is no longer enough,” said Maj. Gen. J.P. McGee, head of the Battalion Commander Assessment Program, or BCAP. “For the Army to win in future conflicts, we need the world’s best battalion commander selection process.” The post of battalion commander, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, is considered the Army’s keystone midlevel management job. More than 90% of Army generals first served as battalion commanders, according to Army statistics. Gen. James McConville, the Army’s chief of staff, said a newly minted soldier’s first battalion commander could be a driving factor in his or her decision to stay in the service. A battalion commander often is the highest-ranking leader who still knows the names of everyone under his or her command--and at the same time is in a position high enough to shape the Army. “We are in a war for talent,” Gen. McConville said. Gen. McConville said the revamped promotion system could eliminate 10% of people who shouldn’t command troops. In an organization that promotes 450 battalion commanders a year, with each commanding on average 500 troops, 50 unqualified leaders could affect as many as 25,000 troops. Mock scenarios like the one above at Fort Knox help the Army determine how an officer leads others. Photo: Nancy Youssef/The Wall Street Journal In redesigning the process, Army officials turned to the private sector and nongovernmental organizations. They adapted one technique from symphony orchestras, meant to filter out potential racial, gender or other bias by having a candidate perform a piece of music behind a curtain. And while the Army has traditionally asked only higher-ranking officers to review a prospective battalion commander, an enlisted soldier now is a part of the review process, an idea adopted from Google. Mark Volpe, president and chief executive of the Boston Symphony, said the so-called blind auditions were adopted in 1952 by the orchestra, leading others to follow suit. “We applaud the U.S. Army and all organizations who strive to evaluate prospective employees with equal consideration and in an environment where everyone involved experiences fair and equitable treatment,” he said. Google said it began in the early 2000s to involve employees in personnel matters to ensure hiring decisions aren’t made solely by managers, said Paula Coetzee, director of strategy and program management for Google People Services, its human resources arm. “We want to build an organization for everyone. To do that well, we look to advance a diverse, accessible and inclusive Google,” Ms. Coetzee said. The Army used its new battalion-commander promotion system for the first time in January, when it evaluated 769 officers who qualified to seek the position through their experience, education and training. The 450 new battalion commanders will be chosen from among that group. Later this month, the candidates will find out who has been selected to lead a battalion. Over a five-day period, the prospective battalion commanders who traveled to Fort Knox were assigned their number, administered physical, cognitive and psychological tests, wrote an essay about themselves and faced interview panels. The psychological assessments size up candidates’ potential leadership and personality traits, how they interact with others, deal with stress and approach problems. For instance, one candidate was described as a good leader, but “less comfortable in larger settings.” More than 90% of Army generals first served as battalion commanders, according to Army figures, including Gen. Colin Powell and Gen Norman H. Schwarzkopf, above, at a 1992 meeting in Riyadh. Photo: Tech. Sgt. H. H. Deffner/Planet Pix/Zuma Press The new system is designed to collect more data about candidates while signaling to those rising through the ranks that the Army has new expectations of its leaders. “Assessments drive behavior,” said Col. Don Fagan, chief of staff for BCAP. “If we start telling officers, ‘If you want to be battalion commander, you need to physically fit, you need to be a good writer, you need to be a good verbal communicator and a couple other things,’ they are going to modify their behavior on their own so they put themselves in the best position to succeed.” The panel interviews took place in a series of sparsely furnished rooms in a single-story building. Before a candidate walked into a room, the evaluators sifted through information gathered over the previous four days. Four standard questions were selected for all candidates, but assessors also could ask their own questions. The sessions were live-streamed, and Gen. McGee, seated in a nearby office, toggled between them. SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS How do you think these changes would alter who is selected to be a battalion commander? Join the conversation below. Once an escorting soldier announced to those on the other side of the black curtain that a candidate was seated at a table with a pen and paper, the questions began. The candidate had 30 seconds to make any notes before answering. The first question was designed as an ice breaker: “Please describe the best leader you have worked for. What made him or her so great?” One candidate answered with a story about his commander during his deployment to Iraq. When the 30-minute process was finished, a soldier escorted the candidate out, then announced, “And the room is clear.” Each evaluator then made an independent recommendation about whether the candidate is fit to become a battalion commander. The successful candidates would assume command in October at the earliest, and only then can the Army start to assess the effects of the process. “I think intuitively we all understand that we are making better picks by just bringing in the additional information,” Gen. McGee said. “It would be nice to quantify it. I think it is going to take years to figure that out.” https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-gen...m-to-promote-hundreds-of-officers-11583339726