Army body fat standards 2026
As of July 2026, the Army no longer uses a body-fat percentage standard. Body composition is now a single waist-to-height ratio: you pass if your waist divided by your height is below 0.55, the same for every soldier, with no age or gender brackets. The old tape-test body-fat percentages were rescinded.
What changed in 2026
On 7 July 2026, Army Directive 2026-13 replaced the Army Body Composition Program's tape test with a waist-to-height ratio and scrapped the old height and weight screening tables. It is a big simplification: one measurement pair, one line, everyone.
How the current standard works
Measure your waist at the navel and your height, in the same unit, and divide. If your waist is less than 55 percent of your height (a ratio under 0.55), you meet the standard. Because it is a ratio, the units cancel, so inches or centimetres both work.
| Previous (2023–2026) | Current (from July 2026) | |
|---|---|---|
| Metric | Body-fat % (tape test) | Waist-to-height ratio |
| Measurement | Abdomen + weight | Waist + height |
| Pass line | Max % by age/sex | Under 0.55, all soldiers |
| Age/gender brackets | Yes | No |
What happened to the body-fat percentage
The one-site abdominal formula that estimated body-fat percentage is no longer the standard, and the supplemental options (DXA, InBody, Bod Pod) were rescinded with it. A body-fat estimate is still useful for tracking your own progress, our Army body fat calculator shows both: the current waist-to-height pass or fail, plus a body-fat estimate from the old formula for reference.
How to measure correctly
The whole standard rests on one measurement, so technique matters. Measure at the navel, tape level and snug, at the end of a normal breath out. Our guide to measuring your waist walks through it and the common mistakes that skew the number.