U.S. Navy Lowers Test Standards to Meet Recruitment Numbers

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On Monday, the U.S. Navy announced that it will lower its entrance test standards, the latest in a series of quiet changes intended to address hiring challenges.

About 80 percent of Americans of prime recruiting age are ineligible for military service due to obesity, criminal records and other obstacles, and the remainder have many non-military options to choose from in a robust job market. This year, the Navy needs to convince about 38,000 eligible Americans to enlist, and it is making some headline-grabbing changes in order to do it.

In November, the service raised the maximum enlistment age from 39 to 41, the statutory limit. Effective Monday, it has also told recruiters that it will accept candidates who score well below average on the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT), the standard test administered in all U.S. military recruiting.

For candidates with a high school diploma, the Navy's minimum allowable performance on the AFQT is now set at the 10th percentile, lower than 90 percent of all test results. This is the statutory minimum, and it is below historical standards for the armed forces. Previously, the Navy drew the line at the 30th percentile.
Full article: https://maritime-executive.com/article/ ... nt-numbers

So they will be competing against the Army and Marines along with many law enforcement agencies for new personnel and Republican party for candidates.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: U.S. Navy Lowers Test Standards to Meet Recruitment Numbers

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TrueTexan wrote: Wed Dec 07, 2022 1:24 pm
On Monday, the U.S. Navy announced that it will lower its entrance test standards, the latest in a series of quiet changes intended to address hiring challenges.

About 80 percent of Americans of prime recruiting age are ineligible for military service due to obesity, criminal records and other obstacles, and the remainder have many non-military options to choose from in a robust job market. This year, the Navy needs to convince about 38,000 eligible Americans to enlist, and it is making some headline-grabbing changes in order to do it.

In November, the service raised the maximum enlistment age from 39 to 41, the statutory limit. Effective Monday, it has also told recruiters that it will accept candidates who score well below average on the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT), the standard test administered in all U.S. military recruiting.

For candidates with a high school diploma, the Navy's minimum allowable performance on the AFQT is now set at the 10th percentile, lower than 90 percent of all test results. This is the statutory minimum, and it is below historical standards for the armed forces. Previously, the Navy drew the line at the 30th percentile.
Full article: https://maritime-executive.com/article/ ... nt-numbers

So they will be competing against the Army and Marines along with many law enforcement agencies for new personnel and Republican party for candidates.
Dang, I might be qualified now. Cept still too old dammit. Course one of my phobia's is all them damn sharks in the ocean. All that dark deep water and Lord knows WTF is down there.
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,”

Re: U.S. Navy Lowers Test Standards to Meet Recruitment Numbers

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FrontSight wrote: Wed Dec 07, 2022 7:06 pm Very tough times to be in US military service. The pace for the past 20 years is VERY difficult to maintain. They're gonna have to start paying more...like every other employer in America.
Reminds me of the pace my cousin had back in the 60s he was in the Army and would be sent to Germany for 6 months then rotate stateside for a short time then to Vietnam for 6months to a year and repeat. He was In Special Ops. He would only talk to my dad about some of it since dad had some of the highest clearance and my cousin had retired. What now we would diagnose with severe PTSD. My cousin had been part of Operation Phoenix. He had been arrest later for a DUI and hung himself in the jail.
Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.-Huxley
"We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both." ~ Louis Brandeis,

Re: U.S. Navy Lowers Test Standards to Meet Recruitment Numbers

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As a young man without feeling any particular calling, and because my father was ex-military, I walked into several recruiting offices for information. Being a scrawny Asian kid who asked too many questions, I probably wasn’t prime material for upping their quotas. In any case, I consider myself extremely lucky not to have joined the military and forced to make decisions about killing another human being. I couldn’t handle doing that and remain who I am.
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

Re: U.S. Navy Lowers Test Standards to Meet Recruitment Numbers

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Well, I'm glad I joined the US Air Force, right out of high school. That was one of the smartest life decisions I've ever made, right up there with marrying my best friend. It is true that "you never get rich, by diggin' a ditch", as the old Army song goes. What you do get is free room and board, paid training, opportunities at college, job experience, and most importantly, worldly experience. Those last two were the biggest benefits for me, and the last one in particular helped open my eyes to a whole lot of things. The military forces are not perfect; nothing is. But it sure was the right choice for me.
"SF Liberal With A Gun + Free Software Advocate"
http://www.sanfranciscoliberalwithagun.com/
http://www.liberalsguncorner.com/
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Re: U.S. Navy Lowers Test Standards to Meet Recruitment Numbers

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Agree CowboyT, there are benefits. From my perspective though we should go to mainly non professional service everyone serves either in the military or slightly longer in a civilian service type organization. The benefits are a society that has an investment in itself, perhaps some of the overweight individuals will get some needed weight reduction, and the military will find and can try to select capable individuals for advancement even if they only want to stay in the reserves. Consider Finland has such a system and is a relatively small country and is fully capable of putting a million person force in the field in an emergency.
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"Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated!" Loquacious of many. Texas Chapter Chief Cat Herder.

Re: U.S. Navy Lowers Test Standards to Meet Recruitment Numbers

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FrontSight wrote: Wed Dec 07, 2022 7:06 pm Very tough times to be in US military service. The pace for the past 20 years is VERY difficult to maintain. They're gonna have to start paying more...like every other employer in America.
Been fairly less stressful now that we left Afghanistan. BUT still pretty jumping OpTempo. But for pay and allowances. Not bad for a HS graduate.
When making comparisons, remember that many factors are involved besides money. The military offers quite a few benefits that most civilian jobs don't offer. On the other hand, civilian jobs provide more freedom than most military positions.
Military pay is subject to federal income tax but may be exempt from state income tax depending on where you call home. Military paychecks include housing allowances, monthly subsistence, combat pay and overseas cost-of-living allowances, none of which are taxed. The take-home pay, therefore, may be significantly higher for an enlisted service member than a civilian worker.
More to it than just pay and benefits tho. When I was CO of a squadron...multi million $ inventory of jets, 350 people...a CEO of equivalent position and assets would be making 10 times what I was....BUT, I got to fly fast jets everyday....

Re: U.S. Navy Lowers Test Standards to Meet Recruitment Numbers

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Bisbee wrote: Wed Dec 07, 2022 10:30 pm As a young man without feeling any particular calling, and because my father was ex-military, I walked into several recruiting offices for information. Being a scrawny Asian kid who asked too many questions, I probably wasn’t prime material for upping their quotas. In any case, I consider myself extremely lucky not to have joined the military and forced to make decisions about killing another human being. I couldn’t handle doing that and remain who I am.
The lion's share of military occupations are non combat. The closest MOS I had was 17B, a field artillery radar operator. Some in an ammo unit, the last bit in a school.

I'm not a fan of killing, whether it be people on the other side of the border, ocean, birth canal. We seem programmed for it. Lots of war movies, not many about bringing clean safe drinking water to poor communities.

This is a gun forum, and killing is why they were wrought into existence in the first place. A better hole punch can be had at any office supply store.

I spent enough time in the Army to draw something of a pension and to meet and get to know a lot of people. No greater diversity of reasons for being somewhere could be found elsewhere. Some a bit nuts, none psychotic. The best people I've ever met, including my wife, are military.
Getting old, or is it just me?

Re: U.S. Navy Lowers Test Standards to Meet Recruitment Numbers

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Never in the "military", but I was a civilian who worked closely with mainly Marines and Air Force personnel. Heard all the stories about the "lifers" who were much less educated than those they commanded, heard all the complaints about incompetent officers and senior NCOs and developed a very high regard for those who took the oath and a step forward. I knew some very fine individuals who were both enlisted and officers.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: U.S. Navy Lowers Test Standards to Meet Recruitment Numbers

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Personally, I liked the Navy more often than not. Sure, there were some suck-fest times, long hours,
and I had one tyrannical, department head. He was a monster asshole and got off on doing things like confinement to the ship for minor questioning of his abuse of authority; however, he was technically competent and knew the engineering machinery backwards and forwards. The other Ensigns, Chiefs and LT.j.g.s that I served with under him became some of my best friends in life.

About 20% of officers were lousy, but they have more power to mess with your life in the military. I came away from that “bad example” lesson of leadership resolved to never be anything like that guy. Generally, a guy like him was an exception as 4/5 of the officers I worked for were excellent and professional; who took care to do as much as they could for the morale of sailors that worked for them. But there was a lot of general s*** just built into the training schedule, combat readiness, and deployment an operational Combat unit so good leaders & commanding officers found ways to take advantage of any way to improve morale and recreational activities.

Personally, I learned more from a bad leader than the 4 good Ones I had.

We trained a ton and that schedule taxed our lives, but looking at how incompetent the Russian Air Force, Army and Navy is in Ukraine, you can see why we trained so much.

I think the secret to anything in life is trying to make the most of it and doing your best. I go astray and sometimes forget this lesson that needs reminding.


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Re: U.S. Navy Lowers Test Standards to Meet Recruitment Numbers

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papajim2jordan wrote: Thu Dec 08, 2022 9:02 am
Bisbee wrote: Wed Dec 07, 2022 10:30 pm As a young man without feeling any particular calling, and because my father was ex-military, I walked into several recruiting offices for information. Being a scrawny Asian kid who asked too many questions, I probably wasn’t prime material for upping their quotas. In any case, I consider myself extremely lucky not to have joined the military and forced to make decisions about killing another human being. I couldn’t handle doing that and remain who I am.
The lion's share of military occupations are non combat. The closest MOS I had was 17B, a field artillery radar operator. Some in an ammo unit, the last bit in a school.

I'm not a fan of killing, whether it be people on the other side of the border, ocean, birth canal. We seem programmed for it. Lots of war movies, not many about bringing clean safe drinking water to poor communities.

This is a gun forum, and killing is why they were wrought into existence in the first place. A better hole punch can be had at any office supply store.

I spent enough time in the Army to draw something of a pension and to meet and get to know a lot of people. No greater diversity of reasons for being somewhere could be found elsewhere. Some a bit nuts, none psychotic. The best people I've ever met, including my wife, are military.
Gotta remember, the military exists for only 2 reasons...to kill people and break things. Lots of 'non combat', support type stuff but it's those 2 reasons in the end.
Yup, nobody in the military will say it's a 'normal' way of life.

Re: U.S. Navy Lowers Test Standards to Meet Recruitment Numbers

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From what I've read, all the services are having problems meeting recruitment goals. The annual Defense spending bill, the NDAA passed the House and it abolishes the COVID vaccination mandate. I heard that the Army was discharging members who refused vaccination, I don't know about the other services.
https://thehill.com/policy/defense/3763 ... bjections/

There was a big article recently noting that private employers are no longer requiring degrees for many positions, because few candidates have them due to the pandemic, inflation...
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

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