Army Revamps Fitness Test: Medicine Ball Toss Removed, Combat Arms Standards Increased
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Army to Overhaul Fitness Test, Drop Controversial Event
The Army is preparing a major overhaul of its fitness assessment, according to an internal memo obtained by Military.com. Changes include rebranding the test, eliminating a widely criticized event, and introducing new standards for soldiers in combat roles.
The "Army Combat Fitness Test" will be renamed the "Army Fitness Test" (AFT). The memo did not explain why the word "combat" was dropped.
One of the most notable changes is the removal of the Standing Power Throw, which required soldiers to toss a 10-pound medicine ball backward over their heads. The event was often mocked as being overly dependent on height and technique rather than strength or endurance. A RAND Corporation study supported this criticism.
The updated AFT will be implemented across active duty, Army Reserve, and National Guard units starting in June. All other events in the current test will remain.
Originally introduced in 2022 after years of development, the test was generally seen as a solid measure of overall fitness despite early skepticism.
The revised version will implement gender-neutral scoring for combat-designated jobs such as infantry, armor, artillery, cavalry, and Special Forces. These soldiers must score at least 60 points per event, with a total minimum of 350. The current test allows for a maximum of 600 points, which may be reduced to 500 due to the event removal.
It’s unclear how this change will affect the Army’s policy allowing those who score 540 or higher to skip body composition measurements.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, a vocal advocate for uniform standards, has pushed for gender-neutral requirements across all branches. In March, he said on social media, “We need to have the same standard, male or female, in our combat roles.”
The memo notably omits cannon crew members and combat medics from its list of combat roles. It’s unclear whether that was intentional or a clerical error.
The Army has not commented on whether it will revise its current scoring tables. While the baseline passing standard remains low—e.g., two miles in 22 minutes or 10 hand-release push-ups—achieving top scores still requires elite-level fitness.
Soldiers in combat roles who are injured but cleared for partial testing must score at least 70 points on each event they complete. How those scores will be calculated remains to be seen.
The ACFT was initially designed as a job-specific test but later shifted to a general fitness assessment when aligning standards to specific roles proved too complex. Gender-neutral benchmarks were also dropped in the process, a move that frustrated some Army leaders.
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