Directives Tracker
Since the September 2025 Quantico address, the Pentagon has issued a steady stream of memos changing grooming, fitness, and body-composition standards for every service. This page tracks them chronologically — what changed, when it took (or takes) effect, who it affects, and the best available source. No commentary on intent. Just the record, updated as each one firms up.
Mandatory Testosterone Screening Announced for Troops 30+
Hegseth announced annual testosterone-deficiency screening will be added to the periodic health assessment for active-duty troops 30 and older (voluntary under 30), with any resulting treatment "entirely your choice." Announced via a social video — no corresponding DoD instruction, threshold, or effective date has surfaced as of this writing.
Army Rescinds AFT-Score Exemption From Body Composition Standard
The Army made the waist-to-height ratio its sole body-composition assessment, rescinding the earlier AFT-score exemption (a 465-plus Army Fitness Test total with 80 points per event, from Army Directive 2025-17, had let a high score offset the waist measurement). A high AFT score no longer exempts a soldier from the WHtR standard.
Marine Corps Implements Sex-Neutral PFT for Combat MOSs
The first service to publish a concrete implementation: Marines in combat MOSs (infantry riflemen, field artillery cannoneers, mortarmen, Raiders, and others listed in a MARADMIN) must score at least 210 of 300 points (70%) on the male, age-normed PFT standard. Effective January 1, 2026; those who miss the mark go to remedial PT and risk MOS reclassification or a promotion hold, though no punitive action starts until further guidance.
DoD-Wide Body Composition Standard: Waist-to-Height Ratio Under 0.55
Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Anthony J. Tata signed "Additional Guidance on Military Fitness Standards," replacing height/weight tables DoD-wide with a Waist-to-Height Ratio (WHtR) standard — an upper allowable ratio of less than 0.55, alongside body-fat ranges of 18–26% for men and 26–36% for women, evaluated twice a year. Effective January 1, 2026.
Quantico Address: Grooming, Fitness, IG, and EO Overhaul Announced
Secretary Hegseth addressed military leadership at Marine Corps Base Quantico and released a package of memos covering grooming standards, a reworked fitness-test regime, a review of hazing/bullying/harassment definitions, an Inspector General process overhaul, EO/EEO complaint-handling changes, and a reduction in mandatory annual training.
Grooming Standards: Beards No Longer Authorized
Service members with medical shaving waivers (e.g., pseudofolliculitis barbae) get a 12-month window to pursue a treatment plan. Most religious exemptions for facial hair — including Sikh, Norse Pagan, and some Muslim service members — were ended, reverting to pre-2010 accommodation standards.
Combat-Arms Fitness Test: Sex-Neutral, Male-Standard Scoring
The "Military Fitness Standards" memo set a sex-neutral, age-normed fitness test for combat-arms roles using the male scoring standard, requiring a 70% average — publicly described by Hegseth as returning combat jobs to "the highest male standard." Effective January 1, 2026.
Every entry here is sourced and dated. If you have a memo, instruction number, or implementation detail we're missing, let us know.