Army Body Composition Calculator (Waist-to-Height Ratio)

Check the body composition standard that replaced the Army height and weight tables and the tape test on July 1, 2026. Under Army Directive 2026-13 the only measurement is your waist at the navel divided by your height, both in inches, truncated to three decimals: below 0.55 passes, 0.55 or higher fails.

Waist-to-Height Ratio Calculator

Height

Measured without shoes, standing straight, chin parallel to the floor. Half inches are fine (e.g. 9.5).

Waist at the navel

Tape level with the floor across the belly button, snug but not compressing the skin, at the end of a normal exhale.

Waist-to-height ratio
0.492
Standard: below 0.55 (truncated to 3 decimals)
PASS

Margin: 3.9 in of waist

At 69.0 in tall, any waist under 37.95 in passes.

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Waist-to-height ratio
0.492 / limit 0.55
PASS
Margin: 3.9 in of waist

The 2026 standard in one line

WHtR = waist at the navel (in) ÷ height (in), kept to three decimals, must be below 0.55.

  • One rule for everyone. No age groups, no male and female columns, no body fat percentage. The same 0.55 line applies to every Soldier, cadet and recruit.
  • Truncated, not rounded. Digits after the third decimal are dropped: 0.549 passes, 0.550 fails.
  • Twice a year, minimum. Commanders may order a measurement at any time, but must leave at least seven days between an AFT or CFT and the WHtR screening.
  • No exemptions for fitness scores. The 465-point AFT exemption is rescinded.
  • Recorded on DA Form 5500 and in ATIS. DA Form 5501 (the old body fat worksheet) is rescinded.

How to measure yourself the way the unit will

  1. Height. Stand in socks on a flat floor in the PT uniform, heels together, body straight but relaxed, chin parallel to the floor. Have someone read the height in inches. Half inches count: 5 ft 9.5 in is 69.5 in, not 70.
  2. Find the navel. The tape goes around the abdomen at the level of the belly button, not at the narrowest point of the waist and not at the hips.
  3. Tape position. Keep the tape level with the floor all the way round and flat against the skin, snug but not pressing into it. Arms at the sides, no sucking in.
  4. Read at the end of a normal exhale. Take the reading in inches and enter it above with your height. The calculator divides, truncates to three decimals and compares with 0.55.

The directive and the Army FAQ do not publish a rounding rule for the tape and height readings themselves (the old AR 600-9 tape test rounded abdomen readings down to the nearest half inch). Enter whatever the measuring team records. Because the ratio is truncated, a slightly generous tape reading never helps you and a slightly tight one never hurts you by more than the third decimal.

What happens after the measurement

Below 0.55
Meets the standard

Recorded on DA Form 5500 and in ATIS. Nothing else happens until the next screening, at least twice a year.

0.55 or higher, first reading
Same-day confirmation

A different team re-measures you on the same duty day. No tape test, scan or body fat method can be used to challenge the result.

0.55 or higher, confirmed
Flag and ABCP

Flag code K and enrollment in the Army Body Composition Program until you measure below 0.55. The monthly progress rules are gone; you leave the program as soon as you pass.

Active-duty and AGR Soldiers get a commander-directed medical exam after enrollment; Guard and Reserve Soldiers may request one. Units may start separation paperwork for a flagged Soldier, but nobody is separated for WHtR until HQDA completes its 180-day assessment of the standard and issues further guidance. Medical exemptions for pregnant and postpartum Soldiers remain in effect.

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Legacy height and weight screening table

No longer in force. Army Directive 2026-13 discontinued the height and weight screening tables on July 1, 2026. This copy of AR 600-9 Table B-1 (2019 edition; the same table was numbered 3-1 in the 2013 edition) is kept for reference only: it tells you what the old screen would have said, not whether you meet the current standard.

Army body composition FAQ

Sources

Where the sources differ: the Army FAQ refers to the directive as "Army Directive 2026-06" and gives July 7, 2026 as the effective date; the signed memorandum and the Army Publishing Directorate call it Army Directive 2026-13, dated July 1, 2026 and effective immediately. This page follows the published directive. The truncation rule and the navel measurement site come from the FAQ and the army.mil announcement; the directive itself states only the ratio and the 0.55 limit. Updated 2026-10-19. This is not official Army guidance; your unit's measurement controls.

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