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ACFT to AFT: How the Army’s Fitness Test Is Evolving
Written By: Michael Laverriere, MS, CSCS, New Hampshire National Guard, Strength & Conditioning Coach
The Army Fitness Test (AFT) will become the official physical fitness test of record for all Soldiers on June 1, 2025, replacing the Army Combat Fitness Test.
The AFT is designed to increase warfighting readiness, reduce injury risk and enhance the physical performance of the force.
- Combat specialties: Introduces one sex-neutral, age-normed standard that requires a total score of 350, with a minimum of 60 points per event.
- Combat enabling specialties: Maintains sex- and age-normed scoring that requires a total score of 300.
- No administrative action will be taken regarding the AFT until January 1, 2026.
The U.S. Army's recent announcement of the transition from the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) to the Army Fitness Test (AFT) marks a pivotal shift in how Soldier readiness is measured. One of the most notable changes in this new test structure is the removal of the Standing Power Throw.
The new AFT will officially replace the ACFT starting June 1, 2025, with full implementation for all components, including Reserve and National Guard, by mid-2026. The test consists of five events: 3-Rep Max Deadlift, Hand Release Push-Up with Arm Extension, Sprint-Drag-Carry, Front Plank, and 2-Mile Run.
The ball throw, which was part of the ACFT, has been eliminated, largely in response to data from RAND Corporation analysis and internal Army evaluations that indicated a correlation between the SPT and increased risk of overuse injuries.
Previously Observed Trends and Demographics
Initial ACFT data across nearly one million test records revealed disparities in outcomes across demographics:
- Male Soldiers, particularly those in combat MOSs, typically outperformed their female counterparts on the SPT due to upper-body power differences.
- Taller Soldiers and those with longer limbs had a mechanical advantage in the SPT, raising concerns about the fairness of the event.
The RAND study emphasized that while the SPT measured power, its practical training value and transferability to combat tasks were questionable. Additionally, Soldiers who failed the ACFT were 20% more likely to be injured, underscoring the need for a test that balanced performance assessment with injury prevention.
Consequences of Removing a Power Indicator
Power, a key component of combat readiness, now lacks a direct assessment in the AFT. While other events like the Sprint-Drag-Carry and the Deadlift partially engage power systems, they do not isolate or quantify it in the same way the SPT did.
This creates a potential blind spot. A Soldier may meet AFT standards without ever being assessed for true explosive capability. Physical readiness for tasks involving short bursts of high force (e.g., lifting, vaulting, dragging) may be harder to measure with current AFT events.
Anthropometric discrepancies within Army Physical Fitness Standards
Limb Length has been identified as one of the key discrepancies in ball throw performance. With this same logic applied changes should be made for many of the events. While being tall might aid in ball throw performance it does not aid in deadlift performance. The deadlift favors those with a smaller stature and shorter limb length as they have more of a mechanical advantage. A taller individual might have to lift the load twice as far to complete a repetition.
Broader Impact on Combat Readiness
While the AFT is an improvement in accessibility and injury mitigation, the reduction of holistic physical profiling—especially the loss of power testing—may reduce insight into who is physically optimized for combat-specific tasks. There is a risk of narrowing training to meet test standards rather than comprehensive physical development.
The Army’s continued investment in Holistic Health and Fitness programs, as well as evolving governance policies, may help offset these gaps if units remain committed to training beyond the minimum requirements of the AFT.
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