A top priority for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is a renewed focus on the U.S. military's warfighting capabilities and warrior ethos, paired with the rollback or elimination of extraneous and unnecessary ideals and programs that detract from these efforts.
That includes the recent cancellation of the U.S. Army's Command Assessment Program, which factored in potential social biases and psychological evaluations over merit and performance in the consideration of candidates for command positions, according to Fox News.
The secretary declared "Good riddance" to the news that the generally unpopular feelings-over-facts Biden-era program had been ended.
First rolled out across the Army in 2020 and more broadly implemented thereafter, per Fox News, CAP was intended to reduce "conscious and subconscious biases" and utilize "peer assessments and behavioral analysis" when selecting candidates for promotion to command positions.
The program was finally made official in January 2025 by former Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, an appointee of former President Joe Biden, just days before President Donald Trump took office, after which she was replaced by current Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.
In August, Driscoll paused CAP and conducted a review of the new promotion program that ultimately led to its elimination.
In reaction to the news that CAP had been cancelled, Defense Secretary Hegseth wrote on X, "Good riddance. Promotions across @DeptofDefense will ONLY be based on merit & performance."
His post included a screenshot of a Military Times article on the subject that was headlined: "Army cancels Biden-era promotion program aimed at eliminating bias."
The article noted that CAP "relied heavily on peer evaluations and behavioral analysis" in the selection process for promotions, rather than the prior system that focused on a "series of performance factors," and further highlighted that a "stated goal" of the program was "protecting minorities from bias."
According to a doctrinal document on CAP published in January, "The battery of psychometric assessments employs several different instruments to measure cognitive capacity, emotional intelligence, conscientiousness, self-awareness, and other behavioral traits."
The document also admitted that the promotion selection process was subjective instead of objective, as it acknowledged, "Though not completely hidden, assessing intellect through casual observation is highly subjective and contextual."
The Military Times reported that while CAP was heralded by Army leadership during its brief run under former President Biden, it was not particularly popular with the troops and led to a reduction in officer candidates seeking promotions.
Indeed, in 2024, 54% of Army officers declined to take part in CAP, a record high non-participation rate, as compared to the 40% average in 2019 before the program's introduction.
With CAP scrapped, the Army has now reverted to the previous system known as the Centralized Selection Board/List, or CSL, which primarily focuses on candidates' merit and performance when under consideration for promotion to a command position.
