Airmen do a 2-mile run as part of a physical training test at Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash., Oct. 29, 2024. Under revised Air Force guidance issued Jan. 6, 2026, airmen will no longer be required to complete a 2-mile run to meet fitness standards. ( Tiffany Del Oso/U.S. Air Force)

Airmen will no longer be required to complete a 2-mile run to meet fitness standards, according to updated guidance released by the Air Force this week.

Previously mandated once per year under a policy revision in September, the 2-mile run is now optional for both semiannual tests. Airmen may instead choose the high aerobic multi-shuttle run to fulfill the cardio component.

Fitness testing remains paused until the end of February to give units time to adjust to the updated standards and procedures. The upcoming diagnostic period, which begins March 1, will now end June 30 instead of Aug. 31 as previously planned.

Diagnostic tests are unofficial assessments conducted under official conditions and are widely treated as practice runs. After completing one, airmen may accept the score and have it entered into their records or decline it and test again later.

The service is maintaining its shift to twice-yearly testing, regardless of score. That change, announced in September, ended a policy in place since 2010 that allowed airmen who scored 90 or above to test just once a year.

Fitness scores will begin appearing in annual performance briefs starting in February for officers and in May for enlisted members, according to the update, which was issued Tuesday.

The updates came the same day the Space Force announced changes to its own fitness program, which shares several similarities with the Air Force’s.

Unlike airmen, Space Force guardians began testing under new guidance on Jan. 1. The twice-yearly requirement applies to participants in the branch’s continuous fitness assessment program, a pilot that tracks individual fitness through wearable devices.

Guardians who joined the initial phase of the study were told they would be exempt from physical training tests for two years. Those who enrolled in the second phase, which began in October, were told they would need to complete only one test per year.

In a key difference from the Air Force’s policy, guardians must complete the 2-mile run at least once annually.

Both services fall under the Department of the Air Force. The updates are part of a broader Defense Department review of grooming and readiness standards ordered by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in March.