The Navy unveiled its new physical fitness assessment cycle on Tuesday, requiring sailors to undergo two PFAs per calendar year, in line with orders from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, US Navy Institute News reports.
The changes to the physical fitness assessment cycle bring the Navy back to previous cycles before the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the updated Navy policy, the two cycles are Jan. 1, 2026, to Jun. 30, 2026, and July 1, 2026 to Dec. 31, 2026.
Along with changes to the PFA cycle, the body composition assessment procedures were revised to make them more sex neutral. The waist-to-height ratio is now sex neutral and the calculation of body composition will use equations that are normalized for sex.
Any person who does not meet the BCA standards may be eligible for a high-performance exemption if they achieve a certain high score on the PFA overall, as well as on each of the three physical readiness tests. Sailors who do not meet the BCA or PRT standards must participate in the Navy’s Fitness Enhancement Program.
Sailors who fail three PFAs within a four-year period will be processed for administrative separation. This includes sailors with 18-20 years of service. All PFA failures before Jan. 1, 2026, are being erased when considered for reenlistment, advancement, promotion or other career moves as part of adopting the new standards.
Sailors in combat arms billets will be required to take one PFA and one combat fitness assessment. The combat fitness assessment is a BCA and a combat fitness test, which includes an 800 meter swim with fins as well as push-ups, pull-ups and a 1-mile run weighted with 20 pounds.
The Marine Corps also put out an advanced notice of the changes to the physical fitness and body composition assessments on Dec. 18, which includes sex normalization. However, the official codified changes have not been publicly announced.
