Students at Yokota High School in Japan take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery in 2021. The Pentagon is planning a change on the military's entrance exam that will allow applicants to use calculators. (Yasuo Osakabe/U.S. Air Force)
With recruiting numbers not adding up across the armed forces, the Pentagon is planning to allow applicants to use calculators on the military entrance exam.
No date has been set for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery policy change to take effect. The idea comes as the Army, Navy and Air Force are expected to miss their recruiting goals for the second straight year.
“We are developing a way forward for calculator inclusion,” said one of the three defense officials who spoke about the plan recently with Military.com.
The timed exam is used to gauge applicants’ academic ability and qualifications for various jobs in the military.
Kaiserslautern High School students get ready to take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery in Kaiserslautern, Germany, on Dec. 14, 2022. The use of calculators will be permitted on the military’s entrance exam under a plan the Pentagon is developing. (Mary Del Rosario/U.S. Army)
According to the official ASVAB page, the test is designed to assess not what individuals have learned, but whether they can apply principles to solve problems.
The ASVAB has 10 subtests, but only the scores from word knowledge, paragraph comprehension, arithmetic reasoning and mathematics knowledge are used by the military. These combined scores make up the the Armed Forces Qualification Test.
The plan to allow ASVAB test takers to use a calculator comes on the heels of other measures the military has resorted to in hopes of attracting recruits.
In 2022, the Army created the Future Soldier Preparatory Course, a program designed to help young people overcome academic and physical fitness barriers that cause them to fall short of the service’s standards.
Since the introduction of the prep course, more than 9,000 students have graduated into basic training, and ASVAB scores have risen an average of 18.5 points, Military.com reported, citing a defense official.
Gen. Gary Brito, the head of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, said the numbers are encouraging, according to an Army statement posted on the service’s website Jan. 9.
“These programs are providing recruits an opportunity to serve and are preparing them not just for the rigors of basic training, but for a life through Army service,” Brito said.
