The Army's Fitness Standards May Shift in 2025. But How Much Tougher Will They Be?

The Army is poised to recalibrate its fitness standards, redefining the physical expectations for combat-arms roles in 2025. Yet, where those minimum requirements will ultimately land remains an open question — one that could present an early test for President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming Army leadership. The proposed changes stem from a congressionally mandated study conducted […]
Army Says Soldiers Are Getting New Fitness Uniforms, But Details Are Scant

It’s a mistress the Army can’t keep itself from continually returning to: uniform changes. Sergeant Major of the Army Michael Weimer, the service’s top enlisted leader, on Tuesday announced new physical training uniforms will be issued to troops in roughly a year. But the announcement at the Association of the United States Army, or AUSA, […]
Army Quickly Expanding Holistic Health and Fitness Teams Following Promising Early Results

The Army is fast-tracking the expansion of its Holistic Health and Fitness, or H2F, program as early results show soldiers in brigades recover faster, shoot better and have higher performance on critical fitness tests with the assistance. The service began fielding roughly 20-person H2F teams to brigades in 2021, providing 28 brigades with coaches and […]
Congress Tells Army to Set Higher Fitness Standards for Combat Arms Soldiers

Congress is set to direct the Army to boost fitness standards for most combat-arms jobs through a compromise defense policy bill unveiled Wednesday. The must-pass National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which sets funding and policy priorities for the Pentagon, directs the service to increase the baseline standards in the Army Combat Fitness Test, or […]
Secretary Wormuth Wants the Army Combat Fitness Test to Stay as Congress Debates Its Fate

As the Army tangles with Congress over the fate of the Army Combat Fitness Test, or ACFT, the service’s top civilian leader says it needs to stay. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth took a stand for the test in an exclusive interview with Military.com on Wednesday at the annual Association of the United States Army conference […]
One Soldier Dead, Another Hospitalized Amid Outdoor Fitness Tests in Mississippi Heat Wave

The death of a soldier and the hospitalization of another last week at Camp Shelby, an Army base in Mississippi, may have been caused by a combination of hot weather and the service’s fitness test, as record-breaking heat waves torch much of the U.S. A junior enlisted Illinois National Guardsman died Friday at the base […]
Debate on Army Fitness Test Takes New Turn with Chief Nominee Testimony

The nominee for Army chief of staff told lawmakers Wednesday that he wants tougher and gender-neutral physical fitness standards, as the service and Congress remain locked in a years-long tug of war over how to measure athletic ability. Gen. Randy George, an infantry officer, testified on fitness standards as part of his confirmation hearing before […]
Senate Plan Would Force the Army to Revert to Old Fitness Test But Would Allow New Events

A controversial proposal that would force the Army to return to its old, and what service leadership argue is inferior, fitness test would allow for some changes, including swapping out events, according to legislative language released Tuesday. The Senate Armed Services Committee unveiled the specifics of its proposed National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which […]
Gender Neutral Standards, Return to Old Fitness Test: Congress’ Dueling Ideas for the Army

Both chambers of Congress have competing ideas to reinvent the Army’s new fitness test, an ongoing effort by legislators to alter fitness standards for the service that only last year received their first major update in decades. As part of the draft of the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which directs policy and […]