Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Mary Katzenberger | Soldiers from 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, run to the...... read more read more
Subscribe
FORT STEWART, Ga. – First Lt. John S. Gresham, kneeling, cradles the casualty’s head in his right hand while applying a field dressing to a wound on the casualty’s face using his left hand.
Imitation blood gushes upward from the actor-casualty’s wound like a geyser, coating the platoon leader’s face and ACU blouse. The actor-casualty moans and affects a momentary state of panic. Without skipping a beat, Gresham continues applying first aid according to the performance measures to which all Soldiers are instructed.
The only thing making this training different from training conducted on any other day is the fact that Gresham is performing under the pressure of a stopwatch and a grader in an Expert Infantryman Badge test event.
Gresham, an infantry officer assigned to Company A, 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, was one of hundreds of candidates to vie for the coveted EIB, Jan. 30-Feb. 3, on Fort Stewart, Ga.
Out of the 616 candidates to begin the test, only 112 proved themselves worthy of earning the badge.
The EIB test event, hosted by the “Vanguard” brigade, pitted soldiers against themselves and their proficiencies in a test of physical fitness and endurance and of combat readiness and precision.
To earn the EIB, candidates had to: earn 75 points in each event of the Army Physical Fitness Test; find three out of four points in a land navigation course in two hours on both a day and a night course; perform in, with two mistakes or less, three scenario-based lanes incorporating multiple weapons systems and combat skill requirements; and complete a 12-mile foot march in three hours.
Sgt. 1st Class Corey P. Hawkins, noncommissioned officer in charge of the traffic control point lane of the EIB, with Company C, 3rd Bat., 7th Inf. Regt., said to earn the badge, soldiers had to be focused and pay extreme attention to detail—qualities essential to the infantryman’s everyday mission.
“Depending on the weapon system you’re on … [and how you need to assess] casualties—what injuries they have, what injuries to treat first—[to the] details when you’re calling up [reports], you know you’ve got to have upmost accuracy,” Hawkins said. “I believe that makes you, as an infantryman, more lethal and it will help you save more lives, both on knowing your weapon systems and employing them properly [but] also with [casualty evacuation and] being able to get personnel out within that golden hour to the next higher care.”
Hawkins said when a soldier earns the EIB it not only demonstrates the soldier’s proficiency, but it foreshadows their ability to perform in a combat environment. The lane NCOIC added that the candidates he saw vying for the badge were up to snuff.
“[The] guys have been doing [well],” Hawkins said. “From what I’ve seen from the candidates they’ve been focused [and have been] concentrating on what they need to do.
Pvt. Kevin C. McGrew, an infantryman with C Troop, 6th Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 4th IBCT, was one of the 112 candidates who nailed the target to earn the EIB.
McGrew, who has been in the Army for less than a year, said the support from his battle buddies, family and friends helped him through the test.
“It feels [like a] great accomplishment,” McGrew said. “I don’t want to admit it but I was crying as I passed the finish line [of the foot march]—everyone was cheering me on [and] it was motivating.”
| Date Taken: | 02.03.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 02.03.2012 14:33 |
| Story ID: | 83300 |
| Location: | FORT STEWART, GA, US |
| Web Views: | 380 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 112 earn coveted EIB after week-long test, by SFC Mary Katzenberger, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT