Six events or five. That is the choice facing every Soldier trying to make sense of the Army's new test. The ACFT built your score on six stations, the Standing Power Throw included. The AFT drops that event and spreads your total across five, which changes more than the scorecard length. It changes how much each rep is worth, how combat MOSs get measured against the rest of the force, and how your Promotion Point Worksheet reads at the board. None of that is obvious at a glance, and getting it wrong costs you points you cannot get back. This breakdown walks through the event-by-event differences, the reasoning behind the cuts, and the execution rules that replaced the old ones, so you know exactly what carried over and what did not before you step onto the field.
The Shift from Six Events to Five
Six events down to five. One test retired, another takes its place. Here is the breakdown on when it happens and why the Army made the call.
Official Implementation Timeline
The Army Fitness Test becomes the official test of record for all Soldiers on June 1, 2025. Mark that date. Until January 1, 2026, no administrative action gets taken against active component Soldiers based on AFT results, meaning no flags for failure during that window. That grace period gives units time to adjust training before scores carry full weight. Five events make up the new test: the 3 Repetition Maximum Deadlift, Hand Release Push-Up, Sprint-Drag-Carry, Plank, and Two-Mile Run. The Standing Power Throw is gone.
The 500 Point Scoring Cap
The old test topped out at 600 points. The new one caps at 500. Each of the five events now has a maximum of 100 points, and the minimum passing score per event sits at 60 points, with 300 points required overall to pass. Removing one event from the scoring pool changes how far a single bad performance can drag down a total score, and it changes how much a strong event can carry a Soldier. If you want to see exactly how the numbers break down by age and sex, the AFT score chart lays out the full scoring tables.
Data Driven Policy Changes
This change was not a guess. The Army reviewed performance data from nearly one million ACFTs before making a decision. RAND conducted independent analysis on top of that data set. The conclusion: the Standing Power Throw carried too much technical risk and injury exposure for the value it added to scoring. Cutting it down to five events is being called a normal evolution of fitness standards, the kind that happens roughly every three to five years. The sex-neutral scoring now built into combat specialty standards adds another layer that makes this more than a simple trim. It is a new test, built on real numbers, not opinion.
Why the Standing Power Throw Was Cut
Soldiers lose one event in the AFT, and that event is the Standing Power Throw. Under the ACFT, the SPT required Soldiers to throw a 10-pound medicine ball backward and overhead for distance, with two attempts allowed, according to Rank and Pay. That event is gone. The reasoning is straightforward: the SPT was removed due to its technical nature and injury risk, and RAND analysis backed that call, according to the official AFT portal.
Injury Risk and Technical Complexity
The Army did not cut the SPT on a whim. The official position states plainly that the throw's technical demands and its injury risk drove the decision, with RAND analysis supporting that conclusion. A backward overhead throw asks a Soldier to generate explosive hip and shoulder power while maintaining balance and coaching cues under fatigue. Get the mechanics wrong, and the risk to the lower back and shoulders goes up. Cutting an event for technical risk is a different call than cutting one for low value, and this distinction matters when comparing the two test designs side by side.
The Power Gap in Scoring
Removing the SPT takes away the one event built specifically around explosive power. The ACFT used six events to cover strength, power, endurance, and aerobic capacity separately. The AFT now covers that ground with five: the Deadlift, Hand Release Push-Up, Sprint-Drag-Carry, Plank, and Two-Mile Run. Soldiers who scored well on the throw because of strong hip drive or athletic background no longer have that event to lean on. The remaining five events still include the Sprint-Drag-Carry, which carries elements of speed and power through its sled and kettlebell work, but there is no longer a standalone test built purely around a single explosive movement.
Focusing on Functional Strength
The five-event lineup leans harder on movements with a direct link to combat tasks. The Deadlift measures lower body, grip, and core strength. The Sprint-Drag-Carry simulates reacting to contact, moving a casualty, and delivering ammunition under fire. The Hand Release Push-Up tests upper body endurance through a full range of motion. None of these events ask for a specialized throwing technique. The result is a battery that trades one isolated power test for a tighter group of functional strength and endurance events, each one tied more directly to carrying load, moving fast, and sustaining effort in the field.
The 21 Combat MOS Standards
Twenty-one combat MOSs face a harder bar than the rest of the force. These roles cover Infantry (11A, 11B, 11C, 11Z), Combat Engineers (12A, 12B), Field Artillery (13A, 13F), Special Forces (18A, 180A, 18B, 18C, 18D, 18E, 18F, 18Z), and Armor/Cavalry (19A, 19C, 19D, 19K, 19Z), according to the official AFT portal. If your MOS code is on that list, the math changes. The standard isn't close to what a soldier in a support role faces. Know your code and know your number.
Sex Neutral Combat Scoring
The Army dropped sex-based scoring for these 21 jobs. Every soldier in an 11B or 18B billet, man or woman, is measured against the same bar. The U.S. Army Fitness Test official portal confirms this standard is sex-neutral and age-normed, built to reflect what combat roles actually demand on the ground. The Army's own announcement backs this up, stating plainly that the combat standard applies equally across the force by age group, not by sex. Compare that to combat-enabling specialties, which stay on a sex- and age-normed scale at a 300-point total. The gap between these two systems is the clearest dividing line in the entire AFT structure.
The 350 Point Minimum Floor
Combat MOS soldiers need a total score of 350, not 300. That's a 50-point gap over the general standard, and it isn't optional. Every event still carries its own 60-point floor, so you can't coast through the Plank to make up ground on the Deadlift. The Army's announcement confirms this exact split: 350 for the 21 combat MOSs, 300 for combat-enabling specialties, both with the same per-event minimum. If you're tracking how your raw scores convert, the promotion points breakdown shows how this total feeds into your packet, separate from the pass/fail line itself.
Reclassification for Standard Failures
Soldiers in combat MOSs who can't hit 350 have a window to fix it. Voluntary reclassification runs from September through December 2025, per the official AFT portal. That's the enlisted path. Officers face a harder deadline: BOLC-B qualified officers, 2LT through CPT, must meet the standard by December 31, 2025, or face involuntary transfer out of the branch. The Reserve and National Guard get more runway, with the Army's announcement setting their compliance date at June 1, 2026, a full six months after the active component deadline of January 1, 2026. Know your deadline. It isn't the same for everyone in the formation.
Mathematical Weighting of the Five Events
Cutting one event out of six did more than shorten the test. It changed the math behind every score you post. Under the old system, six events split the scoring load unevenly, and a weak lift or a slow run got diluted across more categories. Now, with five events, that dilution is gone. Each one of those five events carries a fixed, heavier share of your total number, according to the U.S. Army. That is not a minor detail. It changes how you should think about every rep and every second on the clock.
1. The 20 Percent Rule
Each of the five AFT events accounts for 20 percent of your total 500-point score, per the U.S. Army. That is a fixed rule, not an estimate. Under the six-event ACFT, no single event carried that much weight on its own. Now, the Deadlift, the Hand-Release Push-Up, the Sprint-Drag-Carry, the Plank, and the Two-Mile Run each stand as a fifth of your final number. Treat all five as equally decisive. None of them is a throwaway event anymore.
2. Increased Penalty for Weak Events
A soft score in one event now does more damage to your total. With a 500-point maximum split five ways instead of six, a Soldier who scores low on the Two-Mile Run or any other single event drags a full 20 percent of the scale down with them. There is less room to hide a weakness behind strong performances elsewhere. A minimum passing score of 60 points per event and a 300-point total pass mark, as stated by the U.S. Army, means you cannot afford to treat any one event as optional effort. Every weak link now shows up clearly in your final total.
3. Strategic Training Shifts
Balanced preparation matters more than ever. Since every event is worth the same fixed share of the score, spreading your training time evenly across strength, power, and aerobic capacity makes more sense than overtraining one area at the expense of another. Review your scores event by event and identify the one pulling your average down. Fixing a single lagging event now recovers a full 20 percent of your potential score, a return on effort that did not exist under the old six-event structure. Prioritize consistency across all five categories rather than chasing a high number in just one or two.
Execution Rules for Strength and Power
These three events test raw strength and power output. Each has strict form rules. Judges will not award reps that break standard, so know the mechanics before you step to the platform.
3 Repetition Maximum Deadlift (MDL)
The MDL uses a 60-pound hex bar loaded with plates to your working weight. You get three continuous repetitions with a straight back; no rounding, no bouncing, no pause at the top to reset your grip. Both sources confirm the same 60-pound bar spec, and the official AFT portal is clear: this event measures lower body, grip, and core strength together, not just raw leg drive. Two attempts are allowed, so pick your weight with intent. A missed first attempt costs you time and energy you need for the rest of the test.
Hand Release Push-Up (HRP)
You have two minutes. Full arm extension at the top, chest to the ground, hands lift off into a T position before the next rep. The only authorized rest position is the front leaning rest, per the official AFT portal. Sag your hips or rest on your stomach and the grader will stop counting until you correct it. This is an endurance event disguised as a strength event. Pacing matters more than max effort on rep one. Burn out in thirty seconds and you will watch the clock run out on empty reps. If you want to see how raw rep counts convert to points, check this scoring guide before test day.
Sprint-Drag-Carry (SDC) Mechanics
Five 50-meter shuttles on a 25-meter out-and-back lane. Sprint down, sprint back, drag a 90-pound sled down and back, carry two 40-pound kettlebells down and back, then close with two more sprints. Both sources confirm the same sled and kettlebell weights, so there is no ambiguity in equipment setup regardless of which installation runs your test. Grip strength fails here before legs do. Kettlebells shift with every stride, and a dropped bell means stopping to reset it before you can keep moving. Treat the sled drag as a controlled lean, not a yank, or you waste power fighting the rope instead of your legs.
Core and Aerobic Endurance Standards
The last two events on the scorecard test two different things: how long your core holds up, and how fast your body moves over distance. Both got new rules under the AFT. Know them before you step on the line.
The Plank (PLK) as the Core Standard
The Leg Tuck is gone. The Plank now stands alone as the core-strength event, a change the Army made official in Change 2 to ATP 7-22.01 (August 1, 2022), according to Holistic Health and Fitness Testing. That same change pulled pull-up bars off the required equipment list entirely, since the Plank needs none. Grading is strict but simple, per the Army's official AFT portal: termination happens the moment any part of your body besides feet, forearms, or fists and palms touches the ground. You get one verbal warning to correct your form before the clock keeps running against you. No bar, no grip strength, no guesswork. Just hold the position and watch the clock.
Two-Mile Run (2MR) Requirements
The 2MR closes out the test and it still demands a real track or flat course. Per the Army's official AFT portal, the event must be conducted on a flat course or track and cannot be tested on unimproved terrain. That rule matters for anyone training on trails or uneven ground: those conditions will not count on test day. Find a measured, flat surface and train on it so your pace matches what you will face when it counts.
Alternate Aerobic Events for Profiles
Soldiers carrying a medical profile are not locked out of the aerobic requirement. Holistic Health and Fitness Testing confirms the 2.5-Mile Walk exists as an alternate aerobic event built into the test for Soldiers with medical profiles. It gives a path to complete the aerobic component without forcing an injury into worse shape. Check with your profile paperwork and your grader before test day to confirm which aerobic event applies to you. Showing up without that clarity wastes time you do not have.
Promotion Points and Administrative Impact
Scores do more than tell you pass or fail. They feed directly into your Promotion Point Worksheet. The Army did not change the ceiling when it moved from the ACFT to the AFT. Maximum authorized promotion points remain at 120, per the Army Fitness Test official portal. What changed is the scale behind those points. A 500 point maximum score across five events, instead of six, means every event now carries more weight in the number that converts to your PPW total. Soldiers chasing SGT and SSG boards need to understand that fewer events does not mean less pressure per event. It means more.
Promotion Point Worksheet (PPW) Conversions
The conversion math stays simple on paper: your AFT score still feeds the same 120-point ceiling on the worksheet. But with five events splitting the 500-point total instead of six, a single weak event drags harder on your composite score than it did before. If you are building a packet for SGT or SSG, do not treat any one event as expendable. Every point you leave on the Deadlift or the Plank is a point you have to recover somewhere else to hit the same promotion total.
AFT General vs Combat Promotion Dates
Dates matter here, and they are not the same for every Soldier. According to the Army Fitness Test official portal, AFT general standards apply to promotion actions starting October 1, 2025. If you are in one of the 21 designated combat MOSs, mark a different date: Combat standards take effect for promotion actions on January 1, 2026. Know which standard governs your packet and the date it kicks in. Boards will not make exceptions for confusion over timelines.
Consequences of Test Failure
Failure carries weight beyond a missed promotion. Per goarmy.com, failing two consecutive recorded AFTs can lead to involuntary separation from the Army. That is not a scoring technicality, it is a career-ending risk. Active-duty Soldiers get scored twice a year, so two bad tests can stack up fast if you are not training deliberately between record events. Reserve and National Guard Soldiers are recorded once a year, which gives less room to recover from a single poor showing. Treat every recorded test as one you cannot afford to lose twice in a row.
Readiness Through the AFT
Five events, 500 points, one goal: a force that can fight. The real trade-off is not about counting events, it's about where the weight falls. General Soldiers work within a standard scaled to age and sex, while the 21 combat MOSs answer to a flat, sex-neutral combat floor that does not bend for anyone. Choose the general standard if your role sits outside those 21 codes; choose the combat standard mindset if your MOS demands it, and train the Deadlift and Two-Mile Run as if one bad event could sink your whole score, because now it can. Going forward, check your MOS code against the list before your next cycle, because that single fact decides which 500 point scale you're actually graded on.
About Jackson T. Hartwell
Jackson is a dedicated fitness enthusiast specializing in military-style training and fitness writing. Jackson's writing style is engaging and accessible, making complex fitness regimens understandable to a wide audience. His commitment to fitness extends beyond traditional gym routines, encompassing various disciplines to enhance endurance, strength, and agility.