Army Combat Field Test

The Army Combat Field Test is a seven-event, pass or fail test for soldiers in 24 combat specialties. You get 30 minutes to finish all seven, run back to back, in ACUs and boots. There are no points and no age or sex adjustment.

Use the tool above to check your MOS, work out your splits, and time the sequence. Every figure on this page comes from Army Directive 2026-07, signed by Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll on 17 April 2026.

Combat field test standards

The combat field test standards are one number: 30 minutes or less. HQDA EXORD 103-26 published that time on 22 April 2026, five days after the directive created the test.

The same 30 minutes applies to a 19-year-old private and a 45-year-old sergeant first class. It applies to men and women equally. Nothing scales.

Two rules people miss.

The clock never stops. No single event is timed on its own. Only the cumulative time from the start of the first mile to the finish of the second decides the result.

Every event must be finished before you move on. A soldier who cannot complete one is terminated from the test, and it is recorded as a failure regardless of the clock.

Is there a CFT score chart?

No. There is no CFT score chart and no point scale. If you are looking for one you are thinking of the AFT, which scores five events from 0 to 100 each. The CFT gives you one result: under 30 minutes or over it.

The seven combat field test events

The combat field test events run in a fixed order. Two miles bookend a deliberately punishing middle, so the second run happens on tired legs.

1. 1-mile run. Opening mile in uniform and boots.

2. 30 dead-stop push-ups. Chest to the deck, full stop, hands released each rep.

3. 100-metre sprint. Maximum effort.

4. 16 sandbag lifts. A 40-pound bag onto a 65-inch platform, sixteen times.

5. 50-metre water can carry. Two 5-gallon Army water cans, 40 pounds each.

6. 50-metre movement drill. High crawl 25 metres, then rush 25 metres in 3 to 5 second bounds.

7. 1-mile run. Closing mile.

The uniform is the Army Combat Uniform top and bottom, brown t-shirt and combat boots. No headgear. Not the APFU, and not running shoes.

How do I pace 30 minutes?

The Army does not tell you. It publishes one total and no event splits, so any per-event target you see online is somebody’s estimate. The planner above starts with a workable split set and lets you edit every line. Most soldiers lose the test on the second mile, so build your plan backwards from that.

Which MOS takes the army combat field test?

Twenty-four specialties, listed in enclosure 2 of the directive. Infantry, combat engineers, field artillery, Special Forces, armor, Army divers and explosive ordnance disposal.

Type your code into the tool above and it answers directly rather than making you read a grid.

Three of the 24 are new: 12D Army Diver, 89D EOD Specialist and 89E EOD Officer.

Here is the part most sites still get wrong. Paragraph 4b(2) of the directive designates those same three as combat specialties for the AFT as well, which means they now meet the 350-point AFT combat standard too. The old figure of 21 AFT combat MOSs is out of date. It has been 24 for both tests since 17 April 2026.

How often do you take the CFT?

It depends on your component and your orders, and this is where the guides go vague.

Regular Army, AGR, and Reserve Component soldiers on active-duty orders for 365 days or more take one record CFT and one record AFT every year, at least four months apart.

Every other Reserve Component soldier in a combat specialty takes one test per calendar year, alternating. Record AFT one year, record CFT the next, with at least eight months between record tests. They may take an extra record AFT inside that window for promotion or schooling.

The CFT does not replace the AFT. The directive says so plainly. Combat specialty soldiers answer to both.

What happens if you fail the combat field test?

Right now, nothing on your record. The implementation period runs 365 days from 17 April 2026. Until 17 April 2027 a failed CFT carries no administrative action.

That does not make the test optional. Every soldier in scope still takes it during the diagnostic year, and failures are recorded as a non-punitive code in IPPS-A.

After 17 April 2027 the consequences arrive. A failure means a flag and enrolment in reconditioning training under FM 7-22. You retest within 90 days on active duty, or 180 days in the Reserve Component.

Two consecutive failures start reclassification. Enlisted soldiers who will not or cannot reclassify face involuntary separation under AR 635-200 chapter 13 or AR 135-178 chapter 9. Officers face branch transfer, and elimination under AR 600-8-24 if they refuse it.

What if I have a profile?

Temporary profiles, including pregnancy and postpartum, follow FM 7-22 guidance until you can test. There are no modified events on the CFT. What exists for the AFT does not exist here.

Permanent profiles that stop you performing any primary AFT event make you ineligible for the CFT, and you are evaluated for reclassification. A waiver comes from the first general officer in your chain of command, or the GCMCA. Waivers are reviewed every year, and a soldier holding one still owes the annual AFT.

Questions soldiers ask about the CFT

What is the passing time for the army combat field test?

Thirty minutes or less for all seven events combined. The same time applies to everyone regardless of age or sex.

Does the CFT replace the AFT?

No. Army Directive 2026-07 states it is not a substitute. Soldiers in the 24 combat specialties take both, annually or in alternating years depending on component.

Is the CFT different for women?

No. It is sex-neutral and age-neutral. One standard, one clock.

I am not in a combat MOS. Do I take the CFT?

No. If your code is not in enclosure 2 you take the AFT only.

When do CFT failures start counting?

17 April 2027. Before that date the test is diagnostic and failures carry no administrative action.