Pentagon to Allow Calculators in Military Entrance Exam to Tackle Shortage

[sesterceshop]

The Pentagon is getting ready to shake up the military entrance exam by allowing calculators. This change to the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test aims to address the shortage of military recruits. Some worry that this move might be seen as lowering standards.

The U.S. military has been struggling with recruitment, with the Army missing its goal last year. This year, projections show potential recruit deficits in the Air Force and Air National Guard.

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2023/08/pentagon-lowering-recruitment-standards-again-report/

Recruits, get ready to solve for 'x' in 'extreme boot camp' equations!

[Gyfts]

If they're lowering the intellectual bar then one might assume they would lower the physical requirements. American youth are getting too overweight to serve in the military and that's reducing the pool of qualified candidates. You might imagine what happens to a country once their armed forces become too fat to serve.

[paxmao]

I wonder why they did not allow them in first place. A large army has a place for nearly anyone and probably you do not want the guys to be very smart in the first place - they might start noticing that they are risking their lives for a meagre pay, a distinct possibility of professional progress, and to the service of fat cats that drive the politics and the use of military forces from the comfort of their mansions by the beach.

[BADecker]

The military wants to find smart people so they can send them to school to handle operations rather than just fight. Now they will have to find a more difficult way to separate the smart one from the not too intelligent ones.

[Die_empty]

The Pentagon is getting ready to shake up the military entrance exam by allowing calculators. This change to the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test aims to address the shortage of military recruits. Some worry that this move might be seen as lowering standards.

The U.S. military has been struggling with recruitment, with the Army missing its goal last year. This year, projections show potential recruit deficits in the Air Force and Air National Guard.

https://americanmilitarynews.com/2023/08/pentagon-lowering-recruitment-standards-again-report/

Recruits, get ready to solve for 'x' in 'extreme boot camp' equations!

This is not just an American problem because the academic standard is lowering in many countries. This might be attributed to more attention to social media, computer games, and other social activities by the youths. Most examinations like the SAT and ACT examinations allow the use of calculators because of the poor performance of students. The military is supposed to be made up of the best students with the ability to solve diverse mathematical problems without aid because they work in very uncomfortable conditions. They are expected to possess fast problem-solving skills which is why they need to be tested without a mathematical aid. If the shortage of military personnel persists we might be forced to remove any form of intellectual examination.

[o48o]

This is not just an American problem because the academic standard is lowering in many countries. This might be attributed to more attention to social media, computer games, and other social activities by the youths. Most examinations like the SAT and ACT examinations allow the use of calculators because of the poor performance of students. The military is supposed to be made up of the best students with the ability to solve diverse mathematical problems without aid because they work in very uncomfortable conditions. They are expected to possess fast problem-solving skills which is why they need to be tested without a mathematical aid. If the shortage of military personnel persists we might be forced to remove any form of intellectual examination.

Computer games have been there for ages already so that's hardly the reason. I don't think there are studies supporting that theory and surely there already would be. I personally can't see them affecting to scores, in fact quite the opposite. People from my generation who played ended up coding and working in IT and some of them in field of mathematics and have PHDs.

One person that i know wouldn't stop playing if it would be up to him, and he is genius when it comes to mathematics. He doesn't use social media though.

[Stepstowealth]

The Pentagon is getting ready to shake up the military entrance exam by allowing calculators. This change to the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test aims to address the shortage of military recruits. Some worry that this move might be seen as lowering standards.

The biggest requirement to be a part of the military like the army particularly in where I am from is high morale. They understand that some of the people who are natural aggressive and have high morale are not always very intelligent and have not been able to fit into anywhere in the society, so the army is the last place for them to at least make them useful and not criminals. They should have allowed the use of calculators long ago, too much of educational intelligence is not needed to be in the military, the person can do well if they can read and write, smart and has a good ability to understand. Those qualities are okay.

[BADecker]

Pentagon exam calculators will be required and necessary. Why? Because only dumb people will be signing up to go to fight in Ukraine.

[OgNasty]

I feel like this is going to become more common as time goes on. Children in city schools have been failing to pass required exams for decades now and I imagine with the covid homeschooling era that things are about to get much worse. The era of Idiocracy is fast approaching. Testing standards are about to fly out the window.