April 05, 2023
It’s Time for the Military to Rethink Entrance Examinations
Since 1968, the military has used the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB, to assess all incoming recruits. This single test predicts academic skills and determines what military occupational specialty, or MOS, the recruit is qualified to perform in their service.
However, these evaluations are subject to bias, such a race or income inequality, and don’t accurately measure a recruit’s aptitude to perform a job. In short, they focus on mathematical and verbal skills that aren’t indicative of actual intelligence or the ability to learn. By including a series of practical, task-based evaluations and redesigning the academic exam to test ability to perform a skill and not simply academic knowledge, the ASVAB can become a better assessment of a recruit’s aptitude — and potentially their career success.
The military needs to find better methods to match an individual’s abilities to a job in order to become a more effective fighting force.
It is time to replace the ASVAB with a new method of assessing aptitude and ability to learn a trade.
The ASVAB is a mandatory 3-hour standardized test designed to assess strengths and weaknesses in verbal, math, science, and spatial reasoning domains for all recruits entering the military, regardless of service.
Read the full article from Military Times.
More from CNAS
-
Commentary
National Security Human Capital Program
A Workforce Strategy for America’s Shipbuilding FutureThe future of American maritime dominance will not be determined solely by the number of ships launched or contracts signed, but rather by the strength and sustainability of t...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski & Laura Schmiegel
-
Podcast
National Security Human Capital Program
Could the U.S. Bring Back the Draft?In this episode of At the Boundary, GNSI’s Dr. Guido Rossi sits down with Katherine Kuzminski, Director of Studies at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), to explore...
By Katherine L. Kuzminski
-
Podcast
Defense / National Security Human Capital Program / Technology & National Security
Episode 7: The Future Hands Shaping the U.S.’s Unmanned ArsenalHow is the U.S. responding to unmanned innovation across the globe? This episode with Paul Scharre, executive vice president, Stacie Pettyjohn, program director and senior fel...
By Stacie Pettyjohn, Paul Scharre & Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan
-
Commentary
Defense / National Security Human Capital Program / Transatlantic Security / Technology & National Security
Sharper: America’s EdgeA volatile global security environment requires the United States and its allies to develop new tactics and capabilities to deal with novel global threats. On June 3, policyma...
By Charles Horn
