Posted on Dec 9, 2014
Masters Degree required for Colonel (O-6) promotion. What are your thoughts on this?
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I have came to find out that in the Air Force you are now required obtain a Masters Degree to be promoted to Colonel. Without it you would not be considered for promotion. This is in place in the Air Force. The Army currently does not have anything like this in place. It is highly encouraged but not required.
Should higher education, beyond that of a bachelor degree, be required for promotion to such a rank as COL? I can see how this would greatly reduce the pool of candidates for promotion right away.
*Be advised there are many programs in the military can aid you in obtaining your Masters. There are even institutions in military such as the Army War College that can bestow a Masters degree on you. Not everyone has the opportunity to go.
Should higher education, beyond that of a bachelor degree, be required for promotion to such a rank as COL? I can see how this would greatly reduce the pool of candidates for promotion right away.
*Be advised there are many programs in the military can aid you in obtaining your Masters. There are even institutions in military such as the Army War College that can bestow a Masters degree on you. Not everyone has the opportunity to go.
Posted in these groups: 
Promotions
Education
Promotions Education
Edited 10 y ago
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 88
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We can not have a conversation about a possible requirement (in this case master's degree for promotion to colonel) without an understanding of the need for the requirement and the effect we are trying to create. To that end:
- Strategic credibility. Higher degrees such as MS and especially PhD provide the Army strategic credibility as we engage academics, politicians, and private industry at the strategic level.
- Mental Discipline. Higher degrees such as MS and PhD provide an individual with mental discipline in how to think, not what to think. This is a good characteristic for a senior leader to have.
- Levels Education. I heard once that a BS/BA provides a person with the vocabulary of a discipline, an MS/MA provides fluency in that discipline, and a PhD enables a person to produce new words and thoughts within a discipline.
- Broadening. Senior guidance is that the Army needs to produce leaders who are broadened. Simply translated, this means that a leader has more in their toolbox than just a muddy boots "hammer".
- Broadening 2. Ties to above but a higher education provides a senior leader with thoughts and viewpoints outside just a military viewpoint. Again, a key characteristic for a senior leader.
Therefore having a master's degree should be a requirement for promotion to colonel within the Army.
- Strategic credibility. Higher degrees such as MS and especially PhD provide the Army strategic credibility as we engage academics, politicians, and private industry at the strategic level.
- Mental Discipline. Higher degrees such as MS and PhD provide an individual with mental discipline in how to think, not what to think. This is a good characteristic for a senior leader to have.
- Levels Education. I heard once that a BS/BA provides a person with the vocabulary of a discipline, an MS/MA provides fluency in that discipline, and a PhD enables a person to produce new words and thoughts within a discipline.
- Broadening. Senior guidance is that the Army needs to produce leaders who are broadened. Simply translated, this means that a leader has more in their toolbox than just a muddy boots "hammer".
- Broadening 2. Ties to above but a higher education provides a senior leader with thoughts and viewpoints outside just a military viewpoint. Again, a key characteristic for a senior leader.
Therefore having a master's degree should be a requirement for promotion to colonel within the Army.
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GySgt William Hardy
In days of old, our military forefathers leaned OJT. Promotions were at a snail's pace. In an age when formal education was not a factor, this was fine. Then we came to an age when it was determined that we needed military schools both for training different job skills and to teach leadership skills. Then we arrived at today's military world where officers must have a college education and many enlisted are now obtaining their's also. As we enter and move through the 21st Century, education will become paramount to all of us. Consider the time when it took a strong back to be ditch digger but today you have to have special vocational skills to operate the ditch digger. Times are changing and we must keep pace. That is the basic thinking behind my previous post. A college education, Associates, Bachelors, Maters, and Doctorate, will be needed at different levels of promotion. The days of someone with a limited education becoming a great leader in our modern military is a thing of the past.
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SSG John Erny
COL Owen Ward, LTC Vincent Stoneking, COL Jason Smallfield, PMP, CFM
SMSgt Judy Hickman, you make a very sound point about enlisted service members needing higher education as well, not for promotion but simply because the military is becoming far more technical. A high school diploma alone is not going to take most people very far in the modern world. I know there are exceptions to that but all in all it is true. SMSgt, you mention the medical field as an example, I would also add signal, cyber, Intel, supply, to name a few.
SMSgt Judy Hickman, you make a very sound point about enlisted service members needing higher education as well, not for promotion but simply because the military is becoming far more technical. A high school diploma alone is not going to take most people very far in the modern world. I know there are exceptions to that but all in all it is true. SMSgt, you mention the medical field as an example, I would also add signal, cyber, Intel, supply, to name a few.
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I have a masters degree. I can't land a job being in charge of a Chuck E. Cheese. Stay in the military.
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LCDR Jeffery Dixon
ABSOLUTELY. Over 40 years, a dozen industries and a number of disciplines my judgmnet is that in the civilian world (public companies) it is difficult to make the Executive Level (Director and above) without a Masters in something.
There are a few civilian "mustangs".
There are a few civilian "mustangs".
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CW2 Ernest Krutzsch
Please go back in History and identify effective leader who had Masters Degrees, Leadership is not about a degree it is about leadership..The ability to tell someone to go to hell, and make them glad they are on their way..I had leaders who had GED's that were more effective than those with advanced degrees..Degrees mean you have learned something, Leadership means you have SHOWN something
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MAJ (Join to see)
SSG(P) (Join to see) - Teachers are not required to have a masters degree in most districts/ states. It drives me "bat shit crazy" when people say that! I have had a M.Ed for 8 years and never once did someone tell me I needed one or should get one. My BS in History/ Sec.Ed., would have held up fine in public education. Most get a masters to add a field/ content or get a MAT to add a teacher certification to an existing BS/ BA. I have heard many a field grade complain about the struggle of finishing an advanced degree while managing a career, having kids, blah, blah, but when I say I already have mine, they respond, "you are a teacher, you had to."
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CW2 Ernest Krutzsch
LCDR Jeffery Dixon - Sir, so you are telling me that the degree is not for the benefit of the military, nor does it determine leadership, but is preparation for a civilian career, I don't think that was the intent of the question. Is it required to be an effective senior leader in the Service?
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Sir, I have two masters degrees as an E9. What's the big deal about asking the O5 to spend a little time in the classroom to make O6? Who knows, they might pick up something useful...;-)
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COL (Join to see)
By the time you make O6 you should have had plenty of opportunities to earn a master's degree.
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SSG (Join to see)
Completely agree. As a Soldier, shouldn't I expect my leaders to be more educated then I?
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SSG (Join to see)
Just a SGT here completing two masters. One because it interest me and the other to further a career path. By the time I make SFC I should have CPA at the end of my name.
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