Air Force announces new force-wide fitness test: 2-mile run, twice per year

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Get ready to go that extra 2,640 feet.

After months of rumors, the Air Force confirmed on Wednesday that a new service-wide physical fitness test will include a 2-mile timed run. The service also said Airmen will take the test twice per year, up from just once currently.

Under the service’s current fitness test, airmen must run 1.5 miles. Task & Purpose first reported in June that the Air Force was considering requiring airmen to run longer for the test and make it twice a year.

Although airmen will still have the option to do the High Aerobic Multi-Shuttle Run, or HAMR – in which airmen must repeatedly run between two points 20 meters apart at an increasingly faster pace — as an alternate exercise on the fitness test, they must complete the 2-mile run at least once a year, according to the Air Force.

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Under the new fitness program, airmen must once again undergo a body composition analysis as part of their test, according to the Air Force. Active-duty airmen can complete their body composition measurements up to five days before the test.

The test consists of the following five components:

Cardiorespiratory, which includes the 2-mile run or HAMR, worth 50 points.
Muscle strength, which includes pushups or hand-release pushups, worth 15 points.
Muscle core endurance, which airmen can choose to do sit-ups, cross-leg reverse crunches, or the plank, is worth 15 points
Waist-to-height ratio, which measures airmen’s waist circumference against their height to determine body composition, worth 20 points.

Unless they are exempt from a component for a medical reason, airmen must complete the entire test.

The Air Force will pause all fitness tests starting on Jan. 1 as it begins to transition to the service’s new test, which will begin on March 1, 2026.

Commanders can now order units to conduct mass testing during the annual testing cycles, which run from September to March and March to September , according to the Air Force.

“These fitness changes are about having a healthy, ready force prepared to meet today’s mission and the demands of the future fight,” Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said in a statement. “The updated model reflects our high standards for fitness and ensures our airmen have the tools they need to protect their long-term health.”