Army height and weight calculator for people joining the Army

Serving soldiers: the height and weight standards ended in July 2026

Army Directive 2026-13 makes the waist-to-height ratio the only authorized body composition standard and says the use of height and weight screening tables is discontinued. Those are the tables soldiers shorten to HT/WT. The Army's news article says the ratio replaced the long-standing height and weight tables.

For a soldier the check is waist divided by height, and it must come to less than 0.55. The Army waist-to-height check works that out. The soldier option in the calculator only shows what the retired AR 600-9 table printed. It is not a current standard, and this tool does not calculate a waist-to-height ratio.

The soldier recording deadline

Directive 2026-13 paragraph 9 says every soldier is to have a waist-to-height ratio recorded in the Army Training Information System no later than 90 days from the date of the directive, which is 1 July 2026. The Army waist-to-height check has the standard and the largest waist for each height from 58 to 80 inches.

Height and weight requirements for people joining the Army

AR 601-210, dated 20 March 2026, sends applicants to a height and weight table. Paragraph 3-7a says: "If the applicant is not MOS qualified, they must meet height and weight standards in accordance with AR 40-501." AR 40-501 paragraph 2-3c then names Tables 2-1 and 2-2. Those are the tables in the calculator.

Two groups are pointed to AR 600-9 instead: applicants who are already qualified in a military occupational specialty, and applicants for appointment as commissioned officers. AR 600-9 still prints its old screening table, and the documents do not say how Army Directive 2026-13 affects those applicants.

The directive does not mention applicants. Its scope names soldiers, cadets, retention actions and military schools. A recruiter confirms what applies to you.

How the applicant height and weight chart works

Each height from 58 to 80 inches has a minimum weight, the weight that gives a body mass index of 19 at any age. It then has a maximum for each of four age groups: 17 to 20, 21 to 27, 28 to 39 and 40 and over. Men and women have separate tables.

The notes under the men's table cover a man over these weights. His percent body fat "will be measured by the method described in AR 600-9," they say. If he also exceeds the body fat limit, he "will be rejected for service," they add. The women's table says the same about a female.

The body fat limits are 24, 26, 28 and 30 percent for men and 30, 32, 34 and 36 percent for women, by age group. The calculator shows the limit that applies but never estimates a body fat percentage. AR 600-9 is the method AR 40-501 names. How it works for applicants now that the Army has dropped the tape test for soldiers is not covered in the documents.

Take a 24 year old man who is 5 feet 10 inches, or 70 inches, tall. The men's table gives him a minimum of 132 pounds and a maximum of 192. At 200 pounds he is 8 pounds over, so body fat would be measured, and the limit for his age group is 26 percent. At 70 inches the other age groups have maximums of 189, 195 and 199.

Height: 58 to 80 inches, rounded to the nearest inch

AR 40-501 paragraph 2-3a says: "For both men and women, height below 58 inches or over 80 inches does not meet the standard." The height is measured and then rounded to the nearest inch. Under half an inch rounds down, and half an inch or more rounds up.

After rounding, an applicant who misses the height standard "will be rejected for service." Paragraph 2-3d recommends an administrative waiver review for Military Academy, ROTC and military medical university candidates outside the limits. On weight, AR 601-210 paragraph 4-5h says: "Weight waivers will not be considered."

The calculator rounds your height this way and shows the figure it used. Because the tables stop at 58 and 80 inches, it gives no weight range outside them.

One oddity is in the printed table. At 58 inches the men's table gives a maximum of 129 pounds for ages 17 to 20 and 128 for ages 21 to 27. The calculator uses the figures as printed.

The retired soldier table

AR 600-9 Table B-1 is the weight for height table that commanders used to screen soldiers before a body fat measurement. Paragraph 3-2c let a soldier skip the measurement if the soldier did not exceed the table weight for his or her age and measured height. Army Directive 2026-13 discontinued that screening on 1 July 2026.

The table printed a minimum weight and a screening weight for each height, sex and age group. For men at 58 and 59 inches it printed dashes in place of screening weights. Its notes referred a soldier below the minimum weight for immediate medical evaluation. They also gave added pounds per inch for heights over 80 inches.

The two tables do not agree. For a man aged 21 to 27 and 70 inches tall, AR 40-501 allows 192 pounds, and the retired AR 600-9 table screened at 185.

What the Army regulations leave unanswered

AR 40-501 gives no rule for rounding a weight, so the calculator compares the weight you enter as it is. A weight equal to the printed maximum is not over it. The tables also do not say what follows for an applicant under the minimum weight.

No document reconciles the applicant tables with the directive's end of height and weight screening for soldiers. Both regulations were issued or last revised before the directive: AR 601-210 on 20 March 2026 and AR 40-501 on 29 September 2025.