Army Physical Fitness Standards: AFT Scoring, Tape Test, and Failure

Army physical fitness standards are set by the Army Fitness Test (AFT), which replaced the ACFT on June 1, 2025, along with the Army Body Composition Program under AR 600-9 and, for combat specialties, an annual Combat Field Test (CFT) beginning in 2026. Every soldier needs at least 60 points on each of the five AFT events to pass. The total minimum is 350 points for combat roles and 300 for everyone else. You also have to stay within body fat limits that vary by age and sex, and combat soldiers face a separate 30-minute field test on top of the AFT.

The Five AFT Events

The AFT is performed in a fixed sequence and tests five areas of physical fitness.

The Three-Repetition Maximum Deadlift opens the test. You lift a loaded hex bar from the ground to a standing position three times, keeping your back straight and lowering under control. Dropping the bar is not allowed. The weight you successfully lift sets your score.

The Hand-Release Push-Up is a two-minute upper-body event. You lower yourself all the way to the ground, extend your arms briefly to break contact, and push back up. That hand release forces a full range of motion on every rep. Your score is the total number of correct reps in two minutes.¹

The Sprint-Drag-Carry is five 50-meter shuttles performed back-to-back: a sprint, a 90-pound sled drag, a lateral shuffle, a carry with two 40-pound kettlebells, and a final sprint. Each shuttle covers 25 meters out and 25 meters back.¹

The Plank measures core stability. You hold a rigid position on your forearms and toes, keeping a straight line from head to heels, for as long as possible. Any sagging or piking ends the attempt.

The Two-Mile Run closes the test on a generally flat outdoor course. Your finishing time determines your score.¹

Passing Scores and How They Vary by MOS

You need at least 60 points on every event. The total minimum and the scoring table used depend on your Military Occupational Specialty.²

Combat specialties: sex-neutral, age-normed scoring. Minimum total of 350 points.
All other specialties: sex-normed and age-normed scoring. Minimum total of 300 points.

Sex-neutral means combat-role standards are identical for men and women of the same age. Non-combat scoring keeps the 60-point-per-event floor but scales raw performance by both age and sex.³

Falling below 60 on any single event is an overall failure, no matter how strong your other scores are. Scoring well above the minimums matters too, because AFT scores appear on evaluation reports and factor into promotion boards, school selections, and assignments.

The Combat Field Test

Starting in 2026, soldiers in any of 24 designated combat occupational specialties must also pass a CFT once a year. The CFT does not replace the AFT. Active-duty combat soldiers take both annually, with at least four months between them. Reserve Component combat soldiers alternate between the AFT and CFT each year.⁴

The CFT is a seven-event sequence performed continuously in Army Combat Uniform and combat boots, scored on total completion time. You have to finish in 30 minutes or less. The standard is the same for every soldier regardless of age or sex. The events, in order:

One-mile run
30 dead-stop push-ups
100-meter sprint
Sandbag lifts: 16 lifts of a 40-pound sandbag onto a platform roughly 65 inches high
Water can carry: 50-meter carry of two 40-pound water cans
Movement drill: 25-meter high crawl followed by a 25-meter rush using 3-to-5-second bounds
Final one-mile run

The Army built in a 365-day diagnostic period after the April 2026 directive during which no adverse administrative action follows a CFT failure. During that window, a soldier who cannot meet the standard may request voluntary reclassification to a non-combat specialty.⁴

Body Composition and Weight Standards

Fitness performance is only half of the picture. Every soldier must also meet the body composition rules in Army Regulation 600-9. It starts with a height-and-weight screening. If you are inside the allowable weight range for your height, you are done. If you exceed it, you go to the tape test.

The Single-Site Tape Test

The Army now uses one measurement: a tape around the abdomen at the navel. This replaced the older multi-site method that measured neck and waist for men and neck, waist, and hips for women. The multi-site method is no longer authorized.⁵

Maximum body fat percentages under AR 600-9:⁶

Ages 17–20: 20 percent for men, 30 percent for women
Ages 21–27: 22 percent for men, 32 percent for women
Ages 28–39: 24 percent for men, 34 percent for women
Ages 40 and older: 26 percent for men, 36 percent for women

The 465-Point Exemption

Score 465 or higher on the AFT with at least 80 points on every event and you are exempt from the tape test entirely. Height and weight are still screened, but the body fat measurement is skipped even if you are over the weight limit. The exemption runs until your next record test, up to eight months for active duty and twelve months for Reserve and National Guard. No alternate events count toward the 465 threshold.⁷

Supplemental Assessments

Fail both the initial tape and a follow-up confirmation tape and you can request a supplemental assessment using a DXA scan, an InBody 770 bioelectrical impedance device, or a BOD POD. The request has to be made when your commander counsels you on the failure. You get one supplemental assessment per failed tape test, performed no earlier than 24 hours after the failure at a government or university facility. You do not choose the machine.⁸

If the supplemental result is within standards, the flag comes off and you are not enrolled in the body composition program. If it confirms you are over the limit, or you decline the assessment, you enter the Army Body Composition Program.

How Often You Test

Active-duty soldiers take two record AFTs each calendar year, with at least four months between them. Reserve and National Guard soldiers take one record AFT annually, with at least eight months between record attempts. Active-duty soldiers in combat specialties add one annual CFT on top of the two AFTs.⁹

Body composition screenings usually happen alongside the fitness test, but a commander can order a height-and-weight check at any time. Only record test results carry administrative weight. Diagnostic results cannot be entered on evaluation reports and exist purely as practice.

What Failure Costs You

Flags and Evaluation Reports

Your record AFT status appears on every Officer Evaluation Report and Noncommissioned Officer Evaluation Report. Raters enter one of four statuses: PASS, FAIL, PROFILE, or NO ACFT. Including the numerical score is optional, but a FAIL requires the rater to explain the circumstances and describe your progress. For officers, a FAIL triggers a referred report.¹⁰

Failing a record AFT or exceeding body fat standards places a flag (DA Form 268) on your personnel file. While flagged you cannot be promoted, attend military or civilian schools through tuition assistance, receive awards, reenlist, or assume a command position, and you are ineligible for enlistment or reenlistment bonuses. The flag stays until you pass a record test or meet body composition standards.¹¹

Separation for AFT and CFT Failure

Two consecutive CFT failures in a combat specialty, or a permanent profile that prevents you from testing combined with a denied waiver, puts you on the path to involuntary separation. Enlisted soldiers are processed under AR 635-200 (active duty) or AR 135-178 (Reserve Component). Officers face elimination under AR 600-8-24 or AR 135-175. Reclassification to a non-combat specialty is offered first when the soldier is eligible.¹²

Full administrative action for CFT failure begins 365 days after the April 2026 directive. Nobody is separated for CFT failure alone during that transition year.

Body Composition Program Failure

Soldiers enrolled in the Army Body Composition Program are expected to lose at least 3 to 8 pounds or 1 percent body fat per month. You are considered failing the program if you miss that target on two consecutive monthly assessments, or if you are still over the standard after six months and missed the target on three or more assessments total. Program failure leads to separation proceedings, a bar to continued service, or involuntary transfer to the Individual Ready Reserve for Reserve Component soldiers.⁶

If you pass the program and are later released, but exceed body fat standards again within 12 to 36 months, you are re-enrolled with only 90 days to meet standards. Failing at the 90-day mark triggers separation action immediately.

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