The U.S. Marine Corps is slated to implement a sex-neutral physical fitness test scoring system for Marines with combat military occupational specialities beginning Jan. 1, 2026, according to a recent service memo.
The physical fitness updates, which also include changes to the service’s body composition standards, follow a September memorandum from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that emphasized more strict fitness requirements for troops.
Starting Jan. 1, combat arms Marines will be required to attain a minimum PFT score of 210 points, or at least 70% of a perfect score.
If Marines do not meet the requirement by the end of the reporting period, they will either be assigned to remedial physical training, reclassified with a new MOS or restricted from promotion, the release said.
“Our combat arms MOSs require rigorous physical readiness for direct ground combat,” Col. James Derrick, director of the Marine Corps Training and Education Command, said in a release. “These changes ensure all combat arms Marines meet the same high sex-neutral standards.”
Non-combat arms Marines will continue to be tested with the existing sex- and age-normed standards, while all combat Marines, regardless of sex, will face male, age-normed guidelines.
In addition to the PFT, the Marine Corps is replacing its height and weight standards and tape test with a waist-to-height ratio methodology. Those changes, meanwhile, are expected to be phased in over time.
Service-specific body composition standards will be published once the defense secretary provides further guidance, the release stated.
Changes to the PFT are being made in accordance to Hegseth’s Sept. 30 memo “to ensure every service member meets the physical demands of combat and leads by example,” a MarAdmin released Thursday stated.
Speaking to hundreds of top military officials at Marine Corps Base Quantico in September, Hegseth emphasized that combat effectiveness “all starts with physical fitness and appearance.”
“Frankly, it’s tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops,” Hegseth said.
While the new PFT standards will go into effect in the new year, additional Manpower Information Systems updates are expected to be gradually applied over six to eight months, the release stated, with full installment expected within a year.