Navy’s Personnel Boss Argues Dropping High School Diploma Requirement Has ‘Minimal’ Risk – By Konstantin Toropin (Military.com) / Jan 31, 2024
The Navy’s personnel boss is touting the service’s latest policy shift dropping the requirement that applicants have a high school diploma or GED certificate, a move aimed at getting more sailors in uniform amid a recruiting crisis.
Vice Adm. Rick Cheeseman, in an interview with Military.com on Wednesday, said the change has long been in the works and is about offering Americans opportunities as much as it is about boosting recruiting numbers. The service said Jan. 26 that applicants with Armed Forces Qualification Test, or AFQT, scores of 50 or higher who do not have a diploma can still enlist.
Since the policy’s rollout, officials have bristled and pushed back against the idea that the change is a lowering of standards, and have pointed to both data and anecdotes to back up the assertion that, while the service is broadening the scope of who it considers eligible for enlistment, those decisions are not weakening the Navy.
