It is difficult to know whether to Marines Corps recruits depicted in Stanley Kubric’s Vietnam War epic “Full Metal Jacket” had to sit for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery before being enlisted. The movie itself does not provide this information nor does it provide clues from which this information could be arrived at through the powers of deductive reasoning. Not only can we as audience members viewing the movie not tell whether the characters took the ASVAB test, we also have no way of knowing if they prepared for the ASVAB test by taking the ASVAB practice test.
Certainly if the characters in “Full Metal Jacket” had prepared for the ASVAB test itself by taking multiple versions of the ASVAB practice test they would have been exposed both to the format of the test itself but also the ten distinct subject areas covered included within the test. These subject areas include General Science, Arithmetic Reasoning, Word Knowledge, Paragraph Comprehension, Auto and Shop Information, Mathematics Knowledge, Mechanical Comprehension as well as Electronics Information.
Even though the characters in “Full Metal Jacket” were enlisted in the United States Marines Corps, in modern times all candidates for enlistment in the United States Armed Services must sit for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery prior to enlistment. The is true regardless of whether the candidate seeks enlistment in the United States Army, the United States Navy, the United States Air Force, the United States Marines Corps, the United States Coast Guard or the United States National Guard. The purpose of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery is twofold. First, the ASVAB tests whether the candidate for enlistment is an appropriate candidate. Second the ASVAB will provide information as to which jobs within the United States Armed Services are the best match for the candidate’s unique talents.