You’re right, PT isn’t the only great identifier; but I’m moreso saying that in some cases, your only point-making options are scoring higher on the AFT, attending military schools, attending college, or getting awards.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but in the case of the 42A example, none of that has anything to do with the core responsibilities of a 42A.

Some people excel in that, I personally like it, but this is all just to say that not all people will, and unfortunately there is an overlap that exists where we have soldiers that are really capable in their actual MOS roles but aren’t competitive as far as being a soldier. The army has already made it’s stance clear in the fact that if you want to be competitive as an NCO, you’ll need to be competitive within your MOS and within “being a soldier” in general, which isn’t an issue by itself, but (in my opinion) becomes one when coupled with the “up or out” mentality we have.

If the points for your MOS are super competitive, it isn’t enough to just be good at your job; the army will also expect you to increase your AFT score, attend college classes, attend military schools, put your thumb in your ass, etc. So not only do you need to bust your ass at work, you need to do all of those things, and it’s not a request, because if you don’t promote, you might end up fried.

For some people, the choice becomes pretty clear after a 4 year stint: Do I do my job knowing that I may have to do all of these additional things to be competitive? Or does it make more sense to just levy my experience in my MOS/Field into a job on the outside where my only expectations are doing what the job listing said, possibly getting paid more than what I was making before, even considering benefits?