Screening for Service: Aptitude and Education Criteria for Military Entry

Abstract

In 1980, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the U.S. military departments, in cooperation with the Department of Labor, sponsored a large-scale research project to assess the vocational aptitudes of American youth. The joint effort, known as the “Profile of American Youth,” marked the first time a nationally representative sample of young women and men completed a military qualification test or a vocational aptitude test of any kind. This monograph describes the results of a study that uses “Profile of American Youth” data to estimate the numbers and proportions of American youth who would be expected to qualify for military enlistment under existing standards. Additionally, the authors calculate the military “participation rates” of American youth using enlistment eligibility rates for the general population combined with information on enlistment behavior. The present study provides the defense community with accurate information on the fitness of American youth to serve in the military; it also helps to show, in statistical terms, the impact of aptitude standards on the employment opportunities of young men and women from varied demographic backgrounds. The final section of the study explores the broader implications of the results for the future of the armed forces and society. Of special interest, the monograph includes several appendices: a chronology of aptitude standards used by each military service from the 1940s and 1950s to present (1983); aptitude trends of military examinees; and projected qualification outcomes under various alternative standards.