COLORADO — The U.S. Navy recently changed their recruiting policy to allow enlistees to sign up without having a high school diploma or General Education Development (GED).
Commander Andrew Gerla, the Executive Officer of the Navy Talent Acquisition Group-Rocky Mountain told News 5 they are looking to boost their enlistment numbers while still attracting high quality candidates.
They say the change is based on prospective recruits scoring a 50 or better on the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) portion of its assessment test, the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB).
"We said, 'hey, if you don't have that diploma, if you don't have that GED, you can still score a minimum of a 50 on the AFQT...'" said Commander Gerla. "We would love to bring you in, tell you about our opportunities. We're going to maintain that quality, we want to increase some opportunities for everybody that's out there."
Commander Gerla says this change is also in place to allow those who have a hard time getting a diploma still pursue the Navy as a career option.
"If you can score a 50, that means that you are scoring at or above 50% of people that have taken this test across the country," said Commander Gerla. "That includes high school graduates, college graduates, GEDs, everybody. 50 or higher is a very high score. So, the quality is maintaining at a certain level because we want the best and the brightest."
This is only a change for the U.S. Navy recruitment process. All other branches of the military still require a high school education.
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