The Marine Corps said Thursday that it has begun developing plans to add a “demonstrated warfighter ability” test to the screening process for colonels eligible for promotion to brigadier general.
The service is adding the evaluation following guidance issued by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who announced the Joint Warfighter Evaluation, or JWE, in late September.
Lt. Gen. Thomas B. Savage, commanding general of Training and Education Command, called the JWE “an objective data point that complements what we already know about an officer’s performance and potential.”
“The Marine Corps has always taken pride in its talent management and selection processes, which have historically produced some of our nation’s greatest leaders,” Savage said.
He added that the evaluation will provide “another opportunity for our rising leaders to confirm that they have assimilated the skills necessary to epitomize the next generation of general officers who will excel at the highest levels of command.”
Brig. Gen. Matthew Tracy, commanding general of the service’s Education Command and president of Marine Corps University, said the service’s JWE will provide “a complex, realistic environment” to challenge Marine officers’ capabilities on the evolving battlefield.
According to the service’s announcement, the JWE will complement existing performance evaluations by assessing an officer’s ability to develop and communicate plans and demonstrate critical thinking.
The evaluation will be administered through the Marine Corps e-Learning Ecosystem, allowing eligible officers to complete it from their assigned duty stations.
During the evaluation, an officer will assume the role of a senior Marine commander conducting an all-domain operation in support of a joint task force against a peer threat.
The officer will “respond to commander-centric requirements during planning and execution and provide written products and decisions,” the service said.
The work will then be evaluated by a hand-selected board of experienced subject-matter experts from across Marine Corps University. The board will be chaired by either a brigadier general or major general.
The Marine Corps expects to implement its JWE no later than February 2027.
Daniel Terrill is a contributor to Military Times. He’s been reporting on military issues, the gun industry, and the outdoors for nearly two decades. Although writing is his passion, he’s been a Marine, police officer, and, perhaps the most dangerous job of his career, a substitute teacher.
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