{"id":51545,"date":"2020-06-17T18:26:22","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T18:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/06\/17\/secdef-has-beef-with-the-militarys-entrance-exam\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T08:36:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T08:36:46","slug":"secdef-has-beef-with-the-militarys-entrance-exam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2020\/06\/17\/secdef-has-beef-with-the-militarys-entrance-exam\/","title":{"rendered":"Esper has beef with the military\u2019s entrance exam"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<style>.embed-container { position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%; height: 0; overflow: hidden; max-width: 100%; } .embed-container iframe, .embed-container object, .embed-container embed { position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; }<\/style><div class='embed-container'><iframe src='https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/\/k-IGn_5Nx4c' frameborder='0' allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, Texas \u2015 At a time when less than 30 percent of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/05\/11\/what-if-military-recruiting-could-screen-for-wash-outs\/\" target=_blank> American youth<\/a> are qualified to join the military \u2015 and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/opinion\/commentary\/2019\/07\/23\/manning-the-military-americas-problem\/#:~:text=The%20propensity%20(willingness)%20to%20serve,must%20recruit%20about%20150%2C000%20enlistees.\" target=_blank>less than 1 percent are even interested<\/a> \u2015 the Pentagon\u2019s top official wants to know whether decades-old accessions standards are still serving the force well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those include the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2020\/01\/06\/trial-program-waives-some-asvab-requirements-if-recruits-personality-tests-show-theyre-highly-motivated\/\" target=_blank>Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery<\/a>, a standardized test that measures language, math and other skills, as well as a long list of medical conditions that wholesale bar some prospective recruits from joining up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think we disqualify very capable people for not very compelling reasons,\u201d Defense Secretary Mark Esper told Air Force officials Tuesday during a trip to Lackland Air Force Base to visit the service\u2019s basic military training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As long as someone is generally healthy, fit and motivated to serve, he said, an ambiguous medical history or low scores on a multiple-choice test shouldn\u2019t prevent them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Esper asked a handful of training and medical leaders for their feedback on accessions standards Tuesday, part of an informal look at possible future updates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He called out the ASVAB in particular, which can not only determine someone\u2019s fitness to enlist, but can limit their options in terms of jobs they can do in the military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cDepending on the [military occupation specialty] you\u2019re going into, I\u2019m not sure of the relevancy of some of those questions on the test,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The former infantry officer and Army secretary has been doing a tour of military initial entry training facilities over the past few weeks, first visiting Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, South Carolina, in late May, then heading on to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and Naval Station Great Lakes, Illlinois, on Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In 2018, Esper tightened Army recruiting standards by capping Category 4 recruits \u2015 those with low ASVAB scores, for example \u2015 to 2 percent of new enlistees. He also relaxed accessions standards, allowing recruits with a history of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2018\/08\/29\/as-the-army-modernizes-its-standards-to-join-legal-marijuana-use-is-still-an-open-question\/\" target=_blank> self-mutlation or marijuana use<\/a> to join the Army, as long as the incidents were one-time-only and occured years prior to joining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He also turned an eye toward some treatable or manageable medical conditions, like eczema and poor eyesight, which Army department policy could have opened up for more waivers.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2018\/09\/27\/eczema-and-poor-eyesight-have-previously-kept-people-out-of-the-army-but-the-secretary-is-giving-them-a-second-look\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/eyesight.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Eczema and poor eyesight have previously kept people out of the Army, but the secretary is giving them a second look<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Army is looking at whether some treatable medical issues should disqualify Americans from service.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Defense Department-wide, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2018\/08\/29\/as-the-army-modernizes-its-standards-to-join-legal-marijuana-use-is-still-an-open-question\/\" target=_blank>medical accessions standards<\/a> include hundreds of disqualifying conditions, as well as \u201chistory of\u201d situations. Those include everything from some past eye surgeries to seeking help for anxiety or depression as a teenager, a time when many young people are wracked with those feelings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think we need to be better at making recommendations and not rigorously adhering to policy and excluding people that might have something that would prevent them from serving, but they would be a difference-maker in the national defense strategy,\u201d Maj. Gen. John DeGoes, who commands the 59th Medical Wing at Lackland, told Esper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Not every one of those conditions is a liability or a ticking time bomb, and for the sake of bringing in as much talent as possible, it could be worth looking at them on a case-by-case basis. Especially when some disqualifiers, like undocumented behavioral health or untreated eczema, are so easy to overlook or lie about \u2015 but then might resurface years into a military career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA medication that they took when they were 6 years old \u2014 boom \u2015 automatically taken out,\u201d Senior Enlisted Adviser to the Chairman Ramon Colon-Lopez said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bulk of each service is made up of first-term enlistees, and turning them away can leave a lot of potential on the table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m just trying to get an airman to serve four years honorably,\u201d Maj. Gen. Andrea Tullos, who commands 2nd Air Force, told Esper. \u201cSo I\u2019m not necessarily trying to produce the F-35 pilot who\u2019s going to be serving 10 or more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For example, something like a history of childhood psoriasis could be evaluated for how often it flares up, how debilitating the flares are and how difficult they are to manage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI think we need to move to risk management,\u201d DeGoes said. \u201cWe make recommendations, commanders \u2014 you decide.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Defense Secretary Mark Esper is taking a look at whether the ASVAB is worth doing anymore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":36944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":62,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,23,89,12,26,62,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3308],"class_list":["post-51545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-home","category-middle-column","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"BBBT2R36KNCVLH66PEI6T7E47A","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-military\/2020\/06\/17\/secdef-has-beef-with-the-militarys-entrance-exam\/","remove_feature_photo":true,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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