Photo By Bernhard Lashleyleidner | Col. John Reynolds III, commander, 1st ABCT, pins the Army Achievement Medal and the...... read more read more
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CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait – Almost 80 “Devil” Brigade Soldiers proved they had the mental and physical skill it took to earn the coveted Expert Infantry Badge Oct. 24 at Camp Buehring.
Of the Soldiers who earned their EIB, 17 also received an Army Achievement Medal and the distinction of being “True Blue.”
The True Blue distinction means the Soldiers completed all tasks without making any mistakes.
Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Evans, senior noncommissioned officer, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, said the true blue distinction is given to Soldiers for completing the more than 40 tasks without making any mistakes, which is very difficult to do.
He said Soldiers could only receive three “no-gos” throughout the entire event and could not fail the same twice.
“It’s great to see the passion in the eyes of the young Soldiers as they received their EIB,” Evans said. “The commander and I both earned our EIBs true blue.”
Evans, a native of Columbus, Georgia, said typically a group has a 1-percent rate of the candidates earning their EIB true blue, but this class averaged more than 5 percent, which is a great accomplishment.
Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Widener, operations NCOIC, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st ABCT, 1st
Inf., Div., said the EIB was created in October 1943 and is awarded to infantry Soldiers who have passed abroad range of critical infantry skills and have exceeded the Army Physical Fitness Test.
“Every infantryman strives for the EIB because it sets them apart from their peers,” Widener said. “It shows they are a Skill Level One task expert.”
The five-day event tested individual candidates on the Army Physical Fitness Test day and night land navigation,
weapons skills, individual tactical lanes and a 12-mile foot march.
About 320 candidates participated in the grueling weeklong event that has a pass rate of about 10 percent.
“We lose about 50 percent of the candidates during the (Army PT test),” Widener said. “It’s not that Soldiers are not in good physical shape, it’s due to the EIB (Army PT test) standard of 75 percent scored in each event, which exceeds the Army standard of 60 percent in each event.”
Widener, a native of Warner Robins, Georgia, said the brigade lost more than 150 after the first event.
“The hardest thing was memorizing the correct sequence and order when dealing with the different weapons,” said Sgt. Michael Doug, infantryman, HHC, 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st ABCT, 1st Inf. Div.
Doug, a Haskell, New Jersey, native, said the road march was the hardest event.
The EIB training and testing was intended to be rigorous, mission-focused and conducted under realistic conditions, said Master Sgt. Tony Reese, operations sergeant major, 1st Bn., 16th Inf. Regt., 1st ABCT, and a native of Dothan, Ala.
“Conducting the event while deployed to Kuwait put Soldiers under a combat scenario,” Reese said. “It also provides less distraction, which gave Soldiers an opportunity to focus on the task at hand and increase their chances of earning their EIB.”
The culminating event was a 12-mile foot march, while carrying a 35-pound rucksack, which had to be completed in three hours or less to meet EIB standards.
Seventy-nine participants out of 80 finished the foot march in the prescribed time.
Evans attributed the number of Soldiers receiving their EIBs to the hard work of the leaders preparing the candidates and to the professionalism of the cadre and staff that put on a great event, ensuring each Soldier performed all tasks to standard.
“This is called engaged leadership at the lowest level,” Evans said. “This makes the Soldiers who earned their EIBs a true representation of the best in the brigade.”
| Date Taken: | 11.14.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 11.14.2014 00:45 |
| Story ID: | 147806 |
| Location: | CAMP BUEHRING, KW |
| Hometown: | COLUMBUS, GEORGIA, US |
| Hometown: | DOTHAN, ALABAMA, US |
| Hometown: | HASKELL, NEW JERSEY, US |
| Hometown: | WARNER ROBINS, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 164 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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