The U.S. Navy is now accepting recruits without high school diplomas or GEDs for the second time in a year, as it faces challenges in meeting recruitment targets. This follows a decision made in December 2022 to enlist more individuals who score poorly on the Armed Services Qualification Test.
Both of these measures are relatively uncommon, with other branches of the military typically avoiding or restricting them. However, all branches are facing challenges in recruiting young people who meet the required physical, mental, and moral standards.
Under this new policy, individuals without educational credentials can enlist in the Navy if they score 50 or higher on the qualification test, which is graded out of 99.
No diploma? No problem!
U.S. Navy again lowers requirements as it struggles to meet recruitment goals.
Under the new plan, Navy recruits without an education credential will be able to join as long as they score 50 or above on the qualification test, which is out of 99. pic.twitter.com/cTMDcdZ12I
— Clash Report (@clashreport) January 28, 2024
The last time the Navy accepted recruits without educational credentials was in the year 2000.
The Navy’s chief of personnel, Vice Admiral Rick Cheeseman, told the Associated Press, “We get thousands of people into our recruiting stations every year that want to join the Navy but do not have an education credential. And we just turn them away.”
Cheeseman said that out of the over 2,400 individuals who were rejected last year, up to 500 of them might achieve a high enough score to be eligible for enlistment.
He has issued instructions to his recruiters to begin the enhanced recruitment initiative, stating, “I’m hoping all my recruiters have called all 2,442 of them in the last 72 hours, and we’ll see how it goes. We’ll try to get some test takers this weekend.”
In the aftermath of the pandemic, the military branches encountered considerable difficulties when it came to recruitment. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the closure of recruiting offices, and they were also denied access to high schools and numerous public gatherings and events where they had previously been successful in reaching potential recruits.
Even as these restrictions were lifted, the military faced challenges in competing with well-paying private sector jobs in a competitive job market. Companies started offering benefits, such as financial support for college education, that had traditionally made military service an appealing option.
According to Cheeseman, the primary concern is the possibility of higher dropout rates during boot camp for these recruits. However, he noted that, as of now, there hasn’t been a significant difference in dropout rates between the low-scoring recruits brought in last year and their high-scoring counterparts. In total, 11.4% of these recruits didn’t complete boot camp, while less than 6.5% of the high-scoring sailors faced the same outcome.
Cheeseman mentioned that Navy leaders had been discussing the idea of opening enlistment to individuals without high school credentials for some time as a means to broaden the potential pool of recruits.
He said, “We just finally decided, okay, let’s go. My argument for accepting that risk is that we have a capacity of boot camp. We’re not filling the seats. So I’m willing to take a risk.”
