Pentagon codifies new fitness standards with male-only benchmarks for combat arms

The Pentagon has codified sweeping changes to military fitness requirements, some of which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered last fall. The new regulations, published August 31, outline testing timelines, standards for troops in combat arms specialties, guidelines for pregnancy and postpartum fitness, and establish tracking mechanisms for testing results across the services.

The policy incorporates directives issued throughout 2025 into a unified set of standards. Among the key provisions:

• Commanders must allow time for physical fitness every duty day.
• Troops in jobs designated as "combat arms" must be held to male fitness standards on regular fitness tests.

Many changes are already underway across the services. In March 2025, Hegseth ordered the services to identify their combat-arms specialties and develop sex-neutral, mission-related physical standards.

Hegseth has criticized "fat troops" and "fat generals," and pledged to return combat arms jobs to "the highest male standard only."

The changes have unfolded alongside a Pentagon review of women in front-line jobs. In December, the Pentagon’s personnel chief, Anthony Tata, announced a study on the effectiveness of integrating ground combat units, prompting concerns among some that it could be used to justify restricting women from combat roles.

Critics have questioned the study’s independence after it was transferred from the Institute for Defense Analyses to Johns Hopkins’ Applied Physics Laboratory and placed under a researcher involved in a controversial 2015 study that Hegseth has cited to argue against women serving in combat jobs.

The new document replaces the Pentagon’s 2022 fitness policy.

Fitness Tests

• Active-duty troops are required to take two fitness tests per year.
• National Guard and Reserve members will take one test per year.
• Active-duty service members will take their service’s regular fitness test and a second assessment aimed at measuring combat readiness.
• Troops in designated combat arms jobs must take a Combat Field Test (CFT).
• Troops outside combat arms specialties will take a Combat Readiness Test (CRT).
• Services may use a regular fitness test in place of a CRT.

The regulations identify more than 80 occupations as combat arms across the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force, including infantry, armor, artillery, some engineering jobs, and special forces roles. No Space Force jobs are listed.

• Combat arms troops will be held to male-based standards on their regular service tests and must score an average of 70% across events.
• Troops in non-combat roles will have sex- and age-based scoring.
• Each service is responsible for developing its own CFTs that adhere to Pentagon standards.

Body Composition

• Active-duty troops will undergo body composition testing twice annually.
• National Guard and Reserve members will be tested once per year.
• All service members must meet a waist-to-height ratio of less than 0.55, calculated by dividing waist circumference by height.
• Troops who exceed that standard will be subject to a service-specific body fat assessment.
• Those who fail the assessment will be enrolled in a remedial program to meet benchmarks.
• Branches may set stricter requirements.

The body composition policy also provides a minimum 12-month exemption from fitness and body composition testing after childbirth, miscarriage, or stillbirth. Postpartum troops may be granted additional time exemptions based on healthcare provider input.

Accountability and Tracking

The policy makes commanders responsible for giving troops time to stay fit. Leadership "will allow such members to perform physical fitness training every duty day," the regulation states, except when mission requirements dictate otherwise.

Starting June 1, 2027, each service must submit a report on its fitness and body composition programs to the Pentagon, with data enabling officials to analyze results based on sex, age, race, ethnicity, rank, and military occupation.