Armed Services Articles

Cheat Sheet / Updated 03-19-2025

Any professional military commander will tell you that knowing your enemy is the first step in winning a battle. After all, how can you expect to pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) if you don’t know what’s on the test? Here are some test-taking tips and key information about ASVAB test formats and subtests to help you score well, get into the service of your choice, and qualify for your dream job.

Article / Updated 09-11-2024

Some questions on the ASVAB Mathematics Knowledge subtest may involve multiplying fractions. As you solve an equation, you may need to perform the extra step of reducing the fraction to make it easier to find the right answer. Multiplying fractions is easy. You just multiply the numerators and then multiply the denominators. Look at the following equation: You multiply 1 × 3 × 3 × 3 = 9 (the numerators) and then 2 × 4 × 5 = 40 (the denominators) to result in 9/40. Occasionally, when you multiply fractions, you end up with an extremely large fraction that can be simplified or reduced. To express a fraction in its lowest terms means to put it in such a way that you can’t evenly divide the numerator and the denominator by the same number (other than 1). A number that you can divide into both the numerator and the denominator is called a common factor. If you have the fraction 6/10, both the numerator (6) and the denominator (10) can be divided by the same number, 2. If you do the division, 6 ÷ 2 = 3 and 10 ÷ 2 = 5 you find that 6/10 can be expressed in the simpler terms of 3/5. You can’t reduce (simplify) 3/5 any further; the only other number that both the numerator and denominator can be divided by is 1, so the result would be the same, 3/5. Remember, you can’t use a calculator on the ASVAB, so multiplying large numbers can take extra steps and valuable time. You can make your work easier by canceling out common factors before multiplying. For example, suppose you have the following problem Multiplying the numerators (20 × 14) = 280, then multiplying the denominators (21 × 25) = 525, and finally reducing the fraction may require you to write out three or more separate multiplication/division problems. But you can save time if a numerator and denominator have common factors. Here, the numerator of the first fraction (20) and the denominator of the second (25) have a common factor of 5, so you can divide both of those numbers by 5: Your problem becomes The numerator of the second fraction (14) and the denominator of the first fraction (21) are both divisible by 7, so you can cancel out a 7: Divide 14 and 21 by 7. This changes the equation to a much simpler math problem.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 11-01-2023

If you're thinking about joining the U.S. military, your Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) score may well be the most important score you achieve on any military test. You need a qualifying score on the AFQT, or your plans for enlistment come to a dead end — and each branch of the military has its own minimum AFQT score requirements. Part of getting a high score on the AFQT involves brushing up on your math skills. You need to memorize key formulas and use proven test-taking strategies to maximize your chances for a high math score. The other part is making sure you have a firm grasp on English; in order to ace the language parts of the AFQT, you need a solid vocabulary and good reading comprehension skills.

Article / Updated 10-18-2023

After you’ve identified which ASVAB subjects you’re the weakest in, concentrate on boosting your abilities in those areas to improve your overall success on the exam. These tips can point you in the right direction as you study: Check out library books about the specific subject you’re struggling with, such as human anatomy or beginner’s electronics. Review reliable online sources related to ASVAB subjects. Ask someone in your community to tutor you. For example, get your Uncle Joe to show you the parts under the hood of his prized Camaro. Study with a buddy. Saying things out loud can help with memorization. Not to mention, studying with someone else makes you more accountable and can even make learning fun.

Article / Updated 10-18-2023

Many subtests in the ASVAB, such as General Science, Mechanical Comprehension, Electronics Information, and Auto and Shop Information, are hard to ace because you probably didn’t learn much about them in high school. So you may need to memorize facts and illustrations to do well in the areas of the ASVAB that you aren’t familiar with. Use these ten study methods to trick your brain into remembering all the things you need to know to get an excellent score on the ASVAB: Acronyms: An acronym uses the initial or important letters of a phrase to create an easily memorable abbreviation, such as PEMDAS to help remember the order of operations in mathematics (parenthesis, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction). Acrostics: This mnemonic device uses a group of words that start with particular letters to convey a meaning, such as the newly revised acrostic “My Very Educated Mother Just Showed Us Nothing,” to help you remember the eight planets (sans Pluto): Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Categorizing: Mentally dividing information into categories can help you remember similarities and differences. For example, studying plants and animals separately may help you remember photosynthesis, which occurs in plants, not animals. Chunking: Especially helpful with numbers, chunking is the process of breaking big chunks of information into smaller segments. For example, you can break larger numbers into shorter segments to help you remember them. That’s why you memorize phone numbers by saying “five, five, five, (pause) one, two, three, four.” Loci method: This mnemonic device helps you remember something if you can associate that thing with a familiar place (loci means “location”). For example, if you visualize E = MC2 spray-painted on your bedroom wall, you’re sure to see that picture when you close your eyes, which helps you memorize that formula. Q and A: Question-and-answer practice is a good study tool for memory if you have more than one person available to quiz you. Get the most out of this study technique by using it together with the re-review method later in this list. Recording: Recording yourself reviewing information (such as vocabulary definitions) and then playing it back aids in memory retention. Re-review: Reviewing new information more than once in the same day helps set that information in your brain more effectively than waiting a few days to look over it. Rhymes: Rhyming with catchy phrases and sentences is an easy way to retain information. For example, “i before e except after c” is a popular rhyme used to help spell some words in the English language. Visualizing: Creating mental pictures of different concepts you want to memorize makes remembering them easier. For instance, picturing yourself running a marathon, exhausted and out of breath, may help you remember that the exhaust of a car is the tailpipe that blows out the smoke.

Article / Updated 10-18-2023

An ASVAB study schedule is imperative to your success. No matter how many days are left until test day, you can use this guide to help structure your plan. If you’re a few months out, use this study guide and take your time to really pinpoint the areas that need the most attention. If you don’t have much time to spare, jump to the end of this schedule, pump out that extra effort, and eat, sleep, and breathe ASVAB from now until test day! One month before test day You have 30 days until test day. Let the studying begin! Take an ASVAB practice exam and score yourself on each subtest. Rank each subtest: 1 through 4 for each AFQT subtest (Word Knowledge, Paragraph Comprehension, Mathematics Knowledge, and Arithmetic Reasoning), and 1 through 5 for the specialty subtests, with 1 being the lowest rank. Spend the most time studying for the areas you ranked the lowest, giving special attention to the AFQT subjects, such as Mathematics Knowledge and Arithmetic Reasoning. For the remainder of your time, concentrate on the specialty subjects, such as Electronics Information, especially if you know your desired military jobs require a specific score, or if you want to ace the ASVAB. Two weeks before test day You’re in the home stretch. Try not to get nervous if you don’t know some of the material as well as you’d like. Use these strategies to boost your confidence: Take the same ASVAB practice exam you took at the beginning of your study plan, scoring each subtest the same way as before. Compare your new (and hopefully improved) practice test scores to the original scores. Note any improvements you’ve made within each subtest. Note the struggles you’re having in specific areas and write them down. For example, you may still have a hard time dividing fractions, memorizing planets, identifying vehicle parts, or learning suffixes. Spend the next two weeks fine-tuning the areas that need improvement. If you scored very high on any specific subtest (as in, you missed only one or two questions), set aside your review of that material in favor of spending time on topics that you still feel shaky about. Periodically check your ASVAB growth by trying out another practice test so you can see your progress. Feel confident that your hard work will pay off and don’t give up. Note: If you’re just now starting to study for the ASVAB, don’t panic. Take a practice exam and score each subtest to see where you need to focus your time in the next two weeks. Then get studying! One day before test day If there were ever a time not to stress, this is it. Follow these suggestions to prepare for the big day: Relax and enjoy your day because the last thing you need is built-up anxiety. Pack up everything you need to take the test, such as your ID card, any necessary paperwork, directions to the test site, lip balm, reading glasses, car keys, and so on, and be sure to set your alarm. Break down your final study review into two one-hour sessions: During the first hour, concentrate on your weak subjects. Read over the types of questions and the work you’ve done to prepare for them. Then take a break. During the second hour, look over the highlights and any notes you have for each subtest. Stay hydrated with plenty of water. Get at least eight hours of rest.

Article / Updated 10-18-2023

Some math problems on the ASVAB AFQT will require you to apply formulas to solve real-world problems. It's important to not only be familiar with these formulas, but also to know when and how to apply them. Practice exercise In the following practice exercise, you need to match the word problem to the appropriate formula. (You don't actually need to solve the problems—this exercise is just to test your ability to choose the right formula.) When you're finished, check the "Answers and explanations" that follow. Answers and explanations The correct answer is Choice E.The problem asks you to find the circumference of a circle, and the formula for that is where C represents circumference and r represents the circle's radius. Remember, the radius of a circle is half its diameter. The correct answer is Choice C.The formula to solve a work problem that asks you how long it will take two people together to accomplish a task is The correct answer is Choice A.Investment and loan problems can typically be solved with the interest formula, which is I = prt. I stands for interest, p represents the principal, r represents the interest rate, and t represents the amount of time you're evaluating. The correct answer is Choice B.When a problem asks you, "How many square feet … ," it's looking for an area. The formula for the area of a rectangle is A = lw, where A represents area, l represents length, and w represents width. The correct answer is Choice D.In this problem, you need to use the formula for the volume of a cube, which is V = s3, where V represents volume and s represents the length of a side.

Article / Updated 10-18-2023

The Word Knowledge subtest of the ASVAB AFQT will contain some questions that ask you to define an underlined word in a sentence. Even if you don't know the word's meaning, you should be able to figure it out based on its context within the sentence. If you're unsure about your context skills, try the following practice exercise to test them. Practice exercise The following chart contains five sentences, each of which contains an underlined word. Copy the chart onto a sheet of paper. Then, based on each sentence, write your definition in the "Your Definition" column. Then look up the word in the dictionary (or check the definitions under "Answers and explanations") to find out how close you were. In the "Dictionary Definition" column, write the official definition; this will help you to remember it. Sentence Your Definition Dictonary Definition 1. Smoking has deleterious effects on your health. 2. The topic was too serious for her to be so facetious. 3. The English lexicon contains hundreds of thousands of words. 4. She told him not to plagiarize, but he copied the text anyway. 5. The commander didn't want to capitulate, but the general told him to surrender. Answers and explanations Deleterious is an adjective that means causing harm or damage. Facetious is an adjective that means treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor. Lexicon is a noun that means the vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge. Plagiarize is a verb that means to take someone else's work or idea and pass it off as one's own. Capitulate is a verb that means to cease to resist or to surrender.

Article / Updated 10-18-2023

Anything that saves you time and brain power on the ASVAB AFQT Mathematics Knowledge subtest is useful for two reasons: first, because you're working on a limited time budget, and second, because you can't use a calculator. That's where math properties, like the commutative and associative properties, can help. The commutative and associative properties let you break the rules about adding or multiplying from left to right: The commutative property of addition says you can rearrange the numbers you're adding without changing the result. Similarly, the associative property of addition lets you decide how to group the numbers you're adding. Together, these properties let you add a string of numbers in whatever order you like. For example, you can make calculations easier by pairing up numbers whose ones digits add up to 10 before adding other numbers in the list. Because subtracting is essentially the same thing as adding a negative number, you can extend these addition properties to subtraction problems, too — just be careful to keep track of the negative signs. The following example shows how smart groupings can let you add and subtract figures faster. Notice which calculations are easier to do in your head. Similarly, the commutative and associative properties of multiplication let you multiply numbers in any order you like. Check out how switching the numbers around can make mental math easier: You can even use these multiplication properties with division, as long as you remember that division is the same thing as multiplying by a fraction:

Article / Updated 08-14-2023

The Sprint-Drag-Carry event on the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) measures four big fitness components: agility, anaerobic endurance, muscular strength, and muscular endurance. In combat, you use these skills to build a hasty fighting position, pull a casualty out of a vehicle and carry him or her to safety, react to fire, and carry ammo from Point A to Point B. Here are the five parts of this event, which you start in the prone position with the top of your head behind the start line: Sprint: On the command of “Go,” jump up and sprint 25 meters in your lane. Touch the 25-meter line with your foot and hand, bust a U-turn, and sprint back to the start line. Drag: Grab each strap handle on the sled. Pull the sled backward until you have the whole thing over the 25-meter line and then turn it around and pull it back. The entire sled has to cross the start line. Don’t jerk the straps—use a steady pull to move the sled. Remember not to sling the sled to turn it around, too. Lateral: Face one side and perform a lateral run for 25 meters, touch the line with your foot and hand, and head back to the start line. Face the same direction on the way back. Don’t cross your feet during laterals. Carry: Pick up your pair of 40-pound kettlebells and run to the 25-meter line. Step on or over the line with one foot, turn around, and run back to the start line. Be careful when you turn around with the kettlebells—maintain control of your feet and the kettlebells the whole time. If you drop the kettlebells, just pick them up and keep moving. Sprint: Put your kettlebells on the ground, turn around, and sprint to the 25-meter line. Touch the line with a hand and foot and then return to the start line as fast as you can. Your time stops when you cross the start line after your final sprint. In this race against the clock, you need to complete all five events in 3 minutes flat to get 60 points. Finish in 2:30 to get 65 points, or wrap it up under 2:10 to get 70 points. Power through the whole thing in 1:33, and you max it out with 100 points. Sprint-Drag-Carry instructions The Sprint-Drag-Carry (SDC) comprises five separate events, and each one comes with specific rules for proper execution. The Army’s instructions for the SDC are as follows: You must assume the prone position with hands on the ground beneath your shoulders and with the top of your head behind the start line, ready to complete five consecutive and continuous 50-meter shuttles. For the first shuttle, on the command “Go,” stand up and sprint 25 meters before touching the 25-meter line with your foot and hand, turning at the line and sprinting back to the start. If you fail to touch properly, the scorer will call you back before allowing you to continue. For the second shuttle, grasp each pull-strap handle to pull the sled backwards until the whole sled crosses the 25-meter line. If you fail to cross the line with the sled, the scorer will call you back before allowing you to continue. Turn and drag the sled back to the start line. For the third shuttle, you will perform the lateral for 25 meters, touching the line with the foot and hand before performing the lateral back to the start line. The lateral will be performed to the left in one direction and to the right in the other direction. For the fourth shuttle, grasp the handles of the two 40-pound kettlebells and run 25 meters, touching the line with the foot before returning back to the start line. Place the kettlebells on the ground without dropping them. For the fifth shuttle, sprint 25 meters to the line, touching with the foot and hand, before turning and sprinting back to the start line to complete the event. In plain English, that means you start the SDC on your stomach, in the prone position (just like the starting position for the HRP), and then you spring into action for the first sprint. When you hit the 25-meter line, you touch it with your foot and hand, turn around, and come right back to the starting point. Then you grab your sled handles and drag the sled to the 25-meter line as you run backward. Wheel it over the line, turn around and drag it all the way back across the start line, drop the handles, and go right into your laterals. Hit the line with your hand and come right back (while still facing the same way). Get over the start line and pick up your two 40-pound kettlebells. Carry them to the 25-meter line and back as quickly as you can, and then do your final sprint (down to the 25-meter line and back). The SDC events are always in the same order: sprint, sled drag, laterals, kettlebells, and sprint. SDC tips and techniques The sled drag may not trip you up, but it’s likely to pre-fatigue the muscles you need for the remaining events. The two sprints are where you really give it your all; because they’re a relatively short distance, you can make up some time if you lose it in other shuttles. Try these other suggestions as well: Pull your sled straight back and keep your eyes forward while you’re moving backward—don’t try to turn to look for the 25-meter or finish line. You’re not going to miss the line; you see it as soon as you cross it. This way, you can also use your whole body to pull the sled rather than only the side that’s closest to it. Use your legs for the sled drag—don’t flex your arms by trying to pull the handles in close to your body. Lean back and let your arms extend so you’re not pre-fatiguing your grip and your biceps (remember, the Leg Tuck is still on the horizon). This figure gives you a look at what your upper body should look like in the Sled Drag. Keep your chest tall while you drag the sled and lean back as you pull. Your core muscles and your lats (technically, your latissimus dorsi) work with your legs to provide you with enough power to get the sled across the line. Get into an athletic stance before you do laterals. You go faster—and stay safer—if you get low and leggy. Don’t bounce, because bouncing slows you down and wastes valuable energy. Engage your deltoids and lats to keep your kettlebells under control while you run with them. If you let your kettlebells swing, you can hurt yourself (or drop them, which costs you time). Trouble spots on the SDC If you perform something incorrectly on the SDC, your grader calls you back to the start and has you repeat the shuttle. This do-over counts against your time, so looking out for the same things your grader is looking for is in your best interest: Failing to touch the line (with your hand and foot for sprints and laterals and your foot with kettlebells) Failing to get the entire sled across the line prior to turning around Crossing your feet during laterals Jerking the sled Failing to use the sled’s handles Failing to travel facing the same direction during laterals Throwing or carelessly letting go of the kettlebells Running sideways or forward while dragging the sled