Here are the Army’s new ‘sex-neutral’ fitness standards
Active duty female soldiers in combat roles will be required to run up to three minutes faster than they previously had to in the annual fitness test.
Patty Nieberg
Published May 2, 2025 6:19 PM EDT
Twenty Army National Guardsmen from eight states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands took part in the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) during the Region III phase of the Best Warrior Competition (BWC), held April 21, 2025, at the South Carolina National Guard’s McCrady Training Center in Columbia, South Carolina. Hosted by the South Carolina National Guard from April 21–26, the Region III BWC 2025 is open to all enlisted National Guard Soldiers. Competitors advanced through their state to the regional competition, facing demanding military challenges designed to test their combat skills and doctrinal knowledge. On the opening day of the competition, Soldiers from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, and U.S. Virgin Islands completed the ACFT before moving on to knowledge boards, written essays, and public affairs interviews. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Sgt. Duran Jones)
The Army released its new scoring tables for the "sex neutral" fitness test. Army photo by Sgt. Duran Jones.
All soldiers can expect to do more push-ups, and women in combat jobs will have to pick up the pace in a two-mile run as much as three minutes faster, under the Army’s new fitness requirements.
“There are a couple of age brackets where your minimum run time, you might have to run about 30 seconds faster in order to pass. There are a couple of areas where you’ve got to do more hand-release push-ups,” Command Sgt. Major Stephanie Carl told Task & Purpose.
The Army released new score cards Friday that lay out the requirements of the new ‘sex-neutral’ standards announced last month. The cards cover mandatory performance for all five events of the new Army Fitness test under two categories: one labeled “M/C” for male and all combat soldier,s and another as “F” for female, which is for non-combat female soldiers.
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-fitness-test-scoring-tables/?mc_cid=8922a32c49
