The Army has implemented a new promotion points worksheet which gives soldiers more opportunities to improve their own chances of promotions. The points for the commander's evaluation and promotion board evaluation were reduced from 200 points each to 150 points each. The extra points went to military education (where large bonuses exist for NCO courses, along with 32 possible points for the Ranger Course and 60 points for the Special Forces course) and awards (where points can now be won for letters of commendation, medals, soldier of the month, honor graduate of training courses, etc.). The number of points for civilian education were not changed (still 100) but they are easier to get (1.5 points per semester hour of college). The 100 points for weapons qualifications and physical fitness remain, but are now sharply curved so that soldiers must attain truly excellent results in order to get the maximum points.)--Stephen V Cole