I've often heard folks say "I got a 70 on the ASVAB," or ask "What score do I need to get on the ASVAB to get this particular job?"
Understanding the ASVAB and how the military uses the results can be a bit tricky.
The ASVAB is the Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Test. Test results determine (1) whether or not one qualifies for military service, and (2) if so, what jobs they qualify for.
What is the ASVAB?
The Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Battery is a series of tests developed by the Department of Defense in the 1960s. Until recently, the battery consists of 10 individual tests of the following subjects: Word Knowledge, Paragraph Comprehension, Arithmetic Reasoning, Mathematics Knowledge, General Science, Auto & Shop Information, Mechanical Comprehension, Electronics Information, Numerical Operations, and Coding Speed. In December 2002, DOD eliminated Numerical Operations and Coding Speed from the ASVAB, and added a new section titled "Assembling Objects."
There are currently three versions of the ASVAB. Results from any one of them can be used for military recruiting purposes.
High School Version. The "High School Version" is officially called "Form 18/19." It's a paper-based ASVAB commonly given to juniors and seniors in high school through a cooperative program between the Department of Defense and the Department of Education. The test is offered at more than 13,000 high schools and post secondary schools in the United States. The primary purpose of this test is not for enlistment in the military (although the test scores can be used for military enlistment). The primary purpose of this test is to help school counselors and students discover where a student's basic aptitude lies. Approximately 900,000 students take Form 18/19 ASVAB each year.
Paper ASVAB for Recruiting. The paper version of the ASVAB used for military recruiting is officially known as "Forms 20-22." This version is given by the Armed Forces for enlistment purposes only. While the questions on the high school version and the recruiting version are different, they are equal in difficulty. Few people take the paper recruiting version of the ASVAB these days because most folks interested in joining the military take the computerized version of the ASVAB at the Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS).
CAT-ASVAB. The third version of the test is the CAT-ASVAB, which is a computerized version of the Forms 20-22 ASVAB. As each question is answered on the computer screen, the computer automatically selects the next question. Most people find that they score better on the CAT-ASVAB than they do on the paper-versions. This is because, for overall ASVAB score calculation (not individual line scores), the mathematics knowledge (MK) and arithmetic reasoning (AR) questions on the ASVAB are "weighted," with harder questions worth more points than easier questions. On the CAT-ASVAB, when one gets an answer right, the computer automatically selects a more difficult question (worth more points). If one gets a question wrong, the computer selects an easier question for the next question.
The ASVAB is not an IQ test. It does not measure intelligence. The battery of tests were designed specifically to measure an individual's aptitude to be trained in specific jobs.
History of the ASVAB
The Army began general testing of draftees during World War I. In order to provide a means of classifying draftees, the Army developed the Army Alpha Test, which consisted of 212 multiple-choice and true/false questions on the following subjects: vocabulary, sentence structure, arithmetic problems, number series, general knowledge, and "common sense."
When it became apparent that many draftees could not read or write, and therefore could not be properly classified using the Army Alpha Test, the army developed the Army Beta Test, which minimized verbal knowledge and used only pictures and diagrams.
