Photo By Chuck Cannon | Staff Sgt. Russell Dix, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team,...... read more read more
FORT POLK, La. –– The Expert Infantry Badge, or EIB, is a decoration that symbolizes competence in the core military skills that all infantrymen need to master to do their job –– engage and destroy the enemies of America on the field of battle.
It also tells young Soldiers and senior leadership that the wearer is someone they can count on when infantry tasks are assigned. The young Soldier can look to someone who wears the EIB as an example to emulate and the senior leader can trust the Soldier has the skill and knowledge to accomplish any assigned task without being constantly checked up on.
It also gives Soldiers a great sense of pride in the accomplishment. This leads to better, more effective units and a more lethal fighting force in combat. To paraphrase former Vice President Joe Biden, “It’s kind of a big deal.”
Over the past three weeks, Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division were on a mission to earn that prestigious award. They were joined in the quest by other Soldiers from varied organizations. From the 3rd BCT, members of the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment; 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment; 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment; and the 3rd Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment were joined by Soldiers from 1st Battalion (Airborne), 509th Infantry Regiment; 1st Battalion (Airborne), 504th Infantry Regiment; and the 3rd Cavalry Regiment –– more than 700 Soldiers total –– on a pursuit for excellence. In the end, more than 100 would achieve their goal.
The EIB was created in 1944 on the orders of the Army Chief of Staff, Gen. George C. Marshall. The badge represented the tough role the infantry played in combat and symbolized proficiency in the infantry arts.
The competition begins with the Expert Physical Fitness Examination. Requirements include pushups, sit-ups and a 4-mile run that must be completed in less than 32 minutes.
The second event is day and night land navigation. Candidates, in combat gear and using only a map and compass, must navigate to four points during the day and three points at night. Both tests need to be completed in three hours to receive a “go” on the task.
The next phase includes stations that test a Soldier’s proficiency in 30 infantry skills. Skills include tearing down and reassembling weapons, and dealing with weapons malfunctions; providing first aid to a buddy wounded on the battlefield, in and out of mission oriented protective posture or MOPP gear; attacking and clearing a bunker with a hand grenade; setting up a claymore mine and more.
Soldiers are allowed to receive one “no-go” per station and can re-test a second time, but may not have any more than three “no-gos” or fails for the entire competition.
The final day consists of a 12-mile ruck march with a 35-pound pack. Candidates must cross the finish line within three hours. Once the ruck is complete, the final task is disassembly, reassembly and a function check on an M-4 or M-16 rifle.
Spc. Alden Mayotte, 2-2 Inf, was a first time candidate who earned the award. He said the toughest thing for him was the amount of information he had to retain. “The hardest part was the 30 individual events. You had to know the steps to perform each task and then brain-dump it once you were finished then try to remember what the requirements for the next task were,” he said.
He believes that earning the EIB will be good for him moving forward. “As a junior enlisted Soldier I believe it will help me get to the next level in my career. I’m looking forward to taking the next step,” he said.
Sgt. Russell Dix, also a member of 2-2 Inf was one of 35 Soldiers who earned “True Blue” status. True Blues are Soldiers that passed the test the first time, every time with zero “no-gos.” These Soldiers received the Army Commendation Medal from Col. Kendall Clarke, the 3rd BCT commander, and a challenge coin from Brig. Gen. Patrick D. Frank, commanding general of the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk.
Dix said he was proud of how he finished. “Each task is hard enough by itself and you can only get one “no-go” per station. We have 30 of those tasks, so being able to complete them without a “no-go is challenging,” he said. “I honestly didn’t know if I would be able to do it, so it’s a pretty big accomplishment. It means a lot.”
Dix talked about the conditions Soldiers experience during the ordeal. “Not only do you have these 30 tasks that you must do perfectly during the test, but prior to that, you’re getting up and training for the test from 4 or 5 a.m. until 6 or 7 p.m. That goes on every day for two weeks and then you have test week,” he said. “When the test starts, you get up at about 2:30 a.m. to do your physical fitness test and then a week of trying to perform all these tasks flawlessly. It can get pretty stressful.”
1st Lt. Tyler Wesley, 2-2 Inf, also earned the EIB as a “True Blue.” He said the badge is given to individuals, but it takes a company of Soldiers working together to be successful. “Even if, at the end of the three weeks, people don’t come out the other side with their EIB, there are many good things that come from it. First, it’s good training,” he said. “It bonds Soldiers. They don’t separate officers and enlisted so I went through with my platoon. Yes, it’s an individual event, but at the end of the day you need other people around you, supporting you, helping you through it.”
To illustrate this point, Wesley, who has been in the Army for two years said he doesn’t have the depth of knowledge that other, more experienced Soldiers have, but that’s where his battle buddies come in. “I’d be working a task (during the train-up) and they would say ‘No sir. That’s wrong. You need to try again.’ So I would re-do it and they would grade me,” he said. “At the end of the day, you need other people surrounding you –– helping you through it.”
Wesley talked about the bond between infantry Soldiers who share experiences like the EIB test. “The reason we have such strong bonds is that we have shared difficult experiences,” he said. “We started the ruck march at about 3:30 a.m. and the first six miles were pretty good. It was chilly. But not too bad. We got to the halfway point and turned around and the lightning and thunder started up.”
Things would only get worse from that point. It began to rain. It was already cold out and the combination of events took its toll on Wesley. “I was marching with one of my junior Soldiers and he was really pushing the pace,” he said. “I wanted to slow down, but he said ‘Sir, we need to keep going.’ Because of his encouragement, we came in under time. The test is a really humbling experience.”
| Date Taken: | 11.16.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 11.16.2018 13:12 |
| Story ID: | 300278 |
| Location: | FORT POLK, LOUISIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 82 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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