ACFT Promotion Point Changes

The recent release of the Army's guidance on ACFT promotion point changes adds long-awaited clarity for Soldiers promoting to Sergeant and Staff Sergeant.

These changes become effective on 1 April 2023 and will impact the selection process beginning with the June 2023 promotion month.

This updated policy change and timing will effect Regular Army (RA) and USAR (AGR).

USAR (less AGR) will continue to use their last record APFT to award promotion points through 31 March 2024. So those of you in the Army Reserve will have to wait a little longer to be impacted by these changes.

Click here to check out our cutoff scores page for the latest information and a back catalog of prior month's cutoff scores.

ACFT Promotion Point Changes by Category

While 800 still remains the total promotion points available for Soldiers to earn, officially adding the ACFT into the mix has caused other point categories to be changes too. Those are highlighted in this post as well.

ACFT Promotion Point Changes for Promotion to Sergeant

Sergeants will see changes across four different areas, including:

• Physical Fitness
• Awards
• Resident Military Education
• Computer Training

Staying exactly the same are Weapons (160 points), Professional Military Education (40 points), and Civilian Education (135 points).

Impact of changes:

• Physical Fitness is changing from 180 points, down to 120 points
• Awards are changing from 125 points, up to 145 points
• Resident Military Education is changing from 80 points, up to 110 points
• Computer Training is changing from 80 points, up to 90 points

ACFT Promotion Point Changes for Promotion to Staff Sergeant

Staff Sergeants will see changes in two different areas, including:

• Physical Fitness
• Resident Military Education

Staying exactly the same are Weapons (110 points), Awards (165 points), Professional Military Education (40 points), Computer Training (90 points), and Civilian Education (160 points).

Impact of changes:

• Physical Fitness is changing from 145 points, down to 120 points
• Resident Military Education is changing from 90 points, up to 115 points

Tables Showing Upcoming Promotion Point Changes:

New Weapons Qualification Promotion Point Matrix

New Record ACFT Promotion Point Matrix (Same for SGT and SSG)

USAR (less AGR) During Transition Period of 1 APR 2023 through 31 MAR 2024 (APFT points are same for SGT and SSG during this period)

Summary

Now that the path has be set with clarity and detail, it will be interesting to see how the full-scale transition rolls out.

Make sure to protect your greatest investment... YOU!

You are your best career manager, don't assume that someone else is looking out for you and has your best interests in mind.

At times, even the best leaders get self-absorbed and distracted by their own careers and simply don't look out for their team.

Don't get caught flat-footed. Stay on top of these changes and how it affects your promotion points, your situation, and your timing.

Army Regulation 600-8-19 is scheduled for an update to align with the timing of these changes.  You can see an extract of the upcoming changes HERE.

If you need more help, support, and accountability to level up your NCO career and get promoted faster, check out The Optimized NCO Membership and our no-risk 14-day FREE TRIAL.  CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE.