These Are the Army’s 3 Current Fitness Tests: AFT, CFT and RPAT

Published Jun 25, 2026, 4:54 PM EDT

The changes to Army fitness testing have been constant and confusing, even to soldiers, over the past decade.

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Published Jun 25, 2026, 4:54 PM EDT

The changes to Army fitness testing have been constant and confusing, even to soldiers, over the past decade. The first version of the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) was renamed the Army Fitness Test (AFT), which all soldiers now take, but a new Army Combat Fitness Test has been developed, modeled after the Ranger Physical Assessment Test (RPAT), for all combat MOSs. Now, the ACFT is the mandatory baseline fitness test for all combat arms military occupational specialties (MOS), while the Ranger Physical Assessment Test (RPAT) is an elite, mission-specific functional fitness test required to enter the U.S. Army Ranger School. But both are so similar, it is easy to confuse one with the other. The Army's CFT and the RPAT are both functional, combat-focused assessments used to evaluate warfighting readiness. However, while the CFT is a broad assessment for combat specialty units, the RPAT is a specialized screening test specifically designed to measure a candidate's physical capacity to endure the rigorous Ranger Course. The RPAT has a second section of the assessment that is not part of the CFT, making it an advanced-level test (pullups and a 4-mile run).