The United States Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff declared critical thinking as a capability imperative for Force XXI. He directed Military Services to develop critical thinkers. There is limited evidence of success in terms of developing critical thinking abilities. Specifically, the U.S. Army lacks a single, generally accepted, codified method for assessing warfighters' critical thinking skills. Using a quantitative approach with a meta-analysis design, this study aimed to examine the extent to which common components of higher-level thinking (remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating) contribute to developing junior and mid-level learners' critical thinking abilities. Bloom's revised taxonomy model served as the theoretical framework for this research study. Random purposeful sampling was employed. Primary studies identified during the literature search were coded using a preset criterion, yielding 13 qualified studies. Subsequent statistical analyses yielded a medium positive effect size of 0.501 (SE = 0.125, 95% CI = 0.256 to 0.747), confirming that the higher-level thinking features contribute to developing critical thinking skills and are generally effective for creating a critical thinking skills assessment strategy. Heterogeneity results indicated that the variance in effect size cannot be confidently attributed to sampling error (Q = 289.931, df = 39, p = 0.001). The study's outcome offers the U.S. Army and military discrete, structured features most efficacious in evaluating the warfighters' critical thinking abilities. This stance promotes positive social change by informing the U.S. Army of an opportunity to advance the armed forces' cognitive readiness to maintain the nation's defense and fulfill national security requirements. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]