Last verified against each branch's body fat rules and Department of War Instruction 1308.03.
In the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force, a waist-to-height ratio check comes first, and a result over your branch’s line leads to a second step that estimates your body fat and compares it with a limit. The Coast Guard screens by weight first, and the Army has dropped the second step altogether. This page explains each branch’s method, then checks a result you already have. For an estimate before test day, the US Navy body fat calculator works from your height, neck and waist; the measurement your branch takes is the one on your record.
How each branch measures body fat
Each row says what happens after the first check and which document sets it. The limits themselves are in the table under the checker below.
- ArmyNo body fat step. Since Army Directive 2026-13 the waist-to-height ratio is the Army’s only body composition measure, and the tape test and the height and weight tables are rescinded.
Source: Army Directive 2026-13 para 5a. - NavyStep 2 follows when your waist-to-height ratio at step 1 is 0.55 or more (Guide-4 reads it to four decimals, so 0.5499 passes). It subtracts your waist from your height and reads your body fat from Guide-4 Tables 2 and 3 against your weight. Nobody measures your neck or hips, and Guide-4 allows no substitute method: no underwater weighing, skinfold calipers, body mass index or bioelectrical impedance.
Source: Navy PRP Guide-4 section 1 para 2 and section 3 paras 1 and 2. - Marine CorpsAbove a waist-to-height ratio of 0.52, a body fat evaluation follows, by the multi-site tape test or bioelectrical impedance. MCO 6110.3A sets the limit by age, and first class PFT and CFT scores can raise it; the table under the checker gives the limits by age and the allowance.
Source: MARADMIN 066/26 paras 2 and 3.d. - Air ForceIf your waist-to-height ratio is 0.55 or above and you have not met the standards of the PFRA, the Air Force fitness assessment, an InBody bioelectrical impedance scale measures your body fat, or the 2-3 site tape method where no scale is available. Within the limit, body composition is scored as an exempt component; over it, the PFRA is Unsatisfactory.
Source: AFMAN 36-2905 paras 3.7.2 and 3.15.4.7, Table 3.2 and Attachment 8. - Space ForceAt a waist-to-height ratio of 0.55 or above, a lab-grade body fat assessment such as DEXA follows, or a 2-3 site tape method where none is available.
Source: SPFMAN 36-2905 para 9.2. - Coast GuardThe tape test is the second of four screening steps. If you weigh more than the screening weight for your height, a two- or three-site tape test, depending on your sex, checks your body fat against the limit for your age. Abdominal circumference and then the PFT follow if you miss it, and passing any step ends the screening.
Source: COMDTINST 1020.8I enclosure (1); My Coast Guard News, October 2026.
Body fat limits by branch
This table shows the most body fat each branch accepts at the body fat step; a result at or below the limit meets it. Only the Marine Corps and Coast Guard limits change with age. The Marine Corps rows are the limits before any PFT and CFT allowance: 250 or more on both tests raises the limit for your age by 1 percentage point, and 285 or more on both allows up to 26% for men and 36% for women (MARADMIN 066/26 para 2.b.2). The checker above applies the allowance for you.
| Branch | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| Navy | 26% | 36% |
| Marine Corps, 17 to 20 | 18% | 26% |
| Marine Corps, 21 to 25 | 18% | 26% |
| Marine Corps, 26 to 30 | 19% | 27% |
| Marine Corps, 31 to 35 | 19% | 27% |
| Marine Corps, 36 to 40 | 20% | 28% |
| Marine Corps, 41 to 45 | 20% | 28% |
| Marine Corps, 46 to 50 | 21% | 29% |
| Marine Corps, 51 and over | 21% | 29% |
| Air Force | 26% | 36% |
| Coast Guard, under 30 | 22% | 32% |
| Coast Guard, 30 to 39 | 24% | 34% |
| Coast Guard, 40 and over | 26% | 36% |
| Space Force | 26% | 36% |
Sources: Navy PRP Guide-4, Body Composition Assessment (Jun 2026), sections 2 and 3; MCO 6110.3A W/ADMIN CH-4, enclosure (3); MARADMIN 066/26 para 2.b.2; AFMAN 36-2905 (24 Mar 2026) paras 3.7.2, 3.15.4.2, 3.15.4.5, 3.15.4.7, Table 3.2; COMDTINST 1020.8I, Body Composition Standards Program (31 Mar 2022), enclosure (1); SPFMAN 36-2905 incorporating Change 3 (24 Apr 2026) paras 3.2.4, 9.1, 9.2.
Military body fat step questions
Is the Navy’s body fat step the same as the US Navy body fat calculator?
No. The Navy’s step 2 uses your height minus your waist, read against your weight in Guide-4 Tables 2 and 3. The US Navy body fat calculator on FitnessVolt works from your height, neck and waist, so its number is an estimate made a different way and will not match the Navy’s tables exactly.
Can I retake the measurement?
In the Navy, no. The official Body Composition Assessment is the first and only one allowed once your command’s PFA cycle has begun, retests are not authorized, and a later medical waiver does not reverse it (Guide-4 section 1 paras 1 and 2.e). Other branches set their own rules in the documents listed under Sources.
Sources
- Navy PRP Guide-4, Body Composition Assessment U.S. Navy, June 2026. The two-step Body Composition Assessment and its tables.
- AFMAN 36-2905, Air Force Physical Fitness Readiness Program Department of the Air Force, 24 March 2026. The WHtR points and the body fat assessment.
- MCO 6110.3A W/ADMIN CH-4, Marine Corps Body Composition and Military Appearance Program Commandant of the Marine Corps, 28 May 2025. The Marine Corps body fat limits for each age group.
- MARADMIN 066/26 February 2026. Waist-to-height ratio first, then body fat; the performance allowance.
- SPFMAN 36-2905, Human Performance and Readiness, incorporating Change 3 Department of the Air Force, 24 April 2026. Chapter 9, the body composition assessment.
- COMDTINST 1020.8I, Body Composition Standards Program U.S. Coast Guard, 31 March 2022. Weight screening, tape test and body fat limits; still in effect.
- Coast Guard reinstates standard Body Composition Screenings for all members U.S. Coast Guard, October 2026. The four screening steps, in order.
- Army Directive 2026-13 (Army Body Composition Program and Standards) Secretary of the Army, July 2026. The waist-to-height ratio is the Army's only body composition measure.
- DoW Instruction 1308.03, DoW Physical Fitness/Body Composition Program Under Secretary of War, 31 August 2026. Two fitness tests a year, the waist-to-height ratio limit and the body fat bounds for the five DoW services.
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