US Army’s New Body Fat Test May Disqualify Some Soldiers From Service

U.S. Army trainees exercise in a course aimed at preparing potential enlistees who don't meet fitness or test standards, at Fort Jackson in Columbia, S.C., on Sept. 28, 2022. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

A new U.S. Army regulation to measure soldiers’ body fat could result in many failing their fitness assessments.

Army officials admitted on June 14 that some soldiers who had previously passed under the old regulations may now fail under the new tests.

The Army published a new directive called “Army Body Fat Assessment for the Army Body Composition Program” on June 12 that made immediate changes to the Army Body Composition Program.

The directive was based on the findings and recommendations of the Army’s recent Comprehensive Body Composition study, which introduced a new measuring tape methodology that’s designed to yield more consistent and accurate estimates of soldiers’ body fat and fitness.

“For years, we have been committed to reducing body fat across the force,” Sgt. Maj. of the Army Michael A. Grinston said in the announcement. “It’s one of the driving factors in supporting the Holistic Health and Fitness program, as well as one of the reasons to request a study on the Army Body Composition Program.”

He said that all soldiers would “strive to reach their maximum potential” under the new rules and that “our policies should encourage their progress, not constrain it.”

The service will phase out the current system for measuring body fat by mid-2024.

New Test May Help Women Pass

The new Army tape test will measure a soldier’s body fat by taking the circumference of their waist near the navel.

Tape tests are primarily used when soldiers’ weights fail to fall within the mandated body mass index screening table. Male soldiers were previously measured around their neck and abdomen, while female soldiers were measured around their neck, waist, and hips.

All soldiers regardless of gender will now be measured around their navels only.

Holly McClung, a lead researcher on the Army’s Body Composition Study, told reporters at a press event on June 14 that more soldiers will fail the new test.

One study of 2,690 troops found that the results of the previous tape test were unreliable in about 35 percent of assessments, Military.com reported.

Soldiers who fail to meet the weight standards could be discharged from the Army if they don’t get within their required weight standard after several months.

Sgt. Maj. Christopher Stevens, the senior enlisted leader of the Army’s personnel office, said the Army is “putting everything on the table to really look at how we can ensure that we continue to assess and retain quality.”

The Army admitted in March that soldiers “with a high volume of lean muscle mass were still at risk of failing the body fat assessment.” The service made an exemption for soldiers who scored a 540 out of 600 total points on the Army Combat Fitness Test.

The special exemption requires a minimum of 80 out of 100 points earned in each of the six fitness test categories.

McClung said that efforts by the Army to connect body composition data to soldiers’ performance is “kind of groundbreaking.”

“What we hope is that over years to come, maybe the bar will get heightened and that it won’t be a 540, it’ll be a 550, it’ll be a continuous moving benchmark because the soldiers will become more fit,” she said.

New Body Assessment Has Critics

The tape test has long been criticized as an outdated and inaccurate assessment of fitness.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that while the measurement of waist circumference is a tool to estimate the risk of diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, it is not a diagnostic tool.

Many soldiers were reportedly in favor of the updates to the Body Composition Program when the Army began the study in 2021.

Women disproportionately had a false failure rate of 5 percent under the old test, which was attributed to the hip measurements equally punishing those with excess fat and those with strong hamstrings and glutes, Military Times reported. Only 1 percent of men incorrectly failed and 35 percent falsely passed.

The new tests are expected to inaccurately fail almost no women and only 0.25 percent of men, the outlet reported.

Some Soldiers Worried About Failure

Soldiers can still use the previous tape test protocol for 12 months if they fail the new test.

If a soldier fails both versions of the test, they will have the option of requesting another assessment using specific methods, such X-rays or certain machines that are better able to measure body fat.

Soldiers who remain outside the required standards will be enrolled in the Army Body Composition Program, to help them lose weight and get back within standards.

According to the new Army regulations, those enrolled in the program will be provided “exercise guidance” by a fitness trainer in the unit and will have to meet with a registered dietitian (pdf).

Any soldier who fails to get within standards after six months could be forced to leave.

McClung said that those who had been passing due to false results would not be “necessarily separated from the Army.”

“We want to help them,” she said, “we want to put them on a health promotion track, work with some dietitians and some trainers, and bring them up to standards.”

The service also previously announced it would not change its height-weight screening tables, which is intended to exempt those whose body fat is most likely within the standards.