[jyl]

Come to think of it, do you recall that for a period there, the Army was falling short of its recruitment goals? The combination of a good economy and an active war. That period happens to fall right in the years examined in the study.

You'd want to look at the test data for graduates applying for the Navy and Air Force. And the test data during each year. And to look at the test data prior to 2004, not just the short (5-year) period from 2004-2009. As far as I can tell, this study didn't do that. Which says something about how rigorous a study it really was.