Current as of November 6, 2026. These standards changed twice this year and your unit may apply them differently than the documents read. Verify with your command, your servicing medical provider, and your service's current guidance before acting on any of it.
Short answer: The services have moved body composition checks to a waist-to-height ratio. The Army and Marine Corps rules we could open say the ratio looks at your waist and your height and nothing else. Muscle and scale weight are not inputs. A new Defense Health Agency guideline says stable testosterone therapy is not, by itself, a basis for a duty limitation, with a carve-out for aviation, dive, submarine, and nuclear duty. We could not verify how a civilian testosterone prescription is handled by drug testing, so this post does not claim to know.
If you are in a special duty community, read our earlier dispatch on flight status, dive, submarine, and nuclear duty first. This page is about the fitness test and the tape.
What changed in 2026
For years the Army ran a height and weight screen, then a neck and waist tape test for anyone over the table. That is gone for the Army. Army Directive 2026-13, signed by Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll, says the waist-to-height ratio is the sole measurement for all Soldiers and that the use of height and weight screening tables is discontinued. It describes the change as part of a broader Department of War initiative to apply one standard across the Joint Force.
The Marine Corps made a similar move. MARADMIN 066/26, effective January 1, 2026, set a waist-to-height ratio threshold that decides who goes on to a body fat evaluation.
The Navy and Air Force also publish their own body composition procedures. We could not open their current instructions for this post, so we are not quoting their thresholds. Pull your service's current guide and read the actual text.
Army: the rules in the directive
The Army standard is a ratio of less than 0.55. Not equal to 0.55. Less than. The directive says waist is measured, and the Army's own article on the change says it is taken at the navel and divided by height in inches.
Other specifics straight from the directive:
Every Soldier is measured at least twice per calendar year, and a commander can order a measurement at any time. If your first number misses, a confirmation measurement happens the same duty day by a different team before the commander takes any action. A Soldier at 0.55 or greater is flagged and enrolled in the Army Body Composition Program.
No fitness test score exempts anyone. The directive says so in plain words and rescinds Army Directive 2025-17. The circumference-based tape test and other body fat methods may not be used to challenge a ratio result.
Commanders are told to leave at least 7 days between the fitness test and the waist measurement so the two do not interfere, and they can shorten that for urgent operational needs.
For active duty Soldiers who get enrolled, the commander requests a medical examination to check whether an underlying medical condition is the direct cause of weight gain or of the inability to meet the standard. National Guard and Reserve Soldiers may request that exam, at their own expense when not on active duty.
The directive also says units may start separation actions for a flagged Soldier, but no Soldier will be separated until Headquarters, Department of the Army completes a 180-day assessment and issues further guidance. The Army set September 30, 2026 as its compliance date for getting measurements recorded.
Marine Corps: a tighter line
The Marine Corps threshold is a ratio of 0.52 or less, calculated by dividing waist circumference measured at the navel by height. A Marine who exceeds it goes to a body fat evaluation, using the multi-site tape method or bioelectrical impedance analysis. The Corps says the impedance machines will fully replace the tape once they are fielded. Marines who exceed the body fat standards are enrolled in the Marine Corps Body Composition Program.
Marine body fat allowances tied to PFT and CFT scores exist, and we found conflicting descriptions of the exact score cutoff in the official coverage we read. Check the MARADMIN itself for that number.
What the DHA guideline says about testosterone
On September 17, 2026 the Defense Health Agency issued a memo and a clinical practice guideline, "Testosterone Deficiency in the Male Service Member." Three lines matter for fitness and duty.
First, the guideline says neither a diagnosis of testosterone deficiency nor stable maintenance therapy is, of itself, a basis for a duty limitation or a change in deployment status. A member stable on therapy should be deployable without a waiver, depending on the formulation.
Second, the carve-out. For aeromedical, dive, submarine, and nuclear duty, both the diagnosis and the therapy may bear on qualification, determinations belong to the service authority under its own instruction, and the guideline does not change those requirements.
Third, it is blunt about what therapy is for. It treats a confirmed deficiency that is causing symptoms. Its patient sheet says it is not a performance enhancer and that the evidence does not show better energy, physical performance, or thinking in men whose levels are normal. The guideline does say therapy has demonstrated benefit for sexual function and improves body composition and bone mineral density.
The diagnosis standard is specific. Total testosterone under 300 ng/dL on two morning fasting specimens, drawn between 0700 and 1000, plus consistent symptoms. The guideline's testing conditions call for the draw to come at least 30 days after training that includes extreme physical or mental distress or sleep deprivation. Hard training blocks, field exercises, and crash diets are part of why one low number often means little.
How weight, muscle, and the waist interact
Here is what the documents let us say without guessing.
The ratio has two inputs, waist and height. Scale weight does not appear in the Army or Marine calculation, and neither does muscle mass. Someone who weighs more because of lean mass but carries a small waist is measured on the waist. Someone with a lower scale weight and a larger waist is measured on the waist too.
The Army tells commanders to keep fitness testing and the waist measurement 7 days apart. If you are training hard for a test, the measurement is a separate event with its own date.
The DHA guideline also speaks to the other direction. It says weight reduction raises total testosterone in proportion to the weight lost, that obesity warrants evaluation for a possible cause of low testosterone, and that weight management will be offered. It says treatment will not be withheld while that happens, and that requiring documented weight reduction before therapy is not supported by the guideline.
What the documents do not tell us is how testosterone therapy changes any individual waist measurement. The guideline says therapy improves body composition across studies. That is a population statement. It is not a prediction for you, and no one can promise you a number on the tape.
Drug testing: what we could not verify
This is the question patients ask most, and the honest answer is that we do not have a primary source to answer it. Military drug testing programs are governed by DoD and service instructions, and we were unable to open the current text for this post. We did not find a verified statement on how a civilian prescription for testosterone is documented or treated under those programs.
What we can say from the DHA guideline: testosterone is a Schedule III controlled substance, the guideline is written for care delivered inside military medicine, and it says declining evaluation or treatment carries no adverse personnel consequence. A prescription from a private clinic is a different path from care inside a military treatment facility. Before you start anything, ask your command's medical or substance abuse program office how it wants that documented. Do not guess and do not wait for the first test to find out.
Questions people actually ask
Does testosterone therapy exempt me from the body composition check? We found nothing in the Army directive or the Marine Corps announcement that creates such an exemption. The Army directive says no fitness test score exempts a Soldier, and for enrolled active duty Soldiers it directs a medical exam to look for an underlying cause.
Will added muscle push me over the line? The ratio uses waist and height. Whether your waist changes depends on you, and we cannot predict it.
Is the old tape test still used? In the Army, no. The directive does not authorize it to challenge a ratio result. The Marine Corps uses the tape for body fat evaluation after a ratio miss until impedance machines replace it.
Can a waiver be arranged for me? We do not arrange waivers and we cannot get anyone one. Waivers and duty determinations belong to your service and your chain of command.
Do I need a diagnosis before treatment? The DHA guideline sets two morning fasting totals under 300 ng/dL plus symptoms as its standard. Our own practice follows the same sequence.
Where we fit
Hew Health is a private, cash-pay practice. We are not TRICARE, we do not bill it, and we are not part of military medicine. Our clinics are in Destin and Orlando, Florida, and we see patients by telemedicine in 47 states.
For service members the practical question is whether to start with your own military provider. For many people that is a reasonable first stop, and if you are in a special duty community it is the required one. Start there, and bring your pre-treatment labs wherever you go next.
If you are retired, a veteran, a spouse, or in a role where civilian care makes sense, we run the workup the careful way: two morning fasting draws before any prescription, LH and FSH, hematocrit before and during treatment, and dated records. We will tell you plainly when the right answer is to talk to your command first. Request a consultation at hewhealth.com or call (850) 820-8850.
Related dispatches
- TRT and Special Duty: Flight Status, Dive, Submarine, and Nuclear
- The Military's New Testosterone Screening, Explained
- Deploying on Testosterone: Waivers, Supply, and What You Cannot Mail
Hew Health is a private medical practice. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Department of Defense or any branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. This article summarizes public information as of November 6, 2026 and is general information, not medical advice. Testosterone is a Schedule III controlled substance. Individual results vary and nothing here promises any outcome. Service policies are revised often; confirm the current text.
Sources: Army Directive 2026-13, Army Body Composition Program and Standards. U.S. Army, "The full measure: The Army's new WHtR standard," army.mil. MARADMIN 066/26 as reported in the Marine Corps Training and Education Command release carried by DVIDS, "Marine Corps revises body composition standards." Defense Health Agency memo and clinical practice guideline, "Testosterone Deficiency in the Male Service Member," September 17, 2026.