A change in Army policy requires active-duty soldiers 30 and older to have periodic physical examinations on record that are no older than five years, but they no longer need to have the exams at specific ages.
The new policy allows any military medical examination to be used, eliminating duplication of examinations for other requirements.
The change also means that additional medical examination requirements for soldiers age 40 and older will be performed during the first examination at or after 40.
However, general officers and women on active duty are still required to have annual examinations.
Also, along with the annual breast and pelvic exams for women, a mammogram is required every two years beginning at age 40 and annually beginning at age 50, and chlamydia screening is required for women under 25.
The Armywide change went into effect Jan. 15 and will be reflected in the next update of Army regulations on standards of medical fitness.
Another expected change will halt the practice of soldiers hand-carrying their exam information to their nearest personnel office to officially update their records.
According to a Europe Regional Medical Command statement, the Army could have a program in place as early as August that allows the status of physical exams to be entered directly into Army databases at the military treatment facility.
