9.4 Holistic Health and Fitness, the Army Fitness Test, and the Combat Field Test

Holistic Health and Fitness, the Army Fitness Test, and the Combat Field Test

Core Doctrine: The Army Combat Fitness Test is no longer the test of record. On 1 June 2025 the Army Fitness Test (AFT) replaced it. The Standing Power Throw was removed, leaving five events and a 500-point maximum. A candidate who describes a six-event, 600-point test is describing a retired assessment.

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1. Holistic Health and Fitness (FM 7-22)

FM 7-22 establishes the Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) system, which treats the Soldier as a tactical athlete and embeds strength coaches, physical therapists, dietitians, athletic trainers, and cognitive performance specialists into brigade combat teams. H2F is organized around five readiness domains:

1. Physical readiness — muscular strength and endurance, anaerobic power, aerobic endurance, and mobility.
2. Nutritional readiness — the nutrients, macronutrient balance, and hydration needed to fuel performance, resist injury, and recover.
3. Mental readiness — adapting to stress, exercising judgment, and maintaining emotional control under chaos and danger.
4. Spiritual readiness — the personal qualities, moral principles, and core beliefs that sustain a Soldier through adversity.
5. Sleep readiness — managing sleep duration, quality, and circadian alignment. Soldiers require 7 to 9 hours of sleep daily.

ATP 7-22.01 (Holistic Health and Fitness Testing) is the companion publication governing test administration.

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2. The Army Fitness Test

The five events, in order

The Standing Power Throw was deleted in the 2025 transition, over long-running concerns about its relevance and consistency and because Army medical commands identified it as the largest single source of fitness-test musculoskeletal injuries.

Execution notes

• MDL: three continuous repetitions under control with a 60-pound hex bar. One retest at a lower weight is allowed if the Soldier cannot complete three continuous repetitions; the maximum number of attempts is two.
• HRP: as many correct repetitions as possible in a two-minute limit. The Soldier lowers the chest to the ground, extends both arms outward, returns the hands under the shoulders, and pushes back to the front-leaning rest with elbows locked.
• SDC: five 50-meter shuttles over a 25-meter lane — sprint, drag (90-pound sled), lateral, carry (two 40-pound kettlebells), sprint — run for time.
• PLK: forearms and toes, rigid from heels through shoulders, held for time.
• 2MR: two miles on a generally flat outdoor course.

Scoring

• Each event scores 0 to 100 points. The maximum total is 500.
• A Soldier must score at least 60 points on every event. A zero on one event fails the test regardless of the total.

Effective dates for the combat standard: 1 January 2026 for the active component and 1 June 2026 for the Reserve Component and Army National Guard. No administrative action was taken on AFT results before 1 January 2026.

Selected event anchors (ages 17–21)

Because the general standard is age- and sex-normed, the required raw performance changes across the ten age brackets. Do not memorize a single universal table — know the structure, the 60-point-per-event floor, the 300 and 350 totals, and the 500 maximum, and be able to find your own row on the published score tables.

Profiles and alternate events

• Permanent profile: the Soldier takes and passes a record test within the limits of the profile. Under AR 600-8-19, the Soldier is awarded 60 promotion points for each event waived or alternate event passed, and the actual score for events performed.
• Temporary profile: the Soldier uses their most recent record score for promotion points, provided it is not more than one year old (two years for pregnancy and postpartum, with a commander's memorandum extending it before expiration).
• Alternate aerobic events are available for Soldiers whose profile precludes the two-mile run and are graded pass or fail.

Promotion point conversion

AR 600-8-19, Table 3-4 converts the AFT aggregate to promotion points, capped at 120 points for both SGT and SSG: a 500 earns 120, a 450–454 earns 90, a 400–404 earns 60, and a 300–304 earns 1. A Soldier flagged for AFT failure receives no promotion points.

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3. The Combat Field Test (Army Directive 2026-07)

Announced in April 2026, the Combat Field Test (CFT) is a new assessment that complements the AFT for Soldiers in 24 physically demanding specialties.

• Format: a mandatory, pass or fail assessment of seven exercises performed in a continuous, timed sequence, completed in 30 minutes or less.
• Events in sequence: 1-mile run; 30 dead-stop push-ups; 100-meter sprint; 16 forty-pound sandbag lifts onto a 65-inch platform; 50-meter carry of two 5-gallon water cans; a 50-meter movement drill; and a second 1-mile run.
• Uniform: Army Combat Uniform, combat boots, brown T-shirt, and no headgear.
• Frequency: Regular Army, Active Guard Reserve, and Reserve Component Soldiers on active-duty orders for 365 days or more take one CFT and one AFT record test annually. Reserve Component Soldiers not on such orders alternate between the two tests each year.
• Failure: the Soldier is flagged, enrolled in mandatory remedial training, and must retest within 90 days. A one-year transition period ends 17 April 2027, during which no administrative action is taken solely for failing. Repeated failures after that may lead to reclassification into a non-combat specialty or administrative separation.
• Profiles: Soldiers with permanent profiles that prevent participation are ineligible for the CFT and are evaluated for potential reclassification.

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4. What the NCO Owns

• Program, do not just test. H2F gives you strength coaches, dietitians, and physical therapists. Use them before a Soldier fails, not after.
• Protect sleep. Sleep readiness is a doctrinal domain, and a squad leader controls more of a Soldier's sleep than anyone else does.
• Know the calendar. A weapons qualification or AFT score that expires costs your Soldier promotion points automatically, with no notification.
• Verify the record. AFT scores flow to the promotion score through the Digital Training Management System. If the score is not entered, the points do not exist.
• Separate the tests from the body composition assessment. Commanders must allow a minimum of 7 days between the AFT or CFT and the body composition screening.