In a response to the military recruitment crisis, the Navy is to begin accepting individuals scoring in the lowest aptitude percentile. The new process will allow the Navy to recruit 7,500 applicants from “Category IV,” or those with a high school diploma scoring within the 10th to 30th percentile on the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT). Commander David Benham said of the new guidelines, “As we continue to navigate a challenging recruiting environment, changing the AFQT requirement removes a potential barrier to enlistment, allowing us to widen the pool of potential recruits and creating opportunities for personnel who wish to serve.”
From Fox News:
Benham noted that the AFQT is graded on a scale against other applicants and is "not the determining factor" for enlistment as long as an applicant has a high school diploma. However, Benham argued the move will help to remove barriers to enlistment as the military's qualified applicant pool continues to shrink, but he also noted that the move will not be a cure-all to the Navy's enlistment woes. "There'll be folks that score 10 that also don't qualify for a rating, and therefore they're unable to join," Benham said. "There's going to be folks who score 30 or 40 or whatever, but still don't qualify for a rating and therefore would be unable to join." The change could result in about 20% of this year's active-duty enlisted pool for the Navy falling into the lowest percentile category, though Benham expressed confidence that the move would not result in overall lower-quality applicants.
