In the United States Army, potential noncommissioned officer candidates, like officer candidates, were identified early on through their qualification testing, what positions they had held in civilian life, and their performance in training. Opportunities for promotions in the small pre-war U.S. Army were selective and relatively few in number. When the United States entered WWII, opportunities for promotion increased drastically and were opened up to men who previously would not have had the chance. At reception centers (the enlistee's or inductee's next stop after taking the Soldier's Oath), soldiers were administered the Army General Qualification Test, a 150-question machine-graded multiple choice test divided into three categories; "verbal items of increasing difficulty, sampling the person's grasp of the meaning of words and their differences; second, items involving solution of arithmetical problems and mathematical computations; third, items requiring ability to visualize and think about relationships of things in space." The scores were divided into five categories;

Grade	Score	Class
I	130+	Very superior
II	110+	Superior
III	90-109	Average
IV	70-89	Inferior
V	<69	Very inferior

Men who scored in grade I were expected to become officers; a score of 110 or higher was required to qualify for Officer Candidate Schools. The Army Specialized Training Program, which required a score of higher than 115, was meant to produce officers trained in technical or linguistic specialties after the completion of a four-year-equivalent college program in about eighteen months. Offered at 227 colleges and universities nationwide, it was drastically cut in February 1944 due to its inability to produce officers quickly enough, with 120,000 of the 150,000 participants being sent to the Army Ground Forces. Many soldiers were sent to the Infantry branch as noncommissioned officers without any experience in realistic training exercises, and it was believed that this would hamper their leadership abilities. This was proven to be false, and many became good soldiers. The Army only offered "school" type training in leadership for officers; noncommissioned officers were expected to learn their craft "in the field," during basic training and in training exercises. There is an interesting difference in various tables of organization and equipment; officers in leadership positions were often called "commanders," while noncommissioned officers in leadership positions were mostly called "leaders." Grade II was expected to produce most noncommissioned officers, while grades III, IV, and V produced regular soldiers. Soldiers were continuously re-evaluated during training to determine their suitability for particular specialties including their assigned one, and aptitudes for any others. Soldiers who showed exceptional leadership abilities during their basic training (and possessed the requisite qualifications) were identified and promoted, or offered the opportunity to apply for Officer Candidate Schools. Particularly bright newly graduated infantry officers were often sent to infantry replacement training centers to command a training cycle or two before deploying overseas. Many combat veterans also acted as proctors at these centers.

Before a soldier met with a classification specialist at the reception center to explore job options, he filled out War Department Adjutant General's Office Form 20, or the Soldier's Qualification Card. This form had on it, among other things, the soldier's AGCT score, his educational history, what leadership positions he had held in civilian life, and his hobbies. The Army did not disregard hobbies, and many soldiers were offered job options based upon them, especially if they had not held any employment in civilian life, or if their civilian employment was difficult or impossible to translate into a military occupational specialty. Besides taking the options offered to him by the classification specialist (based upon a combination of his AGCT score, civilian occupation, and hobbies) a soldier could volunteer for any branch or specialty in the Army as long as his AGCT score and medical test results met the requirements of his chosen position. Over half of all volunteers chose the Air Corps, and only five percent chose Infantry or Armor. Some military occupational specialty training in the Army produced noncommissioned officers by default through the rigor of training and risk involved; after 1942, all crew positions on light, medium, or heavy bombers save pilots, copilots, navigators, and bombardiers (these four positions were graduated as flight officers or officers) were graduated with at least the rank of Sergeant.

Sources:

• Keast, William R., Robert R. Palmer, Bell I. Wiley. The Procurement and Training of Ground Combat Troops. Washington, D.C.; United States Army Center of Military History, 1991.

• Lee, Ulysses. The Employment of Negro Troops. Washington, D.C.; Unites States Army Center of Military History, 2000.