Military Recruiting: Are We Passing The Test?

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A drill seargent watches the basic-training graduation ceremony at Fort Jackson, S.C. The Pentagon and former military leaders are worried about a new report that shows many high school graduates can't pass the military's entrance exam.



Military Recruiting: Are We Passing The Test?
by NPR Staff
January 2, 2011

Nearly one of every four high school graduates can't pass the basic military entrance exam, a new report shows.

Combine that with high obesity rates and a rise in criminal records, and the pool of potential military recruits is getting very shallow.

Every branch of the military is still reaching its recruitment goals, but the Pentagon's recruiting chief says he's worried. And a group of former military leaders is calling for significant changes in the educational system, calling the ineligibility rates a matter of national security.

The military's Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery exam — known as ASVAB — is the world's most frequently used aptitude test. It includes 99 questions each potential recruit must answer. One sample: "If three plus X equals six, what is the value of X?"

The minimum passing score is 31. According to the new report by the nonprofit Education Trust, called "Shut Out of the Military," almost 25 percent of potential recruits can't reach that level.