U.S. soldiers participate in African Lion 26 at Cap Draa, Morocco, on May 8, 2026. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in a May 20 memo mandated that “joint warfighting ability” be factored into promotion criteria for officers and noncommissioned officers (Christopher Sanchez/U.S. Army)
The Pentagon plans to begin assessing service members’ ability to wage joint warfare as part of promotion and advancement considerations for officers and senior noncommissioned officers, according to a recent memorandum.
The memo issued by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on May 20 was confirmed as authentic on Thursday by a Pentagon spokesperson after it circulated online among military communities.
It directs the military services to develop a new evaluation metric focused on identifying and measuring what Hegseth’s memo calls “joint warfighting ability.”
“The character and competence of our officers and noncommissioned officers will be the decisive factor in all future conflicts,” Hegseth wrote in the memo.
“We therefore must ensure our system for identifying, developing, and promoting leaders is ruthlessly meritocratic and focused squarely on what matters most: joint warfighting ability,” he added.
The release did not state when the implementation would take place, but directed Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata to lead the effort.
A Pentagon spokesperson said the initiative is part of an ongoing review of military promotion standards, but did not provide details about how the new metric would work.
“This initiative is the next phase of an ongoing holistic review aimed at ensuring all promotion standards are objective, data-driven, and focused on warfighter capability,” the spokesperson said in a statement Thursday. “No new metrics are available at this time.”
The directive aligns with Hegseth’s broader push to emphasize warfighting readiness — the ability to fight and meet mission demands — throughout the military.
Since taking office, he has repeatedly called for a focus on merit, physical fitness and combat effectiveness, arguing those traits should guide how the military develops and promotes leaders.
“Real toxic leadership is endangering subordinates with low standards. Real toxic leadership is promoting people based on immutable characteristics or quotas instead of based on merit,” Hegseth said in a 2025 speech.
Hegseth has faced criticism from lawmakers and the media for what has been described as unusual involvement in the services’ promotions of senior officers, including blocking some promotions and reportedly urging leaders to promote others who did not meet eligibility requirements.
The memo does not specify how the Defense Department will define or measure “joint warfighting ability,” including how the concept would apply to service members in career fields that rarely participate in joint operations.
“As a maintainer on jet engines, I don’t understand how this is supposed to work,” one user wrote in a popular Air Force Reddit discussion about the memo.
“My (job) has nothing to do with joint operations, and the engine I maintain is only used by the USAF, not any of the other branches. Does that make me less lethal?” the user added.
Joint military experience is not a new concept for advancement evaluation. The Defense Department already maintains a Joint Qualification System that recognizes officers for joint assignments, education and training completed throughout their careers.
While joint billets are distributed somewhat equally across military departments, “a good number of joint positions are competitively sourced,” a 2019 RAND Corporation study found.
The study also noted that the Army and Marine Corps have increased their number of joint-qualified officers over time, while the Air Force maintains the largest overall number.
It remains unclear whether the new “data-driven” metric outlined in Hegseth’s memo would build on that existing framework or create a separate standard focused on warfighting ability among both officers and senior enlisted leaders.
The challenge may be further complicated by the fact that each military branch maintains its own promotion and evaluation system.
Although officers and senior enlisted leaders across the services are generally promoted through selection boards, the criteria used to evaluate candidates can vary by branch.
Factors often include performance evaluations, assignments, professional military education, awards and leadership experience.
