{"id":5288,"date":"2023-04-14T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-14T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=5288"},"modified":"2023-04-15T06:48:13","modified_gmt":"2023-04-15T06:48:13","slug":"fort-knox-active-guard-reserve-soldier-achieves-unthinkable-at-gt-score-improvement-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=5288","title":{"rendered":"Fort Knox Active Guard Reserve Soldier achieves \u2018unthinkable\u2019 at GT score improvement test"},"content":{"rendered":"

FORT KNOX, Ky.<\/strong> \u2014 What\u2019s higher than a 144 GT score on the Armed Forces Classification Test?<\/p>\n

In March, trainers at the Fort Knox Education Center and Basic Skills Education Program asked this question of Army Personnel Testing officials at Army University.<\/p>\n

The answer they got back: \u201cNothing. 144 is the highest possible score.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Sergeant 1st Class Ashley Hackley, training supervisor for HHC, Army Reserve Aviation Command, at Fort Knox, Kentucky, holds up her test results depicting the perfect 144 she scored on her March 22, 2023 Armed Forces Classification Test. She credits much of her success to the Basic Skills Education Program, a monthlong refresher course that prepares Soldiers to take the AFCT.
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The Fort Knox officials had enquired because on March 22, that\u2019s what Sgt. 1st Class Ashley Hackley scored. The training supervisor for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Army Reserve Aviation Command, had done the unthinkable and achieved perfection.<\/p>\n

Army University officials told them that Hackley is the first Soldier they know of who has earned a perfect score on the test.<\/p>\n

\u201cI admit I was very shocked by it all,\u201d said Hackley. \u201cIt feels so good to accomplish this. Unfortunately, in the Army people can get judged by their GT score, even if people have never met them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soldiers who desire to take the retest do so for a variety of reasons, according to officials, oftentimes to raise math scores.<\/p>\n

\u201cMath is why most people take the class,\u201d said Lola Best, instructor for BSEP. \u201cThat\u2019s why we go over math skill-by-skill \u2013 make sure we cover every skill they might see on the test. Then we have vocabulary practice and paragraph comprehension.\u201d<\/p>\n

The average GT score Soldiers have before retesting is 98, said Best. After attending BSEP, she is seeing their average scores jump about 23 points, up to 123 \u2014 a success by any measure.<\/p>\n

When Hackley, a noncommissioned officer with 14+ years of service, decided to attend BSEP, she had an 87, high enough to serve in the Army, but too low for many career paths.<\/p>\n

At least one reason for her low initial testing score, according to Hackley, had to do with a developing personal tragedy she experienced throughout high school.<\/p>\n

Hackley\u2019s father had gotten ill, requiring her to take care of him. Her responsibilities and the stress of them weighed heavy on her. In the middle of caring for her father, a 17-year-old Hackley decided to take the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB, which is the exam required for joining the military.<\/p>\n

Within days of her graduating high school in May 2006, her father died.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing 18 and not really knowing what to do, I started getting into stuff you shouldn\u2019t be doing as a young kid,” said Hackley. “I have a younger sister who always looked up to me and I knew that I was going down the wrong path in life, so I decided to join the Army.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hackley served on active duty for her first two-and-a-half years in the Army.<\/p>\n

\u201cI then came into the Reserves; did that for a while, and eventually I got picked up on the [Active Guard Reserve] program,\u201d said Hackley. \u201cIt took a long time to get on the AGR program.\u201d<\/p>\n

She hadn\u2019t considered attempting to raise her 87 score at first because she didn\u2019t see the need. The first hurdle came after serving active duty as an ammunition specialist, when she decided to reclassify in the Reserve as a 42A \u2014 administrative specialist.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually had to have a waiver to come into 42-Alpha because my GT score was so low,\u201d said Hackley. \u201cI didn\u2019t realize how much your GT score affects your career.\u201d<\/p>\n

After switching to Troop Program Units, known as TPU and considered to be \u201cthe heart and soul of America\u2019s Army Reserve, according to the Army Reserve website, Hackley said she found it difficult to find locations that offered GT score retesting.<\/p>\n

As she climbed up the NCO ranks, Hackley focused more of her time and energy on improving the careers of her Soldiers, often at the sacrifice of her own. She understood that to be her primary role as a supervisor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would let my Soldiers go before me, so it was never a concern for me to do my own retesting,\u201d said Hackley. \u201cIt was always more to make sure everybody else was taken care of.\u201d<\/p>\n

When she arrived at Fort Knox in June 2022 as a senior NCO, her career aspirations virtually vanished.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got overlooked for about 30 to 40 nominative positions because of my GT score,\u201d said Hackley. \u201cIt was something [U.S. Army Human Resources Command] would never even look at. I couldn\u2019t be able to go warrant [officer], I couldn\u2019t be a commissioned officer, I couldn\u2019t be anything with a GT score so low.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Soldiers who participate in the BSEP classes devote a month of their careers to preparing for the Armed Forces Classification Test, which is the retesting equivalent of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB, that prospective service members must pass before taking the oath to serve in the military. The AFCT affords Soldiers with low GT scores the opportunity to improve on them, which can open doors for career advancements.
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\n Soldiers who participate in the BSEP classes devote a month of their careers to preparing for the Armed Forces Classification Test, which is the retesting equivalent of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB, that prospective service members must pass before taking the oath to serve in the military. The AFCT affords Soldiers with low GT scores the opportunity to improve on them, which can open doors for career advancements.
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\n BSEP instructor Lola Best prints off test results during an April 13 study session so Soldiers can see how the did in preparation for taking the Armed Forces Classification Test. Best says she goes over each of the three testing areas in depth to ensure Soldiers have the best opportunity to raise their GT scores. The results have been outstanding as each class is seeing an average 23-point improvement.
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Her HHC leaders, Maj. David Holloway and Master Sgt. Jason Brown, said her abilities and capabilities had nothing to do with disqualification for nominative positions. In fact, they consider Hackley a major asset to the ARAC team.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s definitely a go-getter,\u201d said Brown. \u201cShe is very goal-driven; she wants to do the best that she can in everything that she does. It\u2019s been great to work with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holloway, who took command of HHC in September of 2022, said he was not surprised at her GT score improvement.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe brings a new perspective to the unit,\u201d said Holloway. \u201cShe came in with some great ideas, some great ways to help streamline our processes to get information pushed out to help the Soldiers. She came in with energy and has stayed on top of all the training as well as helping our human resources NCO.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hackley realized that drive and desire was no longer enough. Frustration drove her to seek out BSEP to raise her score. She asked Holloway for permission to take it the monthlong course.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know what her score was until she told me about it,\u201d said Holloway. \u201cThe ASVAB score didn\u2019t reflect her, not the person I saw standing in front of me, so I highly encouraged her to do it. I\u2019m always encouraging Soldiers to improve themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soldiers attending BSEP usually set a goal of achieving a 110, which is considered the baseline standard for the opportunity to pursue any Army career path. That standard can even help get Soldiers into the U.S. Military Academy.<\/p>\n

A 110 wasn\u2019t good enough for Hackley:<\/p>\n

\u201cI told them I wanted a 115 because I wanted to go above a 110.\u201d<\/p>\n

During preparation for the March test, Hackley said some of her leaders tried to tamp down her lofty expectations out of concern that failing to achieve it might crush her spirits. But she was determined to get that score, studying hard during class and afterward.<\/p>\n

There is the potential for Soldiers to do worse when they take the test. Best said unfortunately in those rare situations, the Soldier\u2019s new results stand until they are able to retake the test again.<\/p>\n

For that reason, as well as to improve Soldiers\u2019 career opportunities, Fort Knox reestablished BSEP in November 2022.<\/p>\n

Best said she had taught Soldiers for years and returned when BSEP was brought back to Fort Knox. Since coming on board, students\u2019 test scores have improved 23 points on average \u2014 from 98 to 123:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had excellent success in the program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before Hackley\u2019s test results, the highest score Best had witnessed was a 137. Rella Braxton, Fort Knox education services officer, said she attributes at least some of students\u2019 successes to Best\u2019s abilities as a teacher.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing to have Ms. Best in that position and see how the Soldiers are excelling,\u201d said Braxton. \u201cThey\u2019re exceeding their expected GT scores, and then some. I want to take her class.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Command Sgt. Maj. Sherman Waters Jr. (right), senior enlisted leader of Fort Knox Garrison, stands with Sgt. 1st Class Ashley Hackley (third from right), HHC, ARAC, and members of her class during their plaque presentation ceremony at the Fort Knox Education Center April 14, 2023. According to Army officials, Hackley is the first Soldier ever to earn a perfect score on the AFCT.
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Best said when she first met Hackley, she knew Hackley would improve her scores.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I give them their first vocabulary test, I can tell who reads a lot and who doesn\u2019t,\u201d said Best. \u201cWhen I was handing back the first paper, I said [to Hackley], \u2018You read a lot, don\u2019t you?\u2019 and she said, \u2018Yes, I do.\u2019 That has a huge impact obviously on vocabulary and paragraphs.<\/p>\n

\u201cHer math was not that far off either, so it\u2019s not that I taught her anything. I just reminded her of stuff she had learned in the past and had filed away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hackley has become Best\u2019s newest success story. Best has also become a part of that story, with Hackley saying she has no desire sit still now that she has accomplished what Best and others note as the unthinkable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey did say that I could reclass to any [Military Occupational Specialty] I wanted now,\u201d said Hackley. \u201cAnd I may. I just don\u2019t know what that is yet. I do want to stay in AGR, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

While a world of opportunities has opened up to her, Hackley said she\u2019s still focused on what matters most.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am recommending to Soldiers here that they take the BSEP and AFCT,\u201d said Hackley. \u201cGo do it, not just to help yourself but everybody around you. And I now tell NCOs that we need to change our mindset about helping Soldiers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot help our Soldiers improve if we\u2019re not also helping ourselves improve; they\u2019re looking up to us.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FORT KNOX, Ky. \u2014 What\u2019s higher than a 144 GT score on the Armed Forces Classification Test? In March, trainers at the Fort Knox Education Center and Basic Skills Education Program asked this question of Army Personnel Testing officials at Army University. The answer they got back: \u201cNothing. 144 is the highest possible score.\u201d Sergeant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5290,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5288"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5296,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5288\/revisions\/5296"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}