Hegseth shuts down NFL-style 'crown jewel' of Army's merit-based talent programs

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: USA Today

Updated Sept. 4, 2025, 12:24 p.m. ET


The Army announced the cancellation of its flagship officer selection program Sept. 2 after officials in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's office directed its review.

The Army's Command Assessment Program, an NFL Combine-style program known as CAP, that put prospective battalion and brigade commanders through a series of physical and mental tests, was cancelled "effective immediately," Army spokesperson Maj. Travis Shaw confirmed.

Hegseth, in a Sept. 3 post on X, hailed the program's demise, saying, "Good riddance."

Grueling program started in Trump's first term

CAP was a trial for officers seeking to command battalions and brigades, demanding roles that make or break an officer's career. The cancellation comes as part of a Pentagon review of officer personnel processes ranging from evaluations to promotions and command selection, among other career milestones.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2025/09/04/hegseth-kills-army-nfl-style-officer-program/85954364007/

[Eliot Rosewater]

1. When did this thing they're canceling start in the first place?

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Started under 45's first term!

Grueling program started in Trump's first term

[Eliot Rosewater]

3. I guess they want to promote people that are too fat to get out of their chair like Trump

[mpcamb]

4. Hegseth, understandably, has no use for people of outstanding qualities.

[rlexx]

5. Based on his Military Record

And not making LT COL…. He was probably rejected for the program

[IbogaProject]

6. They want White MAGA

And don't want anything to interfere with that goal.

[AverageOldGuy]

7. Pushups

Hegseth likes to tell people he knocks out 50 pushups each morning.

I'm 80. I knock out 100 HONEST pushups twice a day -- around 0600 and around 2100.

My son -- a former Army Special Forces trooper with his left arm and shoulder missing -- does 100 ONE-ARM PUSHUPS twice a day with me.

Hegseth ditched this program because he knows he could not hack it.

[maxsolomon]

8. I thought you were an average old guy.

nt