WASHINGTON — Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is expressing strong discontent over the Army’s decision to revoke newly proposed academic standards for ROTC college students. These standards included a requirement of at least 1000 on the SAT to prevent what he referred to as “stupid people” from becoming military officers.
The proposed standards were unveiled on August 5 in an internal memo by Jules Hurst, who was then the assistant secretary of the Army for manpower and reserve affairs. Two days after issuing the memo, Hurst was confirmed by the Senate as the Pentagon comptroller.
“The Army must cultivate intelligent and adaptive officers to build a lethal and ready Army prepared to deter, fight, and win our nation’s wars. The strength of our Officer Corps is the strength of our Army,” Hurst wrote in the memo.
The standards, which were set to be implemented in January, were overturned on August 12 through a memo signed by Under Secretary of the Army Mike Obadal, citing a need for “further staffing and analysis.”
Pentagon insiders informed The Post that this reversal highlights dysfunction within the Army, where Secretary Dan Driscoll has been at odds with Hegseth over the past year, particularly concerning personnel decisions. The two are reportedly not on speaking terms, even amid the ongoing Iran war.
The memos apparently did not reach Driscoll’s desk before being issued, according to one source. Another source confirmed that Driscoll was not included in the internal email chain that contained the initial memo.
Military sources argue that new academic benchmarks are urgently needed and align with Hegseth’s broader agenda to enhance officer standards.
“I have friends that taught ROTC. They literally deal with some cadets that can’t put together a coherent sentence or write correctly,” a senior Pentagon official told The Post.
“A modest policy like this is a move in the right direction. Especially in an environment where the quality of a formal college education is less than what it was. 1000 on the SAT is nothing. If you can’t hit that you probably shouldn’t be an officer to begin with. We don’t want stupid people leading our soldiers.”
The rescinded standards would have allowed incoming ROTC cadets to alternatively submit an ACT score of 20 or a score above the 50th percentile on the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), which is used for enlisted troops.
“These are really common sense policies that everyone should be able to get behind,” the senior official said.
“Every branch of the U.S. military, except for the Army, has minimum requirements to commission via ROTC regardless of scholarship status. The fact that this was not in place to begin with is a bit strange. Enlisted service members, in many cases, seem to have stricter testing requirements to join.”
Currently, the Army ROTC does not require students to submit standardized test results.
College ROTC programs constitute the main entry route for new Army officers, accounting for 40-70% in recent years, according to publicly released statistics.
Hegseth has also advocated for tightening other standards for military officers, including fitness and grooming requirements, to reduce the number of “fat generals” and “beardos” whom he claims detract from the professionalism of the armed forces.
