Editorial: Crack down on cheaters

[CommunityEditor]

Soldiers have been cheating on Army Correspondence Course Program tests for nearly 10 years in order to gain points for their promotion scores. It’s the worst-kept secret in the Army.

Yet leaders have done little to stop it.

One soldier said she cheated because her commanding officer encouraged her to do so — because everybody did it.

Cheating is simple enough: Any number of web sites feature copies of actual exams — with the correct answers filled in.

One site claims more than 10,000 registered users.

The rampant cheating was exposed last year in national media reports, yet 18 months later, the Army is finally just getting around to implementing an anti-cheating strategy.

One new part of the strategy is to find cheaters and discipline them. An investigation by Training and Doctrine Command, the command responsible for the tests, has identified 20 suspected cheaters. Their names will be sent to their unit commanders, who are supposed to look into each situation and report back. Presumably, cheaters could be disciplined under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Zero tolerance is the only course for cheaters, but singling out 20 suspects after thousands have escaped during 10 years of inaction feels a bit like rounding up jaywalkers after a bank heist.

The Army must work quickly to make cheating impossible, or as close to that as can be achieved. That could require a total overhaul of correspondence courses and how they are delivered, as well as a crackdown on cheaters. Army leaders owe that to the soldiers who are playing by the rules and truly earning their promotions.

Moreover, they have a duty to restore honor and integrity to NCO promotions and to make it clear to all that cheating violates that code.

[ramrod]

Originally Posted by CommunityEditor

Soldiers have been cheating on Army Correspondence Course Program tests for nearly 10 years in order to gain points for their promotion scores. It’s the worst-kept secret in the Army.

Yet leaders have done little to stop it.

One soldier said she cheated because her commanding officer encouraged her to do so — because everybody did it.

Cheating is simple enough: Any number of web sites feature copies of actual exams — with the correct answers filled in.

One site claims more than 10,000 registered users.

The rampant cheating was exposed last year in national media reports, yet 18 months later, the Army is finally just getting around to implementing an anti-cheating strategy.

One new part of the strategy is to find cheaters and discipline them. An investigation by Training and Doctrine Command, the command responsible for the tests, has identified 20 suspected cheaters. Their names will be sent to their unit commanders, who are supposed to look into each situation and report back. Presumably, cheaters could be disciplined under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Zero tolerance is the only course for cheaters, but singling out 20 suspects after thousands have escaped during 10 years of inaction feels a bit like rounding up jaywalkers after a bank heist.

The Army must work quickly to make cheating impossible, or as close to that as can be achieved. That could require a total overhaul of correspondence courses and how they are delivered, as well as a crackdown on cheaters. Army leaders owe that to the soldiers who are playing by the rules and truly earning their promotions.

Moreover, they have a duty to restore honor and integrity to NCO promotions and to make it clear to all that cheating violates that code.

The tests say it is an open book test. How is it cheating? Now when you go to those websites that have the answers, and grab the answers for the tests, and score a 100....yeah, you're cheating. But who says you can't open the test on one computer and have the course open on another. Good luck Army.

[TRANSMSG]

I’ve been in the Army more than 19 years and cheating on correspondence courses was an issue when I first came in. But, why is this topic an issue…again? The true source of the problem lies in the promotion system. Of the six different areas that a Soldier can earn points, military education accounts for 200 of the 800 points possible. When we examine how points are awarded for military education, correspondence courses are given more points than other military education. One point is earned for every five hours completed. So, a 40 hour correspondence course is worth 8 promotion points whereas physically attending a one week resident course is only worth 2 promotion points. This current philosophy puts the emphasis on correspondence courses as the main way to earn points. Where is the logic at there?
A Soldier can complete a 40 hour correspondence course in less than a week with a little time and effort. As leaders, we push correspondence courses over resident courses not only because they offer more points but they don’t keep Soldiers from being at the unit for weeks at a time. Resident courses are usually harder to get due to availability, limited slots and funding. Some resident courses just don’t make sense. For example, an 88M truck driver has to attend the local bus driver course in order to drive a bus, but they are qualified to drive a Super HET.
Revamping the promotion system by placing greater emphasis on soldiering skills will not improve the quality of Soldiers seeking induction into the NCO Corps or even the Corps itself. What it does is give the Army more overpaid specialist who want the money and not the responsibility. The only boards that actually focus on leadership skills are the Sergeant Audie Murphy and Sergeant Morales boards.
One of the Army’s greatest mistakes to the promotion system was changing to the Select, Promote then finally Train. Instead of making WLC a requirement for promotion to Staff Sergeant the Army should have left it as a requirement for promotion to Sergeant and opened up the eligibility to PFCs. We should train Soldiers to be leaders earlier not later. Let’s fix the whole problem at one time; not parts of it here and there.

[partschanger]

I agree with TRANSMSG I also have been in 22 years I think they need to go back to the standard of testing current NCO's SQT that was worth 200 points also for Military the cureent point system does not make a good NCO

[standstillplease]

Originally Posted by partschanger

I agree with TRANSMSG I also have been in 22 years I think they need to go back to the standard of testing current NCO's SQT that was worth 200 points also for Military the cureent point system does not make a good NCO

The SQT I mentioned in a post two months ago regarding Honoring the NCO corps. ( Sad to say it's why many people leave the Navy only come to the Army and get promoted. ) Which brings me to the point a promotion board doesn't make a good NCO either. It can be very biased.

Once upon a time a SPC was asked "Who's the sexiest 1st Sgt here?" The SPC replied "You are 1st Sgt!" And just like that 150 points. What's sad is this is a very true story.

Best trained army in the world? Think about it.

[ramrod]

Originally Posted by standstillplease

Best trained army in the world? Think about it.

Don't judge the Army on one 1sgts question on the board. They will ask whatever they want. I'm not saying all but some of the 1sgts are in cahoots in who they want promoted to E-5/6. Hell, I know a Soldier who went to E-6 board and all he did was go through the motions of clearing his weapon. I don't question the Soldiers going to the board but I do question the 1sgts integrity in promoting Soldiers just for the sake of having to promote someone.

[JodieCoyotie]

Originally Posted by TRANSMSG

I’ve been in the Army more than 19 years and cheating on correspondence courses was an issue when I first came in. Revamping the promotion system by placing greater emphasis on soldiering skills will not improve the quality of Soldiers seeking induction into the NCO Corps or even the Corps itself. What it does is give the Army more overpaid specialist who want the money and not the responsibility. The only boards that actually focus on leadership skills are the Sergeant Audie Murphy and Sergeant Morales boards.
One of the Army’s greatest mistakes to the promotion system was changing to the Select, Promote then finally Train. Instead of making WLC a requirement for promotion to Staff Sergeant the Army should have left it as a requirement for promotion to Sergeant and opened up the eligibility to PFCs. We should train Soldiers to be leaders earlier not later. Let’s fix the whole problem at one time; not parts of it here and there.

I served in the Army from 1989 to 1996, and yes, cheating on correspondence courses was common. I knew a Soldier who went on to become a sergeant first class who had at least 20 pages of answers to correspondence courses. The way to stop the cheating is to remove the incentive. Give more credit for civilian education (college) and for resident courses and schools. College education produces well-rounded Soldiers and gives them better job opportunities when they leave the service. The Army has spent millions developing programs to afford Soldiers better opportunities for education, but still puts the emphasis on correspondence courses when it comes to promotion. Frankly, I'd like to see some research studies on whether or not those correspondence courses translate to better tactical performance and technical knowledge. An ideal program increases proficiency, improves job performance, and increases retention. I have never seen any proof that correspondence courses are a "force multiplier."

[MCGYVER]

Most of the Sergeants Major currently serving in the Army cheated on correspondence courses back in the day so this issue may have a few sacrificial lambs but won't get serious scrutiny. Ethics my ass.

[nomar62277]

This is very true. If every soldier from now on has to actually earn their points for correspondence courses, how can they respect NCOs above them that cheated to get theirs? I agree with Jodie. Give more of an incentive for civilian education, even though the Army doesn't want that either because it wants to keep their soldiers, not lose them.

[Creaminess]

As others have said, this has been going on for years. What are they going to do, audit every SGT and SSG to be promoted to see who cheated? I guarantee you there are CSMs and SGMs today who cheated on correspondence courses. How do you punish fairly, and how much energy should be put into investigating that? Clearly there will be some people who's cheating is more obvious than others, but in the end there will be no fair way to punish all who cheated, and you will never catch everybody.

I don't know how to fix this issue other than to do away with correspondence courses and lower the number of points you can get for military education to a reasonable level that would be attainable to the average Soldier, keeping in mind that Soldiers in some units have very few opportunities to attend resident courses due to their units' missions, deployments, or other considerations. Give points for things that matter. Correspondence courses may be good in some cases, and there ARE some Soldiers who are honest and do them the right way, but so many of those courses are out of date anyway that there's no real benefit to be gained by taking them.