The U.S. military officially started to use the ASVAB test in 1976.
The current AFQT score is the most important ASVAB score for you. The Armed Services Qualification Test (AFQT) is a percentile score based on the study of 1997, where the Department of Defense conducted the ASVAB test in which 12000 people took part.
Your 21 means that you performed worse than 78% and better than other 21% of those 12000 people who finished the ASVAB test in 1997.
Unfortunately, your 21 ASVAB score is too low and doesn’t meet the minimum required AFQT score to enter any military branch. Here are the minimum scores you must get on ASVAB to enter different military branches:
| Military Branch | Minimum ASVAB Score |
| Army | 31 |
| Marines | 32 |
| Navy | 35 |
| Air Force | 36 |
| Coast Guard | 40 |
AFQT Categories
AFQT scores are separated into categories. Each category corresponds to a percentile score range. Rules are simple: the lower the category you get, the better candidate for military you are.
| AFQT Category | Percentile Score Range |
| I | 93-99 |
| II | 65-92 |
| IIIA | 50-64 |
| IIIB | 31-49 |
| IVA | 21-30 |
| IVB | 16-20 |
| IVC | 10-15 |
| V | 1-9 |
ASVAB Online Calculator
Check out our ASVAB calculator to assess your AFQT and Composite scores.