The Army Fitness Test: All Five Events and What Each One Measures
The Army retired the ACFT on 1 June 2025. Army Directive 2025-06 replaced it with the Army Fitness Test, which is the same idea with one event removed and a second, harder standard bolted on for combat specialties. If you trained for six events, you trained for one too many.
What changed on 1 June 2025
The standing power throw is gone. It was the ten-pound medicine ball thrown backward overhead, and technique moved the score on it more than fitness did, which is the reason usually given for cutting it. Five events remain, with the run still coming last.
The other change is the scoring. The AFT carries two standards. The general standard is normed by age and sex and asks for 60 points on every event. The combat standard is sex-neutral, still normed by age, and asks for 60 points on every event plus a total of 350. A soldier under the combat standard is scored against the male column of the same table regardless of sex.
The combat standard applies to 21 specialties: 11A, 11B, 11C, 11Z, 12A, 12B, 13A, 13F, 18A, 180A, 18B, 18C, 18D, 18E, 18F, 18Z, 19A, 19C, 19D, 19K and 19Z. Infantry, combat engineers, field artillery, Special Forces and armor. It carries no adverse consequence before 1 January 2026 for the active component or 1 June 2026 for the reserve component and the Guard.
The five events
Three-repetition maximum deadlift. A hex bar, three reps, heaviest load completed. A test of the posterior chain under load, and the event that most rewards specific training. A 17-21 male needs 150 pounds to pass and 340 to max; a female of the same age needs 120 to pass and 220 to max. If you never deadlift outside the test, this is where you leave the most points.
Hand-release push-up. Push-ups where the hands leave the ground at the bottom, so nothing is bounced or partially completed. Muscular endurance with the cheating removed. Pass at 17-21 is 15 reps for men and 11 for women, with maximums of 58 and 53 reps. That gap between the floor and the ceiling is the widest on the test in percentage terms, which makes it the cheapest place for you to buy points.
Sprint-drag-carry. Five fifty-metre shuttles: sprint, sled drag, lateral, carry, sprint. The anaerobic event, and the one most likely to surprise an otherwise fit soldier, because it sits in an energy system distance running does not train. A 17-21 male passes at 2:28 and maxes at 1:29.
Plank. A timed isometric hold. It replaced the leg tuck, which quietly tested grip strength and body weight alongside the trunk. The plank is the one event with identical requirements for men and women at every age: 1:30 to pass at 17-21, falling to 1:10 from age 37 onward, and 3:40 for a hundred points.
Two-mile run. Aerobic capacity, run last, on legs the other four events have already used. 19:57 to pass and 13:22 to max for a 17-21 male; 22:55 and 16:00 for a female of the same age.
Where the points land
Every event has a floor at 60 points, and falling below it fails the test no matter what the total says. Max four events, score 59 on the fifth, and you have failed. Work out your own numbers on the Army Fitness Test calculator, which carries the full scoring scales for all ten age groups.
The practical consequence is that training should go to your worst event. Most people do the opposite, because the deadlift is more enjoyable than the two-mile run when you are bad at the two-mile run. Under the combat standard the maths changes again: 350 points across five events averages 70, so passing every event at the floor leaves you short and you need a surplus from somewhere.
Requirements ease with age. The easing is lopsided. The deadlift pass drops once, from 150 to 140 at age 32, then holds flat for thirty years. The run gives up nearly four minutes over the same span. If you are over 40 and choosing where to spend limited training time, the run is where the standard has moved toward you least.
Body composition is a separate assessment
The fitness test and the body composition assessment are different processes with different standards. Since July 2026 the body composition side is a single ratio, waist divided by height, with the line at 0.55. The Army body composition calculator covers it, and the article on what replaced the height and weight tables explains the change.
The two still interact. Energy balance moves your waist and training volume does not, so a hard block improves your score long before it touches your tape. The calorie calculator will size the deficit, and losing fat without losing performance is the harder part when a test is already on the calendar.
Common questions
Is the ACFT still a thing?
No. Army Directive 2025-06 replaced it with the Army Fitness Test on 1 June 2025. People still say ACFT, and the Army’s own scoring scales are widely searched under that name, but the test in use has five events and two standards.
How many events does the AFT have?
Five. Deadlift, hand-release push-up, sprint-drag-carry, plank and two-mile run. The standing power throw was the sixth and it was removed.
What is the difference between the general and combat standards?
The general standard is normed by age and sex and requires 60 points on each of the five events. The combat standard is sex-neutral, normed by age only, and requires 60 points on each event plus 350 points overall. Combat-standard soldiers are scored against the male column.
Which MOSs have to meet the combat standard?
Twenty-one: 11A, 11B, 11C, 11Z, 12A, 12B, 13A, 13F, 18A, 180A, 18B, 18C, 18D, 18E, 18F, 18Z, 19A, 19C, 19D, 19K and 19Z.
Can you fail the AFT with a passing total?
Yes. Each event has its own 60-point floor, so one event below 60 fails you regardless of what your total says.
How often do you take it?
Active component soldiers take two record tests per calendar year, at least four months apart. Reserve and Guard soldiers take one, and if a second is ordered it comes at least eight months later. A failed test is retaken within 90 days for the active component and 180 days for the reserve component.
Check the current publication
The five events and the scoring on this page come from the AFT scoring scales approved 15 May 2025 and effective 1 June 2025, and from Army Directive 2025-06. Standards move. Pull the current publication before you plan a training block around a target score.
Scope note, 2 October 2026: This guide provides general adult education and has not had independent clinical review. The figures it gives are estimates, not measurements. See the editorial policy and medical disclaimer.