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The New Army Combat Field Test — What It Is, What It Isn't, and What We Actually Think About It

This week Drew and Alex break down the new Combat Field Test — the Army's second mandatory fitness assessment for combat arms soldiers that nobody asked for and everybody has opinions about.

Spoiler: the bar might be set so low that it barely changes anything. But the conversation around why that keeps happening is worth having.

What we get into:

What the CFT actually is — seven events, one running clock, pass or fail. And why if you can run a 10-minute mile you're probably fine.

Why the EIB standard is the same test, with body armor and a helmet, three minutes faster — and what that says about how easy the CFT bar actually is.

The Pygmalion effect — every time the Army lowered the standard, it told the force exactly what it thought they were capable of.

Why one soldier who enlisted in 2019 and served until 2023 only took one PT test in four years of infantry service. Because we kept changing things.

The medic problem — combat is literally in their MOS name, and they're not on the list.

Why 13 Bravo cannon crew members aren't considered combat arms but Army divers are, and what that says about how this list gets built.

The case for publishing MOS-level fitness score averages so soldiers can see where they actually stand relative to their peers.

Whether having the Pentagon direct fitness culture is a good thing — and why for some services it might be the only thing that's actually moved the needle.

Mentioned in this episode:

Secretary Hegseth's September 2025 memo — Military Fitness Standards for the Department of War

ACRT — the earlier Army competitor to the ACFT that never made it

DA Pam 611-21 — Military Occupational Classification and Structure, Alex knew the number off the top of his head

AFT Insight — aftinsight.com, free AFT score interpreter and training programs

BUSAR — their proposed fitness test that requires a picnic table and holds up surprisingly well

Tyler Vargas Andrews — Whistling Death on Instagram, lost an arm and a leg at Abbey Gate and still goes harder than most people with all four limbs

Melissa Stockwell — Paralympic triathlete, showed up to a climbing gym without a prosthetic and just climbed anyway

The Tyranny of Metrics by Jerry Mueller — referenced again, Jerry please come on the podcast