US Army Qualifications: What Are They?

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US Army qualifications range from entry requirements to promotion and discharge qualifications. Entry requirements include age, education, and physical fitness. Basic training introduces additional qualifications such as marksmanship and soldiering skills. Physical fitness and marksmanship remain important throughout a soldier’s career, while leadership skills become important for promotions.

There are various types of US army qualifications ranging from entry qualifications to promotion and even discharge qualifications. Some of the US Army entry qualifications include height and weight, age, and education level. Other US Army qualifications include physical fitness, marksmanship, and leadership skills. Once in the military, various qualifications are used to determine rank and military occupational specialty (MOS). Promotional training, leadership skills and abilities are also areas subject to US Army qualifications.

Some of the US Army qualifications required to enter the armed forces include having reached the age of 18 or 17 with parental consent; have obtained a high school diploma or equivalent; and meet defined physical requirements such as acceptable height and weight. This requires the recruit to be in good physical condition and have the ability to complete basic training. Some height and weight conflicts are usually ruled out through a body fat percentage test. US Army physical qualifications also require good health, with good correctable ocular vision, no communicable diseases, and no physical disability. The recruit must also obtain a passing score on the military entrance exam.

Basic training introduces another set of US Army qualifications for recruiting, such as passing a physical fitness exam. Passing means successfully completing a set of exercises. The recruit must demonstrate the ability to complete a set number of exercises, such as push-ups, sit-ups, and running, in a predetermined amount of time.

Other basic training qualifications are marching ability, basic marksmanship, and general soldiering skills. Failure to achieve a passing grade in one or more of these areas may lead to discharge, retraining the recruit to another training company, and/or a complete resumption of basic training. Certain types of recruits also often undergo rifle, pistol, and grenade qualification, while others replace grenade training with bayonet training.

After basic training, some US Army qualifications remain the same as the soldier begins active duty service. Physical fitness is a constant among soldiers, with periodic tests conducted to monitor soldiers’ abilities. Marksmanship is also an area of ​​constant improvement. A soldier’s ability to gain and retain army knowledge, in addition to acquiring leadership skills, typically becomes the focus of promotional qualifications as a soldier advances in his military career. Several mandated training schools must be attended by the soldier if he or she wishes to remain in the military and be promoted through the ranks.




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