Air Force Enlistment Age Raised to 39: Excellent ASVAB Score Essential

The Air Force has raised the maximum age for enlistment from 27 to 39. They have chosen to increase the age due to a need to attract a pool of qualified individuals that have computer programming or foreign language experience. They especially want more multilingual recruits.

Since the Army caps the age for enlistment at 35, the Navy and 34 and the Marines at 28, this news makes the Air Force the military branch with the highest allowed recruiting age. This is great news for United States citizens that have reached a point in their career where they are looking for a different career path, if they are multilingual or have cyber work experience.

You may be wondering what educational requirements are for enlistment in the Air Force at an older age? As of right now, the requirements remain the same as before. This means Air Force recruits must get at least 36 points on the ASVAB*. Exclusions are created, however, for a few high school graduates that score lower than 36, but higher than 31. Yet, over 70 percent of those approved for an Air Force enlistment score 50 or above.

It’s almost impossible get into the Air Force without a high school diploma. Less than 1% of all annual Air Force enlistments only have a GED. If a GED holder is trying to enlist, that person must score a 65 or higher on the AFQT* portion of the ASVAB.

Recruits that have not taken a standardized test in a while might be concerned about Armed Forces Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) score requirements, but there is plenty of information available here at ASVAB Boot Camp to get you fully prepared for test day success. Watch the ASVAB Overview video or jump right in and view the ASVAB online courses and ASVAB practice tests that will be essential to studying for the ASVAB.

Many people assume the Air Force is comprised of pilots, but there are more than 100 different career fields that need to be filled by recruits with skills outside of the cockpit. Many potential recruits have been happy to hear this announcement as the age limit was previously 27, and many of them have decided later in life that military service is their calling.

The elephant in the room is concern over the physical fitness of recruits that join in their 30’s. The Air Force Recruiting Service at Joint base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, said officials would be watching to see whether the aches and pains that flair up during boot camp prove to be too much for middle age recruits. In many ways this is a new policy that will be scrutinized over the next year and may potentially be adjusted in the future. If you are over the age of 27 and want to join the Air Force then this is your year to get in while you can as this decision could be retracted in the future.

* Please keep in mind that the “overall” ASVAB Score is known as the “AFQT Score,” or “Armed Forces Qualification Test Score”, which is made up of your test results from the Mathematics Knowledge, Word Knowledge, Paragraph Comprehension and Arithmetic Reasoning subtests. For the purposes of this article, “AFQT” and “ASVAB” are used interchangeably because minimum AFQT score requirements are often referred to as the “ASVAB score”.