Army School Helps Recruits EnlistSeptember 05, 2008
Army News Service|by C. Todd Lopez
WASHINGTON - The Army is nearing capacity on its basic training preparatory school at Fort Jackson, S.C.
The Army Preparatory School, which opened Aug.4, will reach its operating capacity of 240 students within the next two weeks, officials projected. The APS helps young Americans prepare for and earn a Certificate of General Educational Development, commonly referred to as a GED, so they may move on to basic combat training.
Entry into the Army depends on enlistees having earned a GED, or a high school-level or higher diploma.
Students without these credentials -- categorized as "Tier III" -- cannot enlist. In an effort to improve recruitment numbers, the Army has been authorized to enlist some of those Tier III students."The Department of Defense has allowed us to contract these Soldiers in as Tier III enlistees," said Lt. Col. Val Siegfried, Army branch chief for enlisted accessions. "After four weeks of school, if they earn their GED, DOD is letting us recode them as a Tier II so they may move on to basic training."
Students at APS are actually Soldiers, either E-1 or E-2 depending on their enlistment contract. They may spend as many as four weeks at the school studying and preparing to take the GED tests. In order to move on from the school and into basic combat training, they must test for and earn the GED certificate in two tries.
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