Army height and weight standards 2026
The Army retired its height and weight screening tables on 7 July 2026. There is no weight chart by height and age any more. Body composition is now one waist-to-height ratio: your waist, measured at the navel, divided by your height, must be under 0.55. To pass, multiply your height in inches by 0.55, and keep your waist under that number.
What changed in 2026
Army Directive 2026-13, signed 1 July 2026 and effective 7 July, replaced the entire screening process. The height and weight tables, the abdominal tape test, and the supplemental body-fat assessments (DXA, InBody, Bod Pod) were all rescinded at once. In their place is a single measurement pair, waist and height, and a single pass line for every soldier.
The waist number you need
Your waist-to-height ratio must be below 0.55. Because it is a ratio, the fastest way to read it is to work out your maximum waist: multiply your height in inches by 0.55. The result is recorded to three decimal places and never rounded, so a ratio of 0.549 passes and 0.550 fails.
| Height | Waist must stay under |
|---|---|
| 60 in (5'0") | 33.0 in |
| 62 in (5'2") | 34.1 in |
| 64 in (5'4") | 35.2 in |
| 66 in (5'6") | 36.3 in |
| 68 in (5'8") | 37.4 in |
| 70 in (5'10") | 38.5 in |
| 72 in (6'0") | 39.6 in |
| 74 in (6'2") | 40.7 in |
| 76 in (6'4") | 41.8 in |
For example, a soldier who is 72 inches (6 feet) tall passes with a 39.5-inch waist but fails at 39.6 inches. A 70-inch soldier needs a waist under 38.5 inches. You can run your own numbers on our Army body fat calculator, which shows the pass or fail against 0.55 and a body-fat estimate from the old formula for reference.
How and how often you are measured
Screening happens at least twice per calendar year. Waist is measured at the navel, level with the floor, and height is measured in the same unit. If your first reading is 0.55 or higher, you get a confirmation measurement the same day from a different testing team before a commander can act on it. There was a 90-day window from the July start for the first round of measurements.
What happened to the age brackets and exemptions
They are gone. The old tables adjusted the standard by age and gender, and high fitness scorers (465 and above on the test) were exempt from screening. Under the new rule there are no age or gender brackets and no fitness-score exemption, one 0.55 line applies to everyone. If you measure at or above 0.55 twice, the next step is the Army Body Composition Program, covered in our guide to what happens if you fail the ABCP.
Sources: Army Directive 2026-13 (Army Body Composition Program); U.S. Army body composition policy announcement, July 2026. Last reviewed September 2026.