Scoring for the 6 ACFT Events

The six events in the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) all count toward your score. If you fail one event, you fail the whole ACFT. (No pressure, though.) You have to complete all six events, in order, on the same day, and the test can’t take more than 90 minutes. That includes the Preparation Drill and the following:

• 3 Repetition Maximum Deadlift, or MDL
• Standing Power Throw, or SPT
• Hand Release Push-Up—Arm Extension, or HRP
• Sprint-Drag-Carry, or SDC
• Leg Tuck, or LTK
• Two-Mile Run, or 2MR

If you fail one of the events, you can’t stop taking the ACFT. You have to complete the remaining events to the best of your ability.

Each event is worth 100 points, so a perfect score is 600. Every MOS falls into one of three physical demand categories: Heavy, Significant, and Moderate. Each soldier in that MOS must meet at least the minimum score for his or her physical demand category to pass. You need a minimum of 60 points in each event for the Moderate category, 65 points for the Significant category, and 70 points for the Heavy category. The following table shows the absolute minimum scores you must get in each event for each physical demand category.

During fiscal year 2021, soldiers only need to meet the Gold standard, regardless of MOS. The normal standards will kick in when FY22 starts; that’s when you’ll have to pass the standards for your physical demand category.

Before you dive into the test, you need to know the protocols and why the Army uses them. First, you have to attempt all six events unless you have a physical profile. Soldiers rotate through each lane in groups of four, but groups of fewer than four are authorized. The test has only one programmed rest period, and it’s between the Leg Tuck event and the Two-Mile Run. If only one or two soldiers are testing, the Army requires the OIC and NCOIC—the commissioned and noncommissioned officers in charge—to provide those soldiers with a five-minute rest period between each event (which they’d get anyway if more soldiers were testing).

You get no restarts on the ACFT. If you perform a repetition incorrectly, it doesn’t count—and your grader doesn’t send you to the back of the line to retest. You sign your scorecard at the test site, and your signature says you agree with the scores your grader recorded. The OIC or NCOIC resolve any discrepancies within the test’s 90-minute time limit. And although the Army allows video recording of the test, that video can be used only for training purposes. You can’t use it to argue that you performed a rep correctly or that your grader made a counting mistake.

The ACFT’s Scoring Scale

The Army scores the ACFT the same for every service member, regardless of gender or age. Whether you’re an enlisted soldier, a warrant officer, or a commissioned officer doesn’t matter, either. Everyone takes the same ACFT, and everyone has to meet or exceed the standard.

Perusing Physical Demand Categories

Every military occupational specialty falls into one of three Physical Demand Categories: Moderate (Gold), Significant (Gray), or Heavy (Black). The Physical Demand Categories (PDCs) are all outlined in DA PAM 611-21, and they’re subject to change over time. Check out the following tables to see which PDC applies to your MOS. All warrant officers, with the exception of MOS 180A, fall into the Moderate (Gold) category.

Jobs that don’t require a lot of heavy lifting, such as public affairs, dentistry, and logistics, typically fall under the Moderate (Gold) category. Soldiers in these MOSs have to get 60 points in each event.

Soldiers with jobs that require regular use of physical strength, like military police, combat medics, and aircrew members, usually fall into the Significant (Gray) category. If you’re in a Gray MOS, you have to earn at least 65 points in each event.

Infantry and other combat arms jobs always fall into the Heavy (Black) category. Soldiers in these jobs need to score at least 70 points on every event.

Many officers’ requirements differ based on pay grade. For example, second and first lieutenants in the Quartermaster field fall into the Heavy (Black) physical demand category, while their captain counterparts fall into the Moderate (Gray) category. That’s because the jobs these officers perform typically depend on their pay grades, with higher-ranking officers generally being less responsible for heavy lifting than their juniors are.

So, what about O7s and above? General officers are all categorized as Moderate (Gold), regardless of MOS. If that’s not a great reason to work toward promotion, I don’t know what is.

When an MOS’s duties or tasks change, PDCs can change with them.

Weighing your score on the scale

When you complete an ACFT event, you get a raw score. That raw score translates into points. Your grader writes both scores on your scorecard. (I discuss the scorecard in the following section.) The table below shows the number of points you receive for each raw score. The table stops at 60 points, because a score below 60 is an ACFT failure. If you fail one event, you fail the whole test. The ACFT has no extended scale, so the highest score you can achieve on the test is 600. The lowest score you can get and still pass is 360.

Tallying up your score on the new ACFT scorecard

You fill in the identifying information on your scorecard before you begin the ACFT, like your name, your unit and location, the date, your pay grade, and your MOS. You also include your age and gender, but they don’t affect the scores you need to pass.

Army Regulation 600-9 requires your height and weight to be measured every 6 months (at minimum) and also encourages commanders to allow at least seven days between a physical fitness test and a weigh-in so that soldiers don’t try to drop weight and negatively impact their performance on the test. If you need to be taped—that is, if the Army needs to measure your body composition—your body fat percentage is written on your scorecard and marked “Go” or “No Go.”

Your grader fills in your raw scores and your scaled scores. Your raw scores are those that reflect your time, distance, or weight lifted on the PT field. Your scaled scores are the raw scores translated into points. For example, if you throw your 10-pound medicine ball 9.5 meters, that’s your raw score. Your 9.5-meter raw score translates into 80 points earned toward your overall score.

You sign your scorecard before you leave the PT field. When you sign it, you’re saying that you agree with your scores.