Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery
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The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is a multiple choice test used to determine qualification for enlistment in the United States armed forces. It is administered to American high school students when they are in the 11th grade.
The ASVAB contains nine sections:
- Word Knowledge (WK)
- Paragraph Comprehension (PC)
- Arithmetic Reasoning (AR)
- Mathematics Knowledge (MK)
- General Science (GS)
- Mechanical Comprehension (MC)
- Electronics Information (EI)
- Auto & Shop (AS)
- Assembling Objects (AO)
Information use
The information collected through the ASVAB is used by the United States Department of Defense for recruiting and research purposes. Scores and personal information obtained during the test are also released to the United States armed forces, United States Coast Guard, and the student's local school.
Armed Forces Qualifying Test
An Armed Forces Qualifying Test (AFQT) score, calculated from scores in WK, PC, AR and MK, is used to determine basic qualification for enlistment. Various combinations of all nine scores are used to determine qualification for particular specialties. For example, to qualify for a specialty involving electronics, one may have to have sufficiently high scores in math, electronics, and general science.