Because you’re reading this book, there’s a very good chance that you’re interested in joining the U.S. military. I say that because the military recruiting commands are the only people in the entire world who care about the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) score. The AFQT score is derived from four of the nine Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) subtests. It’s used to determine your overall qualification to join the military branch of your choice.

Perhaps you’ve read the best-selling ASVAB For Dummies (Wiley), or some other ASVAB prep book, and you want more practice so you can achieve the highest possible AFQT score. Maybe you’ve already taken the ASVAB, you want to retest for a higher AFQT score, and you’re looking for an advantage. In any case, you’ve chosen the right book!

The ASVAB has two purposes: First, it’s designed to tell the military whether you can cut it within its ranks. It’s also designed to show the military where you’ll shine as a service member. Four subtests of the ASVAB (Word Knowledge, Paragraph Comprehension, Mathematics Knowledge, and Arithmetic Reasoning) make up the AFQT. The same four subtests, plus the remaining five subtests, are used to determine the fields in which you’re eligible to work. (There’s no such thing as an Army astronaut. I’ve checked.)

Long gone are the days when someone could just walk into a recruiter’s office and get into the military as long as he had a pulse. Today’s all-volunteer military members are the cream of the crop. For example, did you know that under current regulations, you need a minimum of a high school education to join and that no more than 10 percent of all recruits can have a GED or other high-school equivalency certificate?

Something else you may not know: The military services can’t just grow to whatever size they want. Like any other government agency, they have a budget, and they have to operate within that budget. Every year, when Congress passes the annual Defense Authorization Act, it tells each military branch how many members it’s allowed to have at any given time. By law, the services can’t go over the size mandated by congressional leaders (who hold the military purse strings).

Did you also know that of every ten people who walk into a military recruiter’s office, only about three are allowed to enlist? Sure, some are disqualified because of medical history or criminal history, but many are turned away because their AFQT scores are too low or because other qualified applicants have higher AFQT scores.

Today’s military is high-tech. Even the “common” infantry soldier has to learn how to use and maintain complicated electronic gadgets to survive on the battlefield. The services use the AFQT to determine whether someone is “trainable” in the high-tech military.

About This Book

Full-disclosure doctrine requires me to inform you that much of the information in this book can be found in ASVAB For Dummies. The AFQT is, after all, part of the ASVAB, and I wouldn’t cheat you by putting part of the information in one book and part of the information in another.

So why should you spend some of your hard-earned money on this book, particularly if you’ve already bought ASVAB For Dummies? Because here you find expanded, more-detailed information about the AFQT and the four subtests that make up the AFQT score. If you’re worried about your AFQT score, this book will help you get the highest score you can.

Even if you’re not worried about your AFQT score, this book contains four — count ’em, four! — additional practice tests for the four most important subtests of the ASVAB. Extra practice is never a bad thing, as my high-school volleyball coach would say.

As you read through this book, you’ll see a couple of special conventions:

• Whenever I use a new term, I italicize the term and define it nearby, often in parentheses.
• I put web addresses in monofont so you can easily distinguish them from the surrounding text.

When this book was printed, some web addresses may have needed to break across two lines of text. If that happened, rest assured that I haven’t put in any extra characters (such as hyphens) to indicate the break. So when using one of these web addresses, just type in exactly what you see in this book, pretending the line break doesn’t exist (or simply click the link if you’re reading an e-book).

This book has a few sidebars (shaded boxes) sprinkled throughout. They’re full of interesting information about topics described in those chapters, but you don’t have to read them if you don’t want to; they don’t contain anything you must know about the AFQT, so if you’re in a hurry, you can skip them. You can also skip anything marked with a Technical Stuff icon. Those tidbits are nonessential, too.

Foolish Assumptions

While writing this book, I made a few assumptions about you — namely, who you are and why you picked up this book. I assume the following:

• You aren’t an idiot. You just want information to help you get the highest AFQT score possible.
• You’re a high-school graduate, you have a high-school equivalency certificate, or you have at least 15 college credits. You just want to brush up on your high-school math and/or English skills as they apply to the AFQT. (If you aren’t a high-school graduate or if you don’t have a high-school equivalency certificate or at least 15 college credits, you need to get back to school. Very few applicants with a high-school equivalency certificate are allowed to enlist, and then only if they have 15 or more college credits.)
• You want to join the U.S. military and want to take advantage of all the enlistment goodies that are available, such as enlistment bonuses or additional education benefits. Depending on current recruiting needs, the services often tie enlistment incentives to high AFQT scores. High AFQT scores also help you pick the job you want — and the job you want may be offering a high-dollar enlistment bonus.

Icons Used in This Book

Throughout this book you find icons — little pictures in the margins — that help you use the material in this book to your best advantage. Here’s a rundown of what they mean:

The Tip icon alerts you to helpful hints regarding the subject at hand. Tips can help you save time and score higher on the AFQT.

The Remember icon highlights important information you should read carefully.

The Warning icon flags information that may prove hazardous to your plans of acing the AFQT. Often, this icon accompanies common mistakes people make when taking the test or qualifying for enlistment. Pay special attention to the Warning icon so you don’t fall into a trap on the test.

The Example icon points out sample questions that appear in the review chapters.

The Technical Stuff icon points out information that’s interesting, enlightening, or in-depth but that isn’t necessary for you to read. You don’t need this information to maximize your AFQT score, but knowing it may make you a better-informed test-taker — or at least help you impress your friends!

Beyond the Book

In addition to the book you’re reading right now, be sure to check out the free online Cheat Sheet for details on the AFQT scores you need to enlist in each branch of the military and some pointers on how to achieve a high score on the two math subtests. To get this Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and type “ASVAB AFQT” in the Search box.

The online practice that comes free with this book contains the four AFQT practice tests included in the book, plus four additional AFQT exams. The beauty of the online tests is that you can customize your online practice to focus on the areas that give you the most trouble. So if you need help with Paragraph Comprehension questions or Arithmetic Reasoning problems, just select those question types online and start practicing. Or if you’re short on time but want to get a mixed bag of a limited number of questions, you can specify the number of questions you want to practice. Whether you practice a few hundred questions in one sitting or a couple dozen, and whether you focus on a few types of questions or practice every type, the online program keeps track of the questions you get right and wrong so you can monitor your progress and spend time studying exactly what you need.

To gain access to the online practice, all you have to do is register. Just follow these simple steps:

1. Find your PIN access code.
   • Print book users: If you purchased a hard copy of this book, turn to the inside front cover to find your PIN.
   • E-book users: If you purchased this book as an e-book, you can get your PIN by registering your e-book at dummies.com/go/getaccess. Go to this website, find your book and click it, and answer the validation questions to verify your purchase. Then you’ll receive an email with your PIN.
2. Go to Dummies.com and click Activate Now.
3. Find your product (ASVAB AFQT For Dummies, 3rd Edition) and then follow the on-screen prompts to activate your PIN.

Now you’re ready to go! You can come back to the program as often as you want — simply log in with the username and password you created during your initial login. No need to enter the access code a second time.

Tip: If you have trouble with your PIN or can’t find it, contact Wiley Product Technical Support at 877-762-2974 or go to https://hub.wiley.com/community/support/dummies.

Your registration is good for one year from the day you activate your PIN. After that time frame has passed, you can renew your registration for a fee. The website gives you all the details about how to do so.

Where to Go from Here

You don’t have to read this book from cover to cover in order to maximize your AFQT score. If you decide to skip around, look over the table of contents and choose which topics you’re interested in studying.

You may already know that you’ll ace the Paragraph Comprehension subtest, so you want to brush up on word problems. If so, head to Chapters 11 and 12.

You may want to jump straight to Chapter 13 and take the first AFQT practice exam — that way, you can get an idea of which subjects you need to study more. Early on in your reading of the book, check out Chapter 2, which provides invaluable information regarding how the AFQT score is computed and how the score applies to military enlistment.

No matter where you start, I wish you all the best in your future military endeavors. I love every minute of being in the military, and I’m confident that you’ll enjoy your time with us, too.