Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Eliverto Larios | Staff Sgt. Larry P. Floresberrier, a paratrooper assigned to the 1st Battalion, 325th...... read more read more
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FORT BRAGG, N.C.-- The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines the word expert as a person who has special skill or knowledge relating to a particular subject.
Paratroopers from across the 82nd Airborne Division had the chance to prove their proficiency and be named experts during the 2nd Brigade Combat Team’s Expert Infantryman Badge testing last week on Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
“The EIB … test that the infantry has in place tests skill level one tasks for all ranks,” said Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Hammond, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the EIB testing for the Brigade’s 2nd Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, which hosted the challenging, weeklong event.
More than 500 showed up to try, but in testament to the challenges facing those that made the attempt to earn the rifle-adorned, infantry-blue badge, only 52 ultimately passed.
On the first day of EIB testing, candidates must outperform the Army’s regulation standards on the physical fitness test and demonstrate competence at land navigation, both under the sun and in the dark of night.
For the next three days, candidates must perform a series of tasks in master skills testing to demonstrate familiarity on the Army’s array of weapons systems. They must also show proficiency in all three tactical test lanes that include call for indirect fire and medical skills as well as a patrol lane that tests their mastery of combat skills, including react to direct and indirect enemy fire, throw hand grenades and set up an ambush using an M18 claymore mine.
On the final day, the candidate must complete a grueling, 20 km ruck march in only three hours: one hour less than the Army’s regulation requirement.
“I had the most difficult time on the weapons systems,” said Pvt. Dillon T. Shaver, a young infantryman with the 2nd Battalion, 325th AIR and as of Friday afternoon, an EIB badge-holder.
Shaver wasn’t the only candidate to struggle with meeting every detail of the test requirements for almost a dozen different weapon platforms.
The master skills testing was the most challenging for the candidates, said Hammond.
“The candidates have to show proficiency in various weapon systems,” he said. “Typically, that’s where we have the highest attrition.”
By the end of day four, almost 90 percent of the original number of candidates that had undertaken the challenge had washed out. Washing out doesn’t necessarily imply that a candidate didn’t adequately prepare however, as the tests require perfect demonstration of a large number of warrior tasks. The slightest mistake will get the candidate a no go. A retest at a station is permitted, but receive a second no go, or get three total throughout the entirety of the stations, and the candidate is dismissed from the rest of testing for another year. Should a candidate receive a no go in two events, they are called “blade runners.” Make a single mistake and they’re out. Conversely, any candidate that passes all events without a single no go is dubbed “true blue.”
For the week prior to the EIB trials, the candidates were given a chance to hone their skills before undergoing the actual testing.
“During the training, they get to go through an entire walk-through of each event,” said Hammond. “Then they get to take a practice test just as they would during test day.”
Shaver said he took advantage of all the chances he had to study and practice, placing emphasis on those events where he knew he was weakest.
“I ran all the lanes at least once during EIB training week,” he said. “We were all given EIB books to study. I would study that book in my room whenever I could. We would ruck at least twice a week and do pushups and sit ups on the hour, every hour.”
By the end of EIB week, only 52 paratroopers crossed the finish line of the 12-mile ruck march within the allotted time, earning the prestigious badge. With a generally diminutive success rate for candidates throughout the Army, those who have earned the badge show that they are amongst the most skilled and proficient of war fighters.
“It means respect for me mostly,” said Shaver, one of only two private-ranked infantrymen to earn their EIB. “I’m the new guy, but this shows that I can do what is expected of me and that I can put out what is necessary.”
The badge on the chest of a paratrooper holds more value than simple bragging rights.
“When other Soldiers see someone … earn it, it pushes them harder to earn that badge,” said Hammond. “Especially when the younger guys get it.”
| Date Taken: | 11.26.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 11.26.2014 11:38 |
| Story ID: | 148912 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 376 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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