Hundreds of Marne soldiers to vie for EIB

News: Hundreds of Marne soldiers to vie for EIB

4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs

Follow This Unit

Story by Sgt. Mary Katzenberger Follow This Journalist

Sgt. Mary Katzenberger

Spc. Abreu J. Moses, an infantryman with C Company, 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, looks through the rear sight of an AT4 training model, Jan. 24, at the Expert Infantryman Badge test preparation training site on Fort Stewart, Ga. Moses and other “Vanguard” soldiers will vie for the coveted EIB, Jan. 30-Feb. 3.

FORT STEWART, Ga. – Hundreds of 3rd Infantry Division soldiers will vie for the coveted Expert Infantryman Badge, Jan. 30-Feb. 3, on Fort Stewart, Ga.

The event, which tests soldiers on a variety of combat skills, will begin with an Army Physical Fitness Test in which candidates must score 75 points per event. Soldiers will then be graded in go or no-go, hands-on scenarios in urban, patrol and traffic control point lanes, during day and night land navigation courses and on a final 12-mile foot march.

Soldiers who meet the standards of the test will be awarded the EIB, a badge established in 1943 by Section I, War Department Circular 269, to promote all-around, high proficiency in infantryman and to further espirit de corps in their units.

Sgt. 1st Class Andre T. Green II, a platoon sergeant with Company A, 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, said when an infantryman earns his EIB he is set above his peers and is regarded as being “the best of the best” as an infantryman.

Green, who earned his EIB in 2000, said he is sending 15 of his soldiers to the test event. The platoon sergeant said he and his subordinate non-commissioned officers have been training their soldiers on EIB-specific tasks for four hours a day, every work day since the beginning of January.

“They’re looking good,” Green said of his soldiers. “Hopefully all 15 [soldiers] will get it, based off [them meeting the prerequisites] and [through] the experiences I’ve had with them.”

The EIB test will conclude with an awards ceremony, Feb. 3, at 11:30 a.m. on the parade field in front of the 4th IBCT headquarters building.

Connected Media