How Does the Army Test for General Technical Knowledge?
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Army First Line of Defense: Recruit Testing
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Joining any military service is a commitment and a sacrifice that people make for their country. Making the decision to fight and defend your country by giving up certain freedoms for the greater good is often honored by many people in America. However, not just anyone can join the military. This includes the Army. The Army wants to make sure that not only are you able to be physically fit, you also need to have the mental capability of learning how to do your job in the Army.
No matter what profession you want to have in the Army, your mind must be tested to see if you are mentally ready to learn the requirements, even at the general level. These jobs are known as Military Operating Specialties, or MOS. For those who want technical jobs in the Army, like rocket systems operators, the Army first tests this at the recruiting level through the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or the ASVAB.
The ASVAB Explained
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All military branches utilize the ASVAB for recruit testing. The ASVAB tests people in 10 different areas to include mathematics knowledge, mechanical comprehension and electronics information. There are 200 items that must be answered in just a little over two hours' time. The raw scores come from subsections of the 10 major categories in the ASVAB, but specific career scores can come from subsets of those categories.
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Tech Jobs and ASVAB Scores
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To get a technical MOS in the Army, specific parts of your ASVAB score must be met just to qualify. Some technical Army career fields require proficiency in more than just one area of knowledge. For example, Early Warning System Operators are tasked to run multiple weapons defense systems that would detect missiles and air attacks on our territories. You would have to score at least 100 in the Mechanical Maintenance and 100 in the General Technical knowledge score lines. Your Mechanical Maintenance score is derived from your scores in Numerical Operations, Auto and Shop Information, Mechanical Comprehension, and Electronics Information. The General Technical score comes from a combination of Word Knowledge and Paragraph Comprehension with Arithmetic Reasoning. By comparison, to become an Aircraft Technician requires a Mechanical Maintenance score of 105 as a minimum.
To maximize your options, it is suggested that you study all the basic areas of the ASVAB. The testing areas aren't necessarily military specific; memorizing the tire size of a Stryker tank won't give you an edge over someone who can pick out which sockets would best fit over a hexagon-headed bolt. Being able to mentally disassemble a puzzle box doesn't mean much to the Army if you can't read the instructions on how to assemble an M-16. Brush up on your ASVAB test-taking skills so that you have a better chance of getting a high-tech job with the Army.
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