General Technical and Combat Operation?

[AT350Kobra]

Can someone tell me what type of material I would need to study for the Army's general technical and combat operation portion of the ASVAB?

Thanks

[13F3OL7]

There is no specific portion of the ASVAB that is for the GT and CO line scores. If i remember right when I took the ASVAB it consisted of three portions math, English, and science. The ASVAB is a standard test throughout the services. It's how each service scores the test that is different.


Aaron

[AT350Kobra]

OK, thanks Aaron.

[knoxtnshooter]

There's actually 9 sections on the ASVAB right now... copied these from wiki but i just took it a few weeks ago, and can confirm that these are the sections I took and in the order i took them.

General Science (GS)
Arithmetic Reasoning (AR)
Word Knowledge (WK)
Paragraph Comprehension (PC)
Mathematics Knowledge (MK)
Electronics Information (EI)
Auto Shop (AS)
Mechanical Comprehension (MC)
Assembling Objects (AO)

GT combines AR WK and PC
CO combines AR CS AS and MC

military.com has some practice test stuff on there, but you have to give all kinds of info to get to them which is annoying.

march2success.com is used by alot of guys and they seem to think it helps.

I scored well, but i've always had a knack with standardized tests.

[AT350Kobra]

Thanks, do they tell you the test results on the spot?

[knoxtnshooter]

Thanks, do they tell you the test results on the spot?

It may vary, but I found out shortly after I was finished. I was given my results sealed, and I gave them to my recruiter who opened the envelope and handed them to me while we were still at MEPS.

[AT350Kobra]

Ok, thanks man! I want to get into the special forces so my biggest concern is meeting the requirements for the GT and CO. I'm going to have to get better with my math for sure.

[DragonDoc]

Ok, thanks man! I want to get into the special forces so my biggest concern is meeting the requirements for the GT and CO. I'm going to have to get better with my math for sure.

Having a high GT score pretty much opens up a variety of specialties for you. If you want to become a "Quiet Professional" then you also need to focus on your physical endurance. I am not sure if you can enlist to become a member of the Green Berets. Most of the Alpha team members come from different specialties and successfully completed assessment. Needless to say, it is a challenge getting onto an SF team. If you really want the job, I suggest you talk to your recruiter and tell him you want to be an Airborne Ranger. Rangers are considered special operations and will give you the start you need to reach your goal. If I were inclined to walk in your shoes I would enlist as a 68W (Combat Medic/Healthcare Specialist) with the airborne ranger trianing option. Once you get in a ranger battalion, you are eligible to attend the special operations medical course. This course gives you an additional skill identifier which marks you as a medic that is capable of working with a special operations team. The reason I say join as a medic is simple. Everyone takes care of the medic and the medic goes everywhere the war fighter does. You can mix it up as much as you want or you can hang back out of the action (option two is good for life expectancy). Ranger medics become 18Ds (Special Forces Medical NCO) and after five years or so they become Physician's Asst., Physical Therapist (Master's Degree), RNs or doctors. I am a flight medic and I considered joining the Rangers 21 years ago (they told me they weren't taking no time in grade/time in service PFCs). I have 22 years active service so I know a little about the opportunities out their and how to guide younguns like you in the right direction. Choice is yours just don't settle for infantry man. Let me know how it works out for you.

[AT350Kobra]

Having a high GT score pretty much opens up a variety of specialties for you. If you want to become a "Quiet Professional" then you also need to focus on your physical endurance. I am not sure if you can enlist to become a member of the Green Berets. Most of the Alpha team members come from different specialties and successfully completed assessment. Needless to say, it is a challenge getting onto an SF team. If you really want the job, I suggest you talk to your recruiter and tell him you want to be an Airborne Ranger. Rangers are considered special operations and will give you the start you need to reach your goal. If I were inclined to walk in your shoes I would enlist as a 68W (Combat Medic/Healthcare Specialist) with the airborne ranger trianing option. Once you get in a ranger battalion, you are eligible to attend the special operations medical course. This course gives you an additional skill identifier which marks you as a medic that is capable of working with a special operations team. The reason I say join as a medic is simple. Everyone takes care of the medic and the medic goes everywhere the war fighter does. You can mix it up as much as you want or you can hang back out of the action (option two is good for life expectancy). Ranger medics become 18Ds (Special Forces Medical NCO) and after five years or so they become Physician's Asst., Physical Therapist (Master's Degree), RNs or doctors. I am a flight medic and I considered joining the Rangers 21 years ago (they told me they weren't taking no time in grade/time in service PFCs). I have 22 years active service so I know a little about the opportunities out their and how to guide younguns like you in the right direction. Choice is yours just don't settle for infantry man. Let me know how it works out for you.


Thank you, I really appreciate this information. I'll definitely be looking more into medics especially since I have interest in being a physical therapist. I think that I'm pretty good with physical endurance right now and by the time Nov comes around I should be great. For the past 3 months I've been working out 5 days a week for rough;y 2.5 hrs/day. I was in pretty good shape before I started this new workout routine but now I can do 90-95 push ups consistently and 80 sit ups consistently. I'm not sure where my running is at right now though. I definitely won't settle for infantry.

[JSantoro]

settle for infantry

Hey, now!

[DragonDoc]

Hey, now!

No offense. After all I'm just a grunt medic. I was just pointing out that if he is planning on a long term career then he should take a specialty with options. He can still do the infantry thing as a medic. Gotta love being able to apply to skill sets in combat. Shoot the bad guy then keep him alive.:D Now that sounds like fun.

[knoxtnshooter]

I have looked at alot of this stuff lately RE: joining with an 18X contract as opposed to going Ranger first and then SF.

I know that the numbers say that your chances of making it into SF are best on an 18X contract. Just something to think about. Another thing is that the skill sets are not the same and some guys would no doubt be great Rangers and poor SF candidates (and vice versa of course).

I have no interest right now in SF, so I am going the Ranger route as an 11X. I leave in August.

Any questions about the Option 40 route you have, you can PM me and I'd be more than willing to share my limited information. Can't tell you much about the 18X route.

[NCPatrolAR]

Unless something has changed, you can always take some tests to increase your GT score once you are in. IIRC, a GT of 110 would get you most any job except for some of the extremely technical stuff.

[steve-oh]

I know that the numbers say that your chances of making it into SF are best on an 18X contract. Just something to think about.


Just remember the 18x program still has a wicked high dropout/failure rate.

[AT350Kobra]

Just remember the 18x program still has a wicked high dropout/failure rate.

Any reason in particular?

[steve-oh]

Its hard.


No, but honestly last I heard that washout rate was 85%, (this was in 2005 when I was looking into it). Due to injuries and just general lack of physical and leadership aptitude.

[knoxtnshooter]

I hate to even post this since I don't know the source, but I've seen it a few places where this discussion comes up.


37% of current active duty SF tryouts make it through SFAS and get selected to go to Q vs.
78% of 18X'ers make it through SFAS and get selected for Q

Here is a breakdown of attrition causes:
37.6% are Quitters aka Voluntary Withdraws
19.9% fail the Land Nav
19.3% fail in PT
9.9% are outed by the Board
6.5% are medically dropped
5.1% are Involuntary Withdrawn
1.6% don't meet the Pre-Reqs

Now this doesn't include all of the drops in the Q course, which are again significant.