Army Body Fat Calculator

The 2026 standard. A Soldier is 70 in tall with a 37 in waist at the navel. Waist-to-height ratio = 37 ÷ 70 = 0.529, less than 0.55, so it meets the standard. The largest waist allowed at this height is just under 0.55 × 70 = 38.5 in, leaving 1.5 in of room.

In centimetres, a near miss. At 180 cm the waist must be under 0.55 × 180 = 99 cm. A 100 cm waist gives 100 ÷ 180 = 0.556: it does not meet the standard, by 1 cm. Under AD 2026-13 a confirmation measurement is then taken the same duty day by a different team before the Soldier is flagged.

The common mistake: thinking a passing tape test still counts. A 42-year-old man, 5 ft 11 in (71 in) and 190 lb, with readings of 40, 40.5 and 39.75 in, would have scored 30% on the previous one-site tape, over his 26% limit. Under the current rule only the ratio matters: 40.08 ÷ 71 = 0.565, over 0.55, and since AD 2026-13 no tape result or fitness-test score can override it. A Soldier who passed the old tape can still miss the ratio, and the reverse.

On 1 July 2026 Army Directive 2026-13 made the waist-to-height ratio the single Army Body Composition Program standard: under 0.55 for every Soldier in the Regular Army, Army National Guard and Army Reserve, measured at least twice a year, with a same-day confirmation by a different team before anyone is flagged. It discontinued the height-and-weight screening tables, ruled out tape tests and scans as a way to challenge the result, and rescinded AD 2023-11, AD 2023-08 and AD 2025-17. A Soldier at 0.55 or above is enrolled in the program.

Before that, Soldiers over the screening table were taped. Army Directive 2023-11, dated 9 June 2023, introduced a one-site tape at the navel with its own equations, following scientific assessments of the body composition program; ALARACT 046/2023 phased it in over 12 months, and from June 2024 it was the only tape method, with a DXA, InBody 770 or Bod Pod scan available to Soldiers who failed it. Results were compared with the age-group limits in AR 600-9 Table B-2.

The earlier multi-site tape used the Defense Department’s circumference equations, which go back to the US Navy work of Hodgdon and Beckett in 1984: neck and abdomen for men, neck, waist and hips for women. AR 600-9 printed them with worked samples in its 16 July 2019 edition. Both tapes are kept here, clearly marked, for checking past records.

This calculator leads with the Army’s current standard from Army Directive 2026-13: it divides your waist at the navel by your height, compares the ratio with 0.55, and gives the largest waist allowed for your height and your margin, in inches or centimetres, averaging up to three readings. The two previous methods, the one-site tape of 2023–2026 and the AR 600-9 multi-site tape, are kept as separate modes for checking past records, with the Army’s rounding rules and the Table B-2 age limits. Formulas and samples come from the Army’s own ALARACT 046/2023 and AR 600-9.

It is a practice tool, not an official assessment: only measurements taken by your unit and recorded on DA Form 5500 count. For general information only — not medical advice. Talk to a doctor or other qualified professional about your own health.

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Related tools: Body Fat Calculator, BMI Calculator, and Lean Body Mass & FFMI Calculator.