• The US Army is replacing the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) with the Army Fitness Test (AFT), implementing gender-neutral standards.
• The new fitness test will apply to 21 combat military occupational specialties (MOS) and starts phased implementation in June 2025.
• Key changes include retaining five events while eliminating the controversial standing power throw.
• Female soldiers will now be required to meet the same scoring standards as male soldiers in combat roles.
• Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has emphasized the need for uniform standards across genders in combat fitness.

The U.S. Army has announced a significant overhaul of its physical fitness assessment, replacing the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) with a new Army Fitness Test (AFT) set to begin phased implementation on June 1, 2025. This redesigned test drops the word "combat" from its name, eliminates the widely criticized standing power throw event, and aims to enhance warfighting readiness by introducing gender-neutral standards for soldiers in combat roles. The AFT retains five events from the previous test—namely, the three-repetition maximum deadlift, hand-release push-ups, sprint-drag-carry, plank, and two-mile run, according to Indiatimes, Newsweek, and The Hill.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been outspoken in supporting uniform standards across genders, stating that "no standard will be lowered" and that all soldiers in the specified combat military occupational specialties (MOS)—which include infantry and Special Forces—must attain at least 60 points in each event, leading to a total score minimum of 350. The AFT will introduce sex-neutral but age-normed standards, thereby removing previously differing benchmarks for male and female soldiers, according to Indiatimes and Newsweek.

The updated AFT is designed to create a "physically ready force capable of meeting operational demands in austere environments," and specifies that female soldiers in combat roles will now be required to meet the same scoring standards previously reserved for their male counterparts. For instance, women aged 17 to 21 will see their deadlift requirement increase to 140 pounds from 120 pounds under the previous standards, and they must now complete the two-mile run in 22 minutes rather than the prior 23 minutes and 22 seconds. The Army aims to bolster soldier fitness and combat readiness through these changes, as highlighted in announcements made by Indiatimes and The Hill.

The phased rollout aims to implement these changes for active-duty soldiers by January 1, 2026, and for Reserve and National Guard members by June 1, 2026. The decision reflects an effort to address past criticisms regarding perceived lowering of standards to accommodate diversity initiatives in service roles. Hegseth previously indicated that differing standards for men and women in combat weren't acceptable, and these adjustments are meant to reinforce a high bar for all combat roles, according to The Hill and Newsweek.