The predictive *validity of the Armed Forces Classification Test as a vocational reclassification tool

The Department of Defense (DoD) administers the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB), to individuals who seek to enter the Military Services, and the Armed Forces Classification Test (AFCT), to those who wish to change their vocation while serving in a military service. The ASVAB is a demonstrated predictor of trainability and serves the military well as an initial qualifier for those who would serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps. The AFCT is not a demonstrated predictor of reclassification training outcomes as there is no evidence to substantiate its predictive validity. The purpose of this study was to fill that void of predictive evidence in an attempt to determine the predictive validity of the AFCT as a vocational reclassification tool. Additionally, AFCT predictive evidence will be compared to the ASVAB to determine if the initial ASVAB scores could be used in lieu of the AFCT, potentially saving the DoD significant resources.;The Defense Manpower Data Center Monterey, California supplied data in support of this secondary data analysis. There were three initial concerns when designing the data analysis plan: (1) Because the AFCT population was a subset of the ASVAB population there was the possibility of restriction in range which could require that generated correlation coefficients be statistically corrected. (2) The timeframes between administration of the ASVAB and reclassification training were notably greater than the timeframes between AFCT administration and reclassification training. It was anticipated that the ASVAB correlations could weaken as the timeframe between test administration and training increased causing the predictive power of the ASVAB to diminish. (3) Each military vocation requires different test scores for entry, which required that the predictive validity correlation coefficients had to be generated broken out by major vocational categories.;The results of this study show that neither the AFCT nor the ASVAB are reliable predictors of military reclassification training. Approximately 10% of individuals who attempt vocational reclassification training do not succeed and this study shows that individuals who do not successfully complete this training do so for reasons unrelated to aptitude and for reasons that the AFCT is unable to distinguish.