The Army is poised to recalibrate its fitness standards, redefining the physical expectations for combat-arms roles in 2025. Yet, where those minimum requirements will ultimately land remains an open question -- one that could present an early test for President-elect Donald Trump's incoming Army leadership.
The proposed changes stem from a congressionally mandated study conducted by Rand Corp., which examined the performance of 44,000 conventional ground combat soldiers, including infantry and cavalry scouts. The study, released in December, explored the feasibility of raising the minimum passing score for the Army Combat Fitness Test, or ACFT, to 450 points, a substantial increase from the current threshold of 360. The maximum possible score is 600.
However, preliminary results suggest that a 450-point standard, which service officials directed Rand to examine, may be overly ambitious. According to separate internal data obtained by Military.com, the current minimum allows 98% of active-duty male soldiers and 95% of their female counterparts to pass the test. Raising the bar to 450 would cut those rates -- dropping the pass rate to 94% for active-duty men and 90% for women, and below 75% for National Guard soldiers on average, Rand found.
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The study comes after Congress directed the Army in December 2023 to increase the minimum fitness standards for ground combat troops within 18 months, following concern from lawmakers and service leaders.
"I'm a fan of the ACFT. ... I think we'll be able to continue using [it] to change the culture of fitness," Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Weimer told Military.com in an interview last year.
During the early years of the test's development, an alternative approach considered tailoring fitness standards to a soldier's specific occupation. Higher benchmarks would be set for combat roles, while less physically demanding but equally critical positions -- such as cyber warfare -- would have more accessible requirements. The logic was straightforward: Attracting top talent for technical or specialized roles shouldn't be hindered by stringent physical demands irrelevant to the job.
Yet, officials soon discovered the complications inherent in that approach. Soldiers in combat-arms roles were often assigned to non-combat units, and vice versa, creating logistical and fairness challenges that ultimately led the Army to favor a more uniform standard.
Researchers suggested the Army explore a baseline standard of 420 points. While Army officials directed Rand to test out the 450 benchmark, service planners have been mulling a 420 minimum for combat-arms troops for years, according to multiple officials with direct knowledge of the situation.
If the Army went that direction, it could mean soldiers would need to score 70 points on each event.
Right now, the Army scores based on gender and age. The deadlift is the event soldiers have the least difficulty with, according to internal data. Under the current scoring rubric for the two-mile run, by far the most failed event, men aged 17 to 21 pass with a time of no more than 21 minutes and 12 seconds, while women in the same age group are allotted 23 minutes and 7 seconds. The proposed standard would tighten these windows to 18:30 for men and 20:39 for women.
It's unclear where the Army will set the ACFT as the test has effectively been in development for more than a decade, being introduced as the official test in 2022 after delays over the COVID-19 pandemic and skepticism from Congress.
Rand has a significant track record of being influential in how the service has crafted its physical fitness test. Most notably, its 2022 report found the leg tuck was an ineffective measurement of core strength; it was immediately replaced by a graded plank.
Related: How Do You Measure Up? Here's How Soldiers Are Scoring on the Army Combat Fitness Test.
