The Army Needs To Modify Its System for Measuring Individual Soldier Proficiency

GAO reviewed whether the Army's Skill Qualification Test Program measures soldier proficiency and identifies individual training needs.

The program is the Army's only diagnostic tool for measuring individual training effectiveness and individual soldier proficiency in critical job tasks. However, GAO found that unit commanders and trainers are not getting the necessary information to assess accurately either skill proficiency or individual training needs because: (1) only a selected number of critical job tasks are tested; (2) the testing is an annual event rather than the culmination of a year-round training program; (3) promotions based on the test results create inequities among soldiers; (4) the test results are not routinely used to measure soldier proficiency or training needs at the unit level; and (5) the test program handicaps rather than improves professional skill development because training is provided primarily for the few skills tested. The program has become hard to administer and uses thousands of people to develop, print, distribute, and score the tests at an annual cost of more than $25 million.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Henry W. Connor Team: General Accounting Office: Federal Personnel and Compensation Division Phone: (202) 275-4141