On Friday last week, I visited Army National Guard Recruiter SFC Doug Kicklighter. We were talking about one of my sons possibly joining the Army. Doug also let me know that I had mixed apples and oranges on the scores I used in my previous post on drill sergeants and recruiters.
A recruit must have and AFQT (Armed Forces Qualification Test) score of 31 or better to enlist. But that score is on a 99-point scale. I said it was on a 160-point scale like all the individual scores on the ASVAB (Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Battery). So the 31-point minimum is out of a possible 99, not 160.
Of the ten scores that make up the ASVAB, the one most often referred to is the GT (General Technical) score.
A GT score of 110 or above allows a soldier to qualify for any job in the Army.
I took the ASVAB test on April 18, 2007, to re-enlist after a 23-year break in service. I was 54 years old. When I finished the test at MEPS (Military Enlistment Processing Station) in Mechanicsburg, the Navy Chief overseeing the computer-based test stood up and shook my hand. He congratulated me and said, "You have the highest score of the year so far. These kids here right out of school can barely pass and here you are, a man your a.......I mean a gentleman like yourself outscores all these kids."
A few minutes later he walked over to me and said, "You know Mr. Gussman, with a GT score of 141 and an AFQT of 99 you qualify for just about any school the military offers." Then he smiled and said, "But at your age there ain't any schools will take you. Good luck. Damn good job."
He shook my hand again.
Age discrimination is legal in the Army.
