Combat Field Test at a Glance
- •Time standard: 30 minutes
- •Scoring: Pass/fail, no points
- •Events: 7, run back to back
- •Uniform: ACU, brown t-shirt, boots, no headgear
- •Standards: Age-neutral and sex-neutral, unlike the AFT
- !The CFT does not replace the AFT. Combat specialty soldiers in the active component take both each year.
The 7 Combat Field Test Events in Order
The events are performed in sequence with no rest scored between them. No single event is timed on its own. The clock runs from the start of the first mile to the finish of the second, and the cumulative time determines pass or fail.
- 1
1-Mile Run
1 mile
Aerobic capacity entering the test, before fatigue accumulates.
- 2
Dead-Stop Push-Ups
30 repetitions
Upper-body pressing strength from a full dead stop, with no momentum carried between reps.
- 3
100-Meter Sprint
100 meters
Short-burst anaerobic speed under accumulated fatigue.
- 4
Sandbag Lifts
16 lifts of a 40 lb sandbag onto a 65-inch platform
Repeated overhead loading, mirroring loading equipment onto a vehicle.
- 5
Water Can Carry
50 meters carrying two 5-gallon water cans (40 lb each)
Loaded carry and grip endurance.
- 6
50-Meter Movement Drill
25-meter high crawl plus a 25-meter 3 to 5 second rush
Low-profile movement and rapid bounding, directly modeled on battle drills.
- 7
1-Mile Run
1 mile
Aerobic capacity with the full test's fatigue already accumulated.
The two 1-mile runs bookending the test are the defining feature. The first is run fresh, the second after sandbag lifts, carries, and crawling. The gap between your two mile times is the clearest signal of whether your conditioning holds up under load.
Every event must be completed before moving to the next. A soldier unable to complete an event is terminated from the test, and the attempt is recorded as a failure.
On the time standard: Army Directive 2026-07 does not itself state one. Paragraph 4a(2) tasks the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7 with publishing it. The Army states the 30-minute standard on its official AFT page.
CFT vs AFT: What Is the Difference?
These are two separate tests with separate purposes. The AFT measures general physical fitness on a points scale adjusted for age and sex. The CFT measures whether a soldier can complete a sequence of combat-representative tasks in fighting kit, against one fixed standard that does not adjust for anyone.
| Feature | Combat Field Test | Army Fitness Test |
|---|---|---|
| Number of events | 7 | 5 |
| Scoring | Pass/fail | 0 to 100 points per event |
| Age normed | No | Yes |
| Sex normed | No | Yes (except plank) |
| Uniform | ACU and combat boots | Army PT uniform |
| Timing | One continuous clock | Each event scored separately |
| Passing standard | Finish within 30 minutes | 300 general, 350 combat |
| Who takes it | 24 designated combat MOS/AOCs | All soldiers |
| Governing directive | Army Directive 2026-07 | Army Directive 2025-06 |
Need your AFT score? Calculate all 5 events in seconds.
Open AFT Calculator →CFT MOS List: All 24 Combat Specialties
The CFT is required for every soldier serving in one of the 24 combat specialties listed in Enclosure 2 of Army Directive 2026-07. This is the same list of specialties held to the AFT 350-point combat standard, so if your MOS appears here, both requirements apply to you.
| Code | Specialty | Branch |
|---|---|---|
| 11A | Infantry Officer | Infantry |
| 11B | Infantryman | Infantry |
| 11C | Indirect Fire Infantryman | Infantry |
| 11Z | Infantry Senior Sergeant | Infantry |
| 12A | Engineer Officer | Engineers |
| 12B | Combat Engineer | Engineers |
| 12D | Army Diver | Engineers |
| 13A | Field Artillery Officer | Field Artillery |
| 13F | Fire Support Specialist | Field Artillery |
| 18A | Special Forces Officer | Special Forces |
| 180A | Special Forces Warrant Officer | Special Forces |
| 18B | Special Forces Weapons Sergeant | Special Forces |
| 18C | Special Forces Engineer Sergeant | Special Forces |
| 18D | Special Forces Medical Sergeant | Special Forces |
| 18E | Special Forces Communications Sergeant | Special Forces |
| 18F | Special Forces Assistant Operations and Intelligence Sergeant | Special Forces |
| 18Z | Special Forces Team Sergeant | Special Forces |
| 19A | Armor Officer | Armor |
| 19C | Bradley Fighting Vehicle Crewman | Armor |
| 19D | Cavalry Scout | Armor |
| 19K | M1 Armor Crewman | Armor |
| 19Z | Armor Senior Sergeant | Armor |
| 89D | Explosive Ordnance Disposal Specialist | Explosive Ordnance Disposal |
| 89E | Explosive Ordnance Disposal Officer | Explosive Ordnance Disposal |
Army Directive 2025-06 originally designated 21 combat specialties. Army Directive 2026-07 added 12D, 89D, and 89E, bringing the total to 24. Always confirm your own requirement with your unit S1.
What If You Are on a Profile?
Permanent profiles. Soldiers in combat specialties with permanent profiles that prevent them from performing any primary AFT event are ineligible to take the CFT and will be evaluated for MOS or AOC reclassification. Waiver authority rests with the general court-martial convening authority or the first general officer in the chain of command. Soldiers granted a waiver remain subject to the annual 2-AFT requirement.
Temporary profiles. Soldiers with temporary profiles preventing completion of the CFT, including pregnancy and postpartum profiles, follow their profiles and the AFT guidance in FM 7-22 until they can take a CFT.
Test and event modifications are not available for soldiers on profiles. Unlike the AFT, which offers alternate aerobic events, the CFT has no modified version.
How Often Do You Take the CFT?
Regular Army, AGR, and RC on active-duty orders of 365 days or more: One record CFT and one record AFT annually. There is a minimum of 4 months between a record CFT and a record AFT.
All other Reserve component soldiers: One fitness test per calendar year, alternating between the AFT and the CFT: a record AFT one year, a record CFT the next. The minimum time between any two record fitness tests is 8 months. These soldiers may take an additional record AFT within that window for promotion or schooling.
There is no prerequisite to take or pass one test before the other. Failing the AFT does not bar you from taking the CFT, and passing the CFT does not satisfy your AFT requirement.
What Happens If You Fail the CFT?
During the grace period. No administrative action will be taken solely because of a failed CFT, or a permanent profile preventing a CFT, before 16 April 2027. Full implementation testing for record begins April 17, 2027. This gives units a full cycle to train toward the standard and soldiers a chance to diagnose where they lose time.
After a failure. Soldiers who fail are flagged and enrolled in reconditioning training under FM 7-22, then must retest within 90 days (180 days for RC soldiers not on AGR or active-duty orders of 365 days or more).
After two consecutive failures. Enlisted soldiers who fail two consecutive CFTs, or who have an AFT-limiting permanent profile and are denied a waiver, are subject to involuntary separation under AR 635-200 chapter 13 (Regular Army) or AR 135-178 chapter 9 (Reserve Components). Officers are subject to elimination under AR 600-8-24 paragraph 4-2(a) or AR 135-175 paragraph 2-12.
Soldiers in combat specialties must include CFT pass/fail or waiver status on evaluations with a thru date 18 months or more after publication of the directive.
How to Train for the Combat Field Test
The CFT punishes soldiers who train events in isolation. Because the clock never stops, your limiting factor is usually not any single event but how quickly you recover between them. Training the seven events separately, fully rested, tells you very little about your finish time.
Run the sequence continuously in ACUs and boots. Footwear alone changes mile pace meaningfully, and soldiers who only train in running shoes are routinely surprised on test day. Build tolerance for loaded carries and repeated overhead lifts, since the sandbag and water can events sit between the two runs and determine how much you have left for the last mile.
For the AFT side of your annual requirement, our AFT training guide breaks down each of the 5 events with a 4-week progression.
Combat Field Test FAQs
Source: Army Directive 2026-07 (Army Physical Fitness Standards), signed 17 April 2026. The CFT is new and implementation guidance is still rolling out to units. Always verify against official Army resources and your chain of command before making decisions based on this page.