This video is all about the height and weight standards for the Air Force. But you guys know I’m always trying to give you some extra value. So if you stick around, I’m going to talk about how you may be able to join if you’re overweight or how you may be able to join if you’re under your minimum weight. And we’re starting now. All right, so on the screen right now, what you’re looking at, that’s our height and weight chart. And this is for both female and male. There’s no special height and weight for females. There’s no special height and weight for males. It’s the same. However, there is a difference in between the height. So for males, you have to be between 60 and 80 inches. So if you are shorter than 60 inches or taller than 80 inches, we’d have to do a waiver for your height. For females, that minimum height is 58 inches. You have to be within these standards if you’re trying to go to MEPs. Matter of fact, most of your recruiters are going to want you to be 7 to 10 pounds under the maximum if you’re trying to go to MEPs.
And I did tell you that I would show you a way you could go to MEPs if you’re over your maximum weight. And the way we do this is with the body fat measurement. Now, us as a recruiter, we can’t give you that body fat measurement. You’re going to have to go to a gym facility or personal trainer to get your measurements. If you’re a male, they’re going to measure your neck and they’re going to measure your waist. A good rule of thumb is if you have a big neck and a small waist, you’re usually going to be pretty good. And so if you’re a male under 30, the Air Force wants you to be at 20 % body fat based off of your neck and your waist measurements. And if you’re over 30, they want you at 24 % body fat. And for females, they’re going to measure your neck, your waist, and your hips. The hips are like the butt area. They’re going to come around your butt. So if you’re a female and you’re under 30, you’re going to need to be within 28 % body fat. And if you’re female over 30, you’re going to need to be within 32 % body fat.
And the cool little calculator you guys can use right now, you can Google Army Body Fat calculator. It’s not Air Force, but it’s going to be the same thing. You basically input your measurements and it’ll tell you your body fat. So you can use that to see where you’re at. Now, this is something important to know. Most recruiters probably won’t work you for a body fat measurement if you’re not jacked or slow. And the reason why is because if you’re just overweight but you’re still within your body fat measurement, you could potentially lose that during the depth process. So they don’t want to take that chance. But somebody who’s like jacked or slow, they know that they value their shape, they value their condition. So they’re probably going to stay in their body fat measurement during the entire depth process. So that’s something to keep in mind before you go to your recruiter asking for a body fat measurement. And I also promise you I will show you a way to join the Air Force if you’re under your minimum weight. Now, keep in mind, this is to the recruiter’s discretion too. But the Air Force also uses body mass index, and that’s basically a number that’s generated from your height and weight, and it’s used to tell us if you’re within a healthy range.
So if you’re under your minimum weight, you can still be within the body mass index standards that the Air Force has. Now, some recruiters don’t want to mess with the body mass index. They’d rather you gain the weight and be within your weight standard. But some recruiters, depending on if you’re just slightly under your minimum weight, they may use the body mass index. The percentage that is absolutely unacceptable is 17.5 %. But if you’re over the 17.5 % body mass index, you may have a chance. You just may want to talk with your recruiter and see if they will work that. Now, if your recruiter allows you to go to MEPs, when you do the height and weight process, you’re going to strip down to your underwear and they’re going to put you on a scale in your underwear. If you meet your maximum standards or your minimum standards, then you’re going to be able to swear into the debt program. But if you’re over your maximum weight, they won’t let you qualify for the Air Force, and even more, they’re going to put some restrictions on you for when you can come back. Now, here’s the best thing of all.
Once you’re actually in the Air Force, the height and weight standards go away. At that point, you only have to maintain your PT standards. They’re not looking at your weight anymore. They’re not looking at your height. So those are just for entry purposes into the Air Force. So if you’re watching this video, just keep in mind that a lot of people came in the Air Force who were originally way overweight. As a matter of fact, one of my good friends, Master Sergeant Knight Englishby, he actually came into the Air Force way overweight by like 100 or so pounds. And he got inspired by his recruiter. He went and lost all the weight and he actually ended up getting into the Air Force. As a matter of fact, him losing all that weight was so big that they wrote a story about it and put it in the Air Force Times. So I put the link to his story in the description box down below. I’m doing that for those of you who need a little motivation to lose that weight. If you’re watching this and you’re thinking, Okay, I’m going to lose the weight. I’m going to join the Air Force.
I would recommend that you first call a recruiter and try to get pre qualified. That way, when you lose all the weight, you don’t get to the recruiter’s office and realize there was something else that disqualified you from the Air Force after you spent 6 to 12 months losing weight. I mean, you still lost the weight, which is a good thing, but it could be a bummer when you do all that for the Air Force and you realize you can’t even join. If you’re shy about calling a recruiter, remember that video I put on Kyle Guy’s channel about the Air Force qualifications, you can watch that and you will get a pretty good idea if you’re qualified for the Air Force or not. I hope this video brought value to you. Like I always say, stay beautiful and stay classy. Until next time, check me out.