American Sniper - Boekje Pienter

403/439
In the Navy, you usually have to take a written test to get promoted.
But I’d lucked out. I got a field promotion to E5 during my
second deployment and made E6 thanks to a special merit program
before my third deployment. Both came without taking written tests.
(In both cases I had been doing a lot of extra work within the
Team, and had made a reputation on the battlefield. Those were the
important factors in awarding the new ranks.)
That didn’t fly for the chief’s exam. I took the written test and
barely passed.
I should explain a bit more about written tests and promotions. I’m
not unusually adverse or allergic to tests, at least no more than anyone
else. But the tests for SEALs added an extra burden.
At the time, in order to get promoted, you had to take an exam in
your job area—not as a SEAL, but in whatever area you had selected
before being a SEAL. In my case, that would have meant being evaluated
in the intelligence area.
Obviously, I wasn’t in a position to know anything about that area.
I was a SEAL, not an intelligence analyst. I didn’t have a clue what sort
of equipment and procedures intel used to get their jobs done.
Considering the accuracy of the intel we usually got, I would have
guessed dartboard, maybe. Or just a fine pair of dice.
In order to get promoted, I would have had to study for the test,
which would have involved going to a secure reading area, a special
room where top-secret material can be reviewed. Of course, I would
have had to do this in my spare time.