During World War II, the Army replaced the Alpha & Beta Tests with the Army General Classification Test. This test consisted of 150 questions on the following topics: vocabulary, arithmetic problems, and block counting. More than 9 million recruits took this test during World War II. Interestingly, the tests showed that only 63 percent could read/write above a third grade level.
During this time, a completely separate "aptitude test" was being administered by the Navy (The Air Force was still part of the Army).
When Congress passed the Selective Service Act in 1948, they mandated that the Department of Defense develop a uniform screening test to be used by all of the services. In response, DOD developed the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT). The test consisted of 100 multiple-choice questions in the following subjects: vocabulary, arithmetic, spatial relations, and mechanical ability. This test was given to recruits from 1950 to the mid 1970s. The separate tests were used to form a composite AFQT score, and each service was allowed to set their own minimum score standards.
In the 1960s, DOD decided to develop a standardized military selection & classification test, and administer it throughout U.S. High schools. ASVAB tests were first used in high schools in 1968, but it wasn't used for military recruiting until a few years later. In 1973, the draft was ended and the nation entered the contemporary period in which all military recruits are volunteers. Three years later, in 1976, the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) was introduced as the official mental testing battery used by all services.
In December, 2002, DOD removed two sub-tests from the ASVAB, and included one new test. Removed were Numerical Operations and Coding Speed. Added was a new test called "Assembling Objects."
What's an "ASVAB Score?"
There is no overall "ASVAB Score." When you hear someone saying "I got an 80 on my ASVAB," they are talking about their AFQT (Armed Forces Qualifying Test) score, not an "overall" ASVAB Score.
The AFQT is important. It determines whether or not you can join the military. The AFQT score is not derived from all portions of the ASVAB. Indeed, the AFQT score is determined from only four areas of the ASVAB: Word Knowledge (WK), Paragraph Comprehension (PC), Arithmetic Reasoning (AR), and Mathematics Knowledge (MK).. The score is computed as follows:
The first step is to determine your Verbal Expression (VE) Score. This is done by adding the value of your ASVAB Word Knowledge (WK) Score to the values of your Paragraph Comprehension (PC) Score. This result is then compared to a chart which gives you your scaled VE Score.
The formula to derive the AFQT "raw Score" is 2VE + AR (Arithmetic Reasoning) + MK (Mathematics Knowledge).
It's important to understand here that the AFQT score is not computed with the AR "Line Score" and the MK "Line Score" that you see on your ASVAB scores sheet. The AR and MK scores shown on the score sheet is "number correct." However, the score used to compute AFQT score is the "weighted score," which takes into consideration the difficulty level of the question.
This formula results in the AFQT "raw score," which is then converted into a percentile score.
In 1980, a study, known as the "Profile of American Youth," was conducted by the Department of Defense in cooperation with the Department of Labor. DOD administered the ASVAB to a total of 11,914 individuals, ranging in age from 16 to 23, from July to October 1980. The purpose of the Profile of American Youth was to obtain data on the vocational aptitudes of current youth and to establish current national norms for the ASVAB.
The person's AFQT score is a percentile score, based on the population of test-takers in the above study. The percentiles are based upon a 99 point scale with 99 being the highest.
