The new policy will make it easier to pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test as many young recruits have not been able to get high enough scores to qualify for military service, the report said.
The Defense Department is taking a systematic approach that assess the impact of calculator use and is developing a way forward for calculator inclusion based on best practices in test development and psychometric theory, the report said, citing a defense official.
The US Army, Navy and Air Force are expected to miss their recruitment goals for two years in a row, while the Marine Corps and Space Force will reached the planned level of recruits, the report said.
The US Army is planning to recruit nearly 64,000 soldiers, including on active duty, National Guard and reserve personnel in 2023 and 65,515 in 2024, according to the budget request published in March.
The size of the regular US Army has been declining over the past years to 482,000 in 2021 and to 473,000 in 2023. In 2024, the Army is expected to have 452,000 members, according to respective budget requests.