When the Military Misjudges Its Best Minds
: How Outdated Promotion “Point System” Culture Drives Technical Talent Out
The modern military loves to say it needs cyber experts, signal specialists, analysts, coders, network engineers, and tech professionals who can keep the digital side of warfare running. We hear plenty of speeches about cyber readiness, innovation, and the future of conflict. But walk into most units and the culture tells a different story. One that still prioritizes how fast a soldier can run two miles instead of how well they can secure a network or prevent a catastrophic communications failure.
It is a system built for a different time. And it is costing the force some of the very talent it claims to need the most.
I know, because my late husband was one of them.
A Soldier Built for the Modern Battlefield
My husband served ten years as an enlisted Signal Soldier. If you needed a network fixed, a server built, or a system restored before the commander started asking pointed questions, he was the person everyone wanted in the room. He had already spent years in the civilian IT world and held CompTIA Tech+, A+, Linux+, and Network+ certifications before he ever put on the uniform.
He joined the Army at thirty-five because he wanted to serve his nation, and he believed his expertise would matter. It did. To his unit, to his peers, to the missions that depended on him.
To the promotion system, not so much.
The PT Problem No One Wants to Admit
He met every requirement for his MOS. He passed height and weight. He passed PT. But he was not a PT superstar, and the system rewarded athletic performance far more than the kind of technical skill that kept operations from grinding to a halt.
This is not limited to the Signal Corps. It is a pattern across cyber, intel, medical technology, aviation support, and every logic based field where performance is measured in precision, problem solving, and technical mastery.
Using PT scores as the gateway to advancement in those jobs is the equivalent of telling a neurosurgeon they must run a six-minute mile to qualify for a promotion.
The Job That Could Have Changed Everything
By year eight, my husband was preparing to leave the Army. He had given everything he had, but the message from the system was clear. Athletic performance mattered more than technical excellence. So he did what countless talented soldiers do. He looked for a future outside the uniform.
And he found one.
He secured a job for his transition with a salary of one hundred thousand dollars a year, with full benefits, in Clarksville TN. At the time, most basic phone support jobs in the area paid ten dollars an hour. This was a major opportunity, proof of his value, and a chance for career stability the Army had never offered him.
He was ready to take it.
Then came the diagnosis. Terminal cancer. He had to turn down the job that would have given him the future the military had not made room for.
The Financial Cost the Military Pretends Not to See
Training a soldier is not cheap. Depending on the MOS, it costs the military approximately 500k in training, education, equipment, and development by the time that soldier is fully mission capable.
The military invests half a million dollars in a service member, only to lose them at the end of their contract because private-sector employers offer:
• better pay
• personal and family stability
• opportunities for growth
• workplaces that value technical skills
• respect for the expertise they bring
We are not talking about soldiers who “couldn’t hack it.” We are talking about soldiers the military spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to turn them into experts, only to lose them because the culture does not match the mission.
The Army did not just lose my husband to illness. It lost him years earlier to a system that could not recognize his worth.
Why This Matters for Readiness Today
Digital warfare is not a future threat. It is an active and growing battleground. Communications systems, networks, satellite infrastructure, intelligence platforms, and cyber defenses are foundational to modern military operations.
The people who keep those systems running are not being retained because the institution still measures success using tools that made sense in 1955, not 2025.
The military needs personnel who:
• think critically
• solve complex technical problems
• understand digital infrastructure
• hold industry-recognized certifications
• innovate faster than adversaries can adapt
None of that shows up on a PT scorecard.
If We Want Readiness, We Need Reform
Retention is not only about bonuses or reenlistment incentives. It is about culture, respect, and relevance. It is about building pathways that recognize different kinds of excellence. It is about stopping the hemorrhaging of technical talent that the modern force cannot function without. I agree that all military personnel need to meet or exceed the physical standards, but that should not be counted toward promotion “points”.
A modern force needs modern standards.
A modern force needs modern promotion pathways.
A modern force must stop measuring technical brilliance with physical metrics that belong to another era.
My husband served with intelligence, skill, and pride. His story is one among many. If the military wants to meet the challenges of the future, it must stop losing its best minds to outdated systems designed for a different battlefield.
National security depends on keeping the right people, not just the fastest ones.
