U.S. Army eases recruit aptitude standards

The U.S. Army met its October recruiting requirement, but accepted 12 percent of people who had the lowest acceptable aptitude results.

The normal acceptance rate among the lowest results is 4 percent, the Baltimore Sun said. In October, the lowest recruits scored between 16 and 30 points out of a possible 99 on an aptitude test that quizzes potential soldiers on science, mathematics and word knowledge.

The Pentagon says no more than 4 percent of all recruits can come from that lowest category, but because October is the first month of the service's fiscal year, Army officials said through the next 11 months, the average will fall within the yearly quota.

The National Guard's October recruit pool included 6 percent of the lowest scorers, though Guard officials also said they expected that figure to be below the 4-percent ceiling when the recruiting year ends, the newspaper said.

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