How to fill out DA Form 5500, the Army WHtR worksheet

Q: Which DA Form 5500 is current?

The current form is DA Form 5500, Army Body Composition Screening and Assessment Worksheet, JUL 2026. The Army Publishing Directorate dates it 1 July 2026 and lists Change 101, dated 1 September 2026. The bottom of the form says previous editions are obsolete. A copy with neck, abdomen or hip blocks is the old body fat worksheet. Two printings carry the same JUL 2026 date, so check the bottom right corner. The current one says APD AEM v1.01ES, and its height block reads “rounded to the nearest 0.50 inch,” which matches the Army’s measuring instructions. The first printing, v1.00ES, says “up to the nearest 0.50 inch,” and army.mil still hosts that copy. Either way, height is rounded to the nearest half inch.

By FPKT · Published November 11, 2026

Quick answer: The two people measuring you fill out DA Form 5500: your name, rank, sex, age and height to the nearest half inch, then three waist readings, each rounded down to the half inch. They divide the average waist by your height and write the ratio to three decimal places without rounding, so 0.5496 goes down as 0.549 and meets the standard. At 0.55 or higher, a different team measures you again the same duty day; the recorder signs the form and your commander or supervisor approves it.

FPKT, a free app for iPhone, iPad and Mac, applies the rounding rules to your height and waist readings, works out the ratio and fills in the July 2026 DA Form 5500 as a PDF you can save or print.

To fill out DA Form 5500, the July 2026 Army Body Composition Screening and Assessment Worksheet, the measurers write down your height and three waist readings, average the readings and divide by your height. That gives your waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), the Army’s only body composition standard since Army Directive 2026-13 (1 July 2026). The form records whether the ratio is under 0.55, the standard. You don’t fill it in yourself. Two trained measurers do, and your commander or supervisor approves it.

Below is every block on the form, in order, with a worked example of the math and the common mistakes to check for.

What is DA Form 5500?

DA Form 5500 is the worksheet the Army uses to record a Soldier’s waist-to-height ratio. It holds one measurement and, if needed, the confirmation measurement that follows a result of 0.55 or higher. Army Directive 2026-13 says the WHtR for every Soldier is recorded on DA Form 5500 and in the Army Training Information System (ATIS). The same form is used for men and women.

It used to be a different form. Under AR 600-9 (2019), DA Form 5500 was the men’s body fat content worksheet, used for the tape test at the neck and abdomen, and DA Form 5501 was the women’s version. The directive ended the tape test and rescinded DA Form 5501. Some DA 5500 pages and fillable copies online still describe the old body fat worksheet.

Which DA Form 5500 is current?

The current form is DA Form 5500, Army Body Composition Screening and Assessment Worksheet, JUL 2026. The Army Publishing Directorate dates it 1 July 2026 and lists Change 101, dated 1 September 2026. The bottom of the form says previous editions are obsolete. A copy with neck, abdomen or hip blocks is the old body fat worksheet.

Two printings carry the same JUL 2026 date, so check the bottom right corner. The current one says APD AEM v1.01ES, and its height block reads “rounded to the nearest 0.50 inch,” which matches the Army’s measuring instructions. The first printing, v1.00ES, says “up to the nearest 0.50 inch,” and army.mil still hosts that copy. Either way, height is rounded to the nearest half inch.

Who fills out DA Form 5500?

Two people measure you, and both must be Army noncommissioned officers (NCOs) or higher, or Department of the Army civilians trained to measure the waist. One places the tape and reads it. The other checks the tape’s placement and tension, and writes the readings on the form. That second person, the recorder, signs as “prepared by.” Your commander or supervisor signs as “approved by supervisor.”

You’re measured by someone of your own sex. If no one is available, someone of the opposite sex can measure you while a Soldier of your sex watches. Our guide to the Army waist-to-height ratio standard covers the rest of the measuring rules: what you wear, the tape and what happens if a skin fold hides the belly button.

How to fill out DA Form 5500, block by block

Annex A to EXORD 182-26, the Army’s measuring guidance, explains the main blocks in Table B-1 and paragraph B-3, and the form prints its own instructions for the rest. Here they are in the order they appear on the form.

The top of the form

Name (Last, First, Middle Initial). Your last name, first name and middle initial.
Rank. Your rank.
Height (rounded to the nearest 0.50 inch). Measured in socks, no shoes, standing straight with your chin level, from the soles of your feet to the top of your head. It’s rounded to the nearest half inch, up or down, so 67⅝ inches is recorded as 67.50 and 67⅞ inches as 68.00.
Sex. Male or Female. The form has check boxes, though Annex A says to circle one.
Age. Your age in years.
Note: ½" = .50. Nothing goes here. It’s a reminder to write half inches as decimals, so 36½ inches is 36.50.

WHtR measurement: the three waist readings

The tape goes around your waist at the belly button, parallel to the floor, starting on your right side. The measurers take three readings and write them in the First, Second and Third blocks.

Each reading is rounded down to the nearest half inch, never up. A reading of 36⅞ inches goes down as 36.50, and 37¼ goes down as 37.00. Height is rounded to the nearest half inch, but the waist is always rounded down. That difference is an easy place to slip.

In the Average block, the three readings are added and divided by three. The form says to average them to three decimal places.

The WHtR box

The WHtR box is the average waist divided by your height. It’s recorded to three decimal places and never rounded: any digits after the third decimal place are dropped. The form’s own example is a result of 0.549888, recorded as 0.549. A WHtR of 0.549 meets the standard, and 0.550 does not.

If applicable, confirmation WHtR measurement

This section stays blank if you meet the standard. It’s used only when your first WHtR is 0.55 or higher. A different team measures you again on the same duty day, before your commander takes any action. The section repeats the same blocks: three readings, the average and the WHtR. The Army’s FAQ says you’re flagged and enrolled in the Army Body Composition Program (ABCP) if you still don’t meet the standard after this second measurement.

Remarks

The form recommends using Remarks to write out the math step by step. That makes the result easy to check later. It’s also the only open space on the form for a fourth waist reading, if one was taken (see below).

Check all that apply

One box is checked: Individual is in compliance with Army Standards, or Is not in compliance with Army Standards. In compliance means a WHtR under 0.55. If there was a confirmation measurement, go by that result, since it decides whether you’re enrolled.

Prepared by and approved by supervisor

Prepared by (name), rank, date and signature. The recorder: the person who checked the tape and wrote down the readings, not the person holding the tape.
Approved by supervisor, rank, date and signature. The commander or supervisor of the Soldier being measured.

Both dates are written YYYYMMDD, so 11 November 2026 is 20261111. The form has no separate block for the date of the measurement, and no block for your signature.

How do you calculate the WHtR on DA Form 5500?

Round each of the three waist readings down to the half inch, average them to three decimal places, then divide by your height rounded to the nearest half inch. Write the answer to three decimal places and drop the rest without rounding. Here’s a worked example for a Soldier measured at 67⅝ inches tall.

Block	Reading or math	On the form
Height	67⅝ in	67.50
First	37¼ in	37.00
Second	36⅞ in	36.50
Third	37⅛ in	37.00
Average	(37.00 + 36.50 + 37.00) ÷ 3	36.833
WHtR	36.833 ÷ 67.50 = 0.54567…	0.545

A WHtR of 0.545 is under 0.55, so this Soldier is in compliance.

Dropping digits instead of rounding can decide the result. Annex A’s own screening chart has an example: a 36-inch waist at 65.5 inches tall is 0.5496…, which goes on the form as 0.549 and meets the standard. Rounded, it would be 0.550 and fail. Now take a Soldier who is 64 inches tall with readings that go down as 35.00, 35.50 and 35.50. The average is 35.333, and 35.333 ÷ 64 is 0.552. That’s 0.55 or higher, so the confirmation section gets filled in.

The same chart lists the largest half-inch waist that passes at every height from 48 to 83.5 inches, and our WHtR guide has it for common heights. It’s a shortcut, not the final word. An average of three readings can fall between half inches and still pass above the chart number. At 64 inches the chart’s limit is 35. Readings of 35.00, 35.00 and 35.50 average 35.167, and 35.167 ÷ 64 is 0.549, which meets the standard. The 35.333 average above doesn’t. If your average isn’t a whole or half inch, do the division.

What if a fourth waist reading is needed?

If one of the three readings is more than an inch off the other two, Annex A says to take a fourth and average the three that are closest. The form has blocks for only three readings, and Annex A doesn’t say how to record the fourth. The rounding is unclear here too. The form says to average to three decimal places, but Annex A’s fourth-reading sentence, carried over word for word from the old tape-test rules in AR 600-9, says to average the three closest readings “to the nearest half inch.” If your result is close to 0.55, ask your unit how it records it.

Where does the WHtR go after DA Form 5500?

Into ATIS. The Army’s FAQ says leaders record each Soldier’s WHtR there using the Leader Tool. Every Soldier is measured at least twice a calendar year, and your commander can order a measurement any time they think you may not meet the standard. Units have to leave at least 7 days between your Army Fitness Test (AFT) or Combat Field Test (CFT) and your WHtR measurement, unless your commander shortens it for urgent operational needs.

Common mistakes on DA Form 5500

Using an old form. A worksheet with neck, abdomen or hip blocks is the old body fat form. DA Form 5501 is rescinded.
Rounding a waist reading up or to the nearest half inch. Waist readings always go down to the half inch.
Always rounding the height down, like the waist. Height goes to the nearest half inch, up or down.
Rounding the ratio. 0.5496 is recorded as 0.549, not 0.550.
Treating 0.55 as a pass. The standard is under 0.55. Exactly 0.550 doesn’t meet it.
Skipping the confirmation. A result of 0.55 or higher needs a different team on the same duty day before any action.
The wrong person signing “prepared by.” It’s the recorder, not the person holding the tape.
Dates in the wrong format. Write them YYYYMMDD.

Before the approval is signed, it’s worth checking the division yourself. You can do it by hand, or with the WHtR tool in the FPKT app.