#retrowar

Lockheed F104G Starfighters of the West German Air Force, Germany's "Widowmaker"

Understand the ASVAB Format

The ASVAB is composed of multiple subtests across various areas such as mathematics, verbal skills, and science. Understand the sections: Arithmetic Reasoning, Word Knowledge, Paragraph Comprehension, Mathematics Knowledge, Electronics Information, Auto and Shop Information, Mechanical Comprehension, and Assembling Objects.

Focus on Your Weak Areas

Identify your strengths and weaknesses through practice tests. Spend more time on subjects that need improvement, but don’t neglect your strong areas completely.

Study for the Mechanical and Technical Sections

For the Mechanical Comprehension and Auto & Shop Information sections, familiarize yourself with basic mechanics, tools, and mechanical principles. Use diagrams and practice problems to reinforce your knowledge.

Mechanical Comprehension:

This section tests your understanding of mechanical concepts.

Example: A force of 10 N is applied to a box with a mass of 5 kg. What is the acceleration of the box?

A) 2 m/s²

B) 5 m/s²

C) 10 m/s²

D) 50 m/s²

Answer: Using Newton's second law, F = ma, Acceleration (a) = F / m = 10 N / 5 kg = 2 m/s².

Electronics Information:

This section tests your knowledge of basic electronics and electrical principles.

Example: What is the unit of electrical resistance?

A) Ampere

B) Watt

C) Volt

D) Ohm

Answer: D) Ohm.

Cold War dosimeters, by Bendix. These are pen-sized radiation detectors that require no power. If you hold them up to the light and look through them like a telescope, you see a tiny little radiation gauge with a thin wire indicating the current setting. Exposure to ionizing radiation moves the wire. So you’d measure your starting reading (say, “5 Roentgens”), and then wait an hour, then check again (say, “6 Roentgens”) and then you’d know that wherever you had been had exposed you to 1 R/hr of radiation (radiation workers in the US are allowed to have about 5 R per year exposure, to put the numbers in contrast; about 500 R in a short dose will kill you, 100 R will make you quite sick, and below that you are just adding to your lifetime cancer risk by a small amount). They are entirely passive and require no electricity or anything to operate — very low-tech high-tech.