Still rolling out. The Combat Field Test began with diagnostic testing in April 2026 under Army Directive 2026-07, followed by a one-year implementation window before failures carry administrative consequences. Specifics, including the exact MOS list, have already been adjusted once. Verify details with your chain of command before making decisions based on them.
The Army added a second physical test in 2026, and it looks nothing like the one most people train for. No points, no scoring tables, no adjustment for age or sex. Seven events, back to back, in uniform and boots, finished inside 30 minutes or you fail.
The Combat Field Test (CFT) is built to measure whether a soldier in a combat job can actually do the physical tasks that job requires under load. If you're considering an infantry, armor, artillery, or combat engineer MOS, this is a test you'll take for as long as you hold that job.
What the CFT Actually Is
The CFT is a pass/fail field assessment introduced under Army Directive 2026-07 and the accompanying HQDA execution order. Three things make it different from every other Army fitness test:
- It's task-based, not gym-based. The events simulate battlefield movements: sprinting, lifting ammunition, carrying water, crawling, and rushing between cover.
- It's completely neutral. No age brackets, no sex-based tables. One standard for everyone who takes it.
- It's continuous. The clock runs from the first event to the last. There is no rest built in.
All Seven Events, in Order
The events run in a fixed sequence. The whole battery has to be completed in 30 minutes or less.
| # | Event | What It Simulates |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | One-mile run | Moving to the objective under load |
| 2 | 30 dead-stop push-ups | Repeated upper-body work after arriving winded |
| 3 | 100-meter sprint | Short bursts of speed between positions |
| 4 | 16 lifts of a 40-pound sandbag onto a 65-inch platform | Loading ammunition and supplies onto a vehicle |
| 5 | 50-meter carry with two 40-pound water cans | Hauling supplies across open ground |
| 6 | 50-meter movement drill: 25-meter high crawl, then 25 meters of 3 to 5 second rushes | Moving under direct fire |
| 7 | One-mile run | Moving off the objective while already exhausted |
Notice the structure: it opens and closes with a mile. The second mile is the one that decides most outcomes, because by then you've done 16 overhead-height sandbag lifts and crawled 25 meters in a uniform. Soldiers who treat the first mile as a race often have nothing left for the last one.
The Rules That Trip People Up
Three requirements catch people who trained for the movements but not the conditions.
You wear the uniform. Army Combat Uniform, combat boots, brown T-shirt. Not PT shorts, not running shoes. Boots change your running mechanics and your pace, and the uniform traps heat. Anyone who has only trained in trainers will feel the difference immediately.
The clock does not stop. All seven events run continuously. Transition time counts. Fumbling with a sandbag or walking to the next station is time you don't get back.
Failing one event ends the test. You can't drop an event and make it up elsewhere the way you might absorb a weak score on the AFT. If you can't complete an event to standard, the test terminates there.
The 65-inch platform is the sleeper event. Lifting a 40-pound sandbag to just over five feet, 16 times, is an overhead-ish movement most lifting programs never train. It's not heavy in isolation. It becomes hard because it comes after a mile, push-ups, and a sprint, and because shoulder endurance fatigues faster than most people expect.
Who Has to Take It
The CFT applies to active-duty soldiers in roughly 24 designated combat MOSs. Reporting has consistently listed infantry, armor, field artillery, combat engineers, explosive ordnance disposal, and Special Forces among them.
If you're weighing a combat MOS against a combat-enabling one, this is a real factor in the decision, not a footnote. A combat MOS means the higher 350-point AFT standard and the CFT on top of it, for your whole career. That's a fair trade for people who want that job. It's worth knowing before you sign, not after. Our guide to combat vs. non-combat roles walks through the wider tradeoffs.
CFT vs. AFT: Side by Side
| Combat Field Test | Army Fitness Test | |
|---|---|---|
| Events | 7, continuous | 5, with rest between |
| Scoring | Pass/fail | 0 to 100 per event, 500 max |
| Age and sex adjustment | None | Age always, sex on the general standard |
| Uniform | ACU and boots | PT uniform |
| Time cap | 30 minutes total | Per-event standards |
| Who takes it | Designated combat MOSs | Every soldier |
They measure different things on purpose. The AFT measures general physical capacity on a scale. The CFT asks a narrower question: can you do this job's physical work, in this job's clothing, without stopping? Full details on the scored test are in our Army Fitness Test breakdown.
How to Train for It
Training for the CFT is less about maximum strength and more about work capacity under load. Four priorities:
- Run in boots sometimes. Not every run, that's a good way to get shin splints. But if you never run in boots before test day, the second mile will surprise you.
- Train sandbags, not just barbells. A 40-pound sandbag moves differently than a dumbbell. Awkward, shifting loads are the whole point, and they build the grip and trunk stability the test rewards.
- Practice loaded carries. Two 40-pound water cans for 50 meters is a farmer's carry. Grip endurance is trainable and it fails fast if untrained.
- Do circuits, not isolated sets. Chain the movements together with no rest. The test's difficulty comes from accumulation, so your training has to accumulate too.
If you're still preparing to ship, our daily workout plan for recruits and budget home workout gear guide cover the base you need before any of this becomes relevant.
Two Pieces of Gear Worth Owning
1. An adjustable training sandbag
Four of the seven events involve awkward, shifting loads
A fillable sandbag lets you train the exact lift the test uses, and you can adjust the weight as you build up to a clean set of 16. It's the closest thing to test-specific equipment you can keep in a garage.
Shop on Amazon →2. Broken-in combat boots you can run in
You'll test in boots, so you should train in them occasionally
Lightweight, broken-in boots make a real difference on two miles of running in uniform. Blisters on test day are avoidable, and they're entirely a function of not having worn the boots enough beforehand.
Shop on Amazon →The Bottom Line
The Combat Field Test is seven continuous events in 30 minutes, in uniform and boots, pass or fail, with no adjustment for age or sex. It applies to combat MOSs and sits on top of the AFT rather than replacing it.
If a combat job is what you want, train for accumulated work under awkward loads rather than for gym numbers, and start running in boots occasionally well before anyone asks you to. If you're still deciding between career fields, run our branch quiz and job matcher first, and go in knowing exactly what the physical commitment looks like.