The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) exam is required for all individuals seeking to enlist in the United States military. The military uses ASVAB scores to determine an individual’s qualification for enlistment and identify military careers appropriate for the individual’s talents and skills. Before taking the exam, you may wish to review the free ASVAB study guide and take free practice tests.

Exam Structure

The exam itself is a multiple choice exam with several sections. It’s very similar in format and content to the SAT, ACT and other standardized exams. There are nine sections on the exam:

• Arithmetic Reasoning (AR)
• Mathematics Knowledge (MK)
• Word Knowledge (WK)
• Paragraph Comprehension (PC)
• Assembling Objects (AO)
• Auto & Shop (AS)
• Electronics Information (EI)
• General Science (GS)
• Mechanical Comprehension (MC)

Armed Forces Qualifying Test (AFQT)

The military only uses four sections of the ASVAB to determine an applicant’s eligibility for enlistment. They calculate a subscore, known as the AFQT score, by combining the AR, MK, PC and WK scores to evaluate a recruit’s English and mathematics skills.

The military services each have different minimum requirements for the AFQT. Current minimums are:

• Air Force: 36
• Army: 31
• Navy: 35
• Marines: 32
• Coast Guard: 36

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