U.S. Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Ryan Soto Davila, a combat graphic specialist low crawls during the maneuver-under-fire portion of the service’s combat fitness test at Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan, Nov. 20, 2025. (Carlos Paz-Sosa/U.S. Marine Corps)
WASHINGTON — The Marine Corps will institute a sex-neutral scoring physical fitness test for Marines with a combat arms primary military occupational specialty, the service announced this week.
“Our combat arms MOSs require rigorous physical readiness for direct ground combat,” Col. James Derrick, director of the Training Standards Division at the Marine Corps Training and Education Command, said in a statement. “These changes ensure all combat arms Marines meet the same high sex-neutral standards.”
The Marines changes to physical fitness and body composition standards take effect Jan. 1 and are in accordance with the Pentagon’s fitness standards issued Sept. 30.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the time summoned the top military brass to Quantico, Va., and announced a series of directives that included combat field tests for combat arms units, emphasizing “male-level” standards for fitness, and seeing that every member of the joint force — including four-star generals — take a fitness test twice a year and meet height and weight requirements.
“Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops. Likewise, it’s completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon,” Hegseth said.
The physical fitness test will require combat arms Marines to achieve a minimum score of 210 points — 70% of the total possible points — using the male, age-normed scoring standard outlined in the changes. The physical fitness test will continue to be administered annually Jan. 1 to June 30, the service announced. Non-combat arms Marines will continue to follow existing sex- and age-normed standards.
The service is also revising its body composition evaluation process. The current height and weight standards, along with the tape test, will be replaced by a waist-to-height ratio methodology. The Marine Corps will publish service-specific standards upon receipt of additional guidance from Hegseth, the service said. In the interim, the current height, weight and tape tests will continue.
Although the new physical fitness test standards will begin on Jan. 1, updates to Manpower Information Systems are expected to take 6 to 8 months, with full implementation projected within a year.
“The Marine Corps is committed to ensuring a smooth transition and will continue to coordinate with stakeholders to support these changes,” the service said. “These changes ensure that the Marine Corps’ physical fitness standards continue to support operational effectiveness and combat readiness.”