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Review NCOs fairly

The Army is restarting an effort to flag the records of noncommissioned officers for all types of flaws and misbehavior, and to boot them out of the service.

Dormant since it was shut down in 2003, the Qualitative Management Program is back in force.

It’s not as sweeping as it was when the records of every NCO came under scrutiny. Now only senior NCOs are looked at, and only those documented as having a problem in their past: a poor performance report, a letter of reprimand, an Article 15, a failed education course, a court-martial.

The outcome is potentially the same: One strike and you’re out.

The scrutiny focuses on retirement-eligible sergeants first class and above in the active component and the Active Guard and Reserve to find those who have slipped from compliance with the service’s standards of conduct, morality, performance or professionalism. When NCOs are flagged, they can appeal or choose to retire. Otherwise, they face forced separation. They will get their retirement benefits, but they must go.

This comes after six years without such reviews and a long period in which simply filling the ranks with enough bodies seemed to be the goal. To that end, the Army was willing to overlook some misconduct and substandard performance. Recruiters even were allowed to enlist some candidates with criminal records.

No more.

With the ranks full and military service an increasingly appealing option as civilian jobs have dried up, the Army has killed re-enlistment bonuses for the remainder of the fiscal year.

If the revived QMP, through a fair and equitable process, gets rid of those who truly deserve to leave — and it should — that will only make the NCO corps better.

It also serves notice to junior NCOs: the standards for conduct and performance are getting tighter.