Table D-8.  Non-Prior Service (NPS) Active Component Enlisted Accessions by Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT) Category, FYs 1973-2017
  AFQT CATEGORY1      
FISCAL I   II   IIIA   IIIB   IV   Other/Unknown   TOTAL
YEAR # %   # %   # %   # %   # %   # %   # %
1973 14,759 3.64 124,521 30.70 95,526 23.55 113,552 27.99 51,525 12.70 5,767 1.42 405,650 100
1974 9,051 2.33 103,422 26.61 89,018 22.90 115,617 29.74 38,853 10.00 32,757 8.43 388,718 100
1975 13,507 3.30 131,647 32.13 109,515 26.73 121,399 29.63 25,962 6.34 7,728 1.89 409,758 100
1976 17,700 4.50 137,534 34.96 100,410 25.53 116,895 29.72 19,467 4.95 1,356 0.34 393,362 100
19772, 3 19,708 3.98 89,437 18.06 57,888 11.69 105,454 21.30 134,181 27.10 88,441 17.86 495,109 100
19782 13,798 4.51 68,383 22.37 46,061 15.07 80,886 26.46 83,340 27.27 13,176 4.31 305,644 100
19792 12,005 3.86 61,779 19.89 44,009 14.17 84,575 27.22 101,707 32.74 6,604 2.13 310,679 100
19802 17,952 4.98 72,417 20.07 85,462 23.69 152,157 42.18 31,380 8.70 1,377 0.38 360,745 100
19812 13,381 4.39 77,396 25.42 53,263 17.49 94,720 31.11 64,729 21.26 1,017 0.33 304,506 100
1982 15,108 4.95 86,120 28.19 57,559 18.84 99,075 32.43 46,438 15.20 1,159 0.38 305,459 100
1983 17,569 5.79 94,318 31.08 62,542 20.61 95,344 31.42 32,449 10.69 1,239 0.41 303,461 100
1984 17,667 5.79 94,876 31.10 65,017 21.31 97,593 31.99 28,857 9.46 1,053 0.35 305,063 100
1985 13,961 4.64 97,461 32.38 69,801 23.19 96,134 31.94 22,699 7.54 961 0.32 301,017 100
1986 11,842 3.77 105,323 33.57 78,679 25.07 101,937 32.49 15,265 4.86 731 0.23 313,777 100
1987 13,774 4.65 106,756 36.03 77,866 26.28 83,414 28.15 13,922 4.70 593 0.20 296,325 100
1988 12,007 4.43 97,046 35.78 71,242 26.26 76,249 28.11 13,361 4.93 1,339 0.49 271,244 100
1989 10,827 3.90 94,554 34.03 73,504 26.46 78,967 28.42 17,802 6.41 2,166 0.78 277,820 100
1990 9,293 4.15 79,711 35.63 63,079 28.19 63,357 28.32 6,830 3.05 1,455 0.65 223,725 100
1991 9,527 4.64 79,694 38.78 58,873 28.65 54,521 26.53 1,075 0.52 1,811 0.88 205,501 100
1992 9,419 4.67 80,609 39.98 60,887 30.20 49,460 24.53 374 0.19 873 0.43 201,622 100
1993 8,996 4.43 77,387 38.10 58,014 28.56 56,228 27.68 1,628 0.80 862 0.42 203,115 100
1994 8,391 4.76 66,789 37.86 49,430 28.02 49,892 28.28 1,207 0.68 700 0.40 176,409 100
1995 8,157 4.88 62,280 37.23 46,777 27.96 48,099 28.75 1,114 0.67 860 0.51 167,287 100
1996 8,427 4.70 65,343 36.48 48,981 27.34 53,782 30.02 1,325 0.74 1,274 0.71 179,132 100
1997 8,045 4.26 67,619 35.80 53,387 28.26 57,180 30.27 1,794 0.95 870 0.46 188,895 100
1998 7,728 4.29 62,029 34.45 51,810 28.78 55,914 31.06 1,864 1.04 686 0.38 180,031 100
1999 7,000 3.81 61,027 33.21 51,545 28.05 60,563 32.96 2,589 1.41 1,044 0.57 183,768 100
2000 6,854 3.83 59,543 33.30 51,254 28.66 59,189 33.10 1,231 0.69 762 0.43 178,833 100
2001 7,054 3.86 61,329 33.52 52,161 28.51 60,250 32.93 1,562 0.85 620 0.34 182,976 100
2002 8,905 4.91 65,067 35.85 51,922 28.61 53,797 29.64 1,320 0.73 499 0.27 181,510 100
2003 9,930 5.63 65,733 37.26 50,940 28.88 48,875 27.71 419 0.24 511 0.29 176,408 100
2004 11,448 6.51 67,226 38.20 49,499 28.13 46,569 26.46 708 0.40 522 0.30 175,972 100
2005 9,755 6.41 56,007 36.81 40,620 26.70 42,083 27.66 2,791 1.83 904 0.59 152,160 100
2006 9,798 5.85 60,886 36.37 42,910 25.63 49,086 29.32 3,033 1.81 1,676 1.00 167,389 100
2007 9,141 5.74 57,311 35.99 40,269 25.29 48,084 30.19 3,739 2.35 702 0.44 159,246 100
2008 9,760 5.67 62,214 36.16 45,289 26.32 51,048 29.67 3,732 2.17 1 0 172,044 100
2009 10,780 6.67 62,571 38.72 43,323 26.81 43,719 27.05 1,205 0.75 7 0 161,605 100
2010 12,182 7.59 64,537 40.21 42,365 26.39 41,101 25.61 326 0.20 0 0 160,511 100
2011 11,858 7.73 63,783 41.60 42,870 27.96 34,587 22.56 212 0.14 4 0 153,314 100
2012 11,395 7.38 65,207 42.23 45,057 29.18 32,325 20.93 314 0.20 129 0.08 154,427 100
2013 11,239 6.82 65,651 39.87 46,737 28.38 40,370 24.52 133 0.08 544 0.33 164,674 100
2014 9,387 6.76 54,849 39.49 40,951 29.48 32,926 23.70 313 0.23 476 0.34 138,902 100
2015 9,381 6.46 56,810 39.11 42,328 29.14 35,980 24.77 435 0.30 336 0.23 145,270 100
2016 9,700 6.41 57,890 38.24 42,577 28.12 40,024 26.44 481 0.32 718 0.47 151,390 100
2017 10,229 6.41   59,879 37.52   44,579 27.93   43,085 27.00   1,286 0.81   525 0.33   159,583 100
     
1. AFQT scores are percentiles that are normalized to the 1997 American youth population.  For example, a score of 92 represents the 92nd percentile of the youth population scored at or below that score.  It is standard to report these AFQT score percentiles in the categories listed below.
Cat I:   100-93 Cat IIIB:   49-31
Cat II:   92-65 Cat IV:   30-10
Cat IIIA:   64-50 Cat V:   9-1
2. Values reflect Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) misnorming.
3. The end of the fiscal year was moved from June 30 to September 30 during calendar year 1977. As a result, the data for FY77 reflect accession counts for five quarters.
Rows may not add to totals due to rounding.
Source: Military data are provided by the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC).