Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT) Vocabulary Review

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the AFOQT Form T subtests, composite scores, testing components, and science/aviation terminology.

Air Force Officer Qualifying Test (AFOQT)

A test measuring aptitudes used to select candidates for officer commissioning programs and specific commissioned officer training programs, consisting of 12 subtests.

Form T

The version of the AFOQT effective August 1, 2014, which introduced updated questions, Reading Comprehension, and Situational Judgment subtests.

Professional Military Education (PME)

The source of written materials used for the Reading Comprehension subtest to simulate the types of texts required for officers.

Pilot Composite

A score measuring quantitative ability, perceptual speed, aeronautical concepts, and the ability to determine aircraft attitude, used for manned and unmanned pilot training selection.

Pilot Candidate Selection Method (PCSM) score

An overall score determined by combining the AFOQT Pilot composite, the Test of Basic Aviation Skills (TBAS), and flying hours.

Combat Systems Officer (CSO)

A composite previously called Navigator-Technical that measures knowledge and abilities necessary for CSO training, excluding aircraft attitude and aeronautical concepts.

Air Battle Manager (ABM)

A composite measuring aircraft attitude, aeronautical concepts, perceptual speed, quantitative ability, verbal aptitude, and spatial ability for ABM training.

Academic Aptitude

A composite combining all subtests from the Verbal and Quantitative categories to measure general verbal and quantitative knowledge.

Verbal Composite

Measures the ability to reason, make inferences, and recognize relationships among words through subtests like Verbal Analogies and Word Knowledge.

Quantitative Composite

Measures the ability to understand arithmetic relationships and use mathematical terms, formulas, and relationships.

Situational Judgment

A composite measuring decision-making in interpersonal situations often encountered by junior USAF officers (O1-O3), based on core competencies like Integrity and Professionalism.

Self-Description Inventory

A 240-item inventory used to record personal style and attitudes, where there are no right or wrong answers.

Physical Science

An updated subtest (formerly General Science) focusing on the physical sciences like physics and astronomy.

Surface Tension

The physical property that allows a razor blade to rest on the surface of water in a shallow depression caused by its weight.

Refraction

The scientific term for the bending of light as it passes from one material into another.

Resistance

The tendency for a material to oppose the flow of electrons, measured in units called $ohms$.

Lunar Eclipse

A celestial event that takes place only when the Earth is positioned between the sun and the moon.

Table Reading

A subtest measuring the ability to find numbers at the intersection of X (column) and Y (row) values quickly and accurately.

Artificial Horizon

A flight instrument containing a stationary indicator representing the airplane, a horizon line, and a white pointer showing the degree of bank.

Horizon Line

The heavy black line on an Artificial Horizon dial that tilts as the airplane is banked; the airplane indicator sits on it if the flight is level.

Compass

An instrument dial used in the Instrument Comprehension subtest to show the compass direction (e.g., North, Southeast) the airplane is headed.

Block Counting

A subtest measuring the ability to determine how many other blocks a specific numbered block touches by its faces in a 3D pile.

Thrust

The force that opposes the rearward retarding force of airplane drag.

Cowling

The aeronautical component located around the engine of an aircraft.

Ammeter

A device that indicates whether the generator or alternator output is adequate; a minus value suggests inadequate output.

Angle of Attack

The angle formed by the chord of an airfoil and the direction of the relative wind.

Pathogen

A manmade or natural agent, such as the bacteria causing the Black Death, capable of devastating mankind through a pandemic.

Virulence

The degree of lethality or harmfulness of a disease, which may be increased in genetically engineered pathogens.

Joint Force

The military entity that might conduct relief operations in support of civil authorities during a widespread pandemic.