Pacific Northwest active and Reserve Soldiers join for German Badge competition

Photo By Maj. Marvin Baker | Soldiers dash for the finish line during the 12-K ruck march portion of German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge test June 3 in Arlington, Wash.  

MARYSVILLE, WA, UNITED STATES

06.03.2015

Story by Capt. Marvin Baker 

364th Expeditionary Sustainment Command

MARYSVILLE, Wash. - Eighty-seven Soldiers vied for gold, silver or bronze medals during the first-ever 364th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) and 7th Army Reserve Careers Division-led German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge competition held at the unit’s headquarters in Marysville, Washington, June 1-3.

The three-day event attracted Soldiers from several Army Reserve and active component units in the Pacific Northwest.

“We wanted to allow lots of Soldiers in this event,” said Sgt. 1st Class Joshua D. Schultz, 7th ARCD assistant operations noncommissioned officer and event coordinator. “We were surprised and happy to see that so many were interested. Junior to senior ranking officers and enlisted Soldiers took the opportunity to earn the foreign military award. This event helps bond Soldiers together through a struggle so that they come out the other side stronger and more confident,’’ said Schultz.

Sixty-four of the 87 Soldiers earned the badge, a decoration of the Bundeswehr, the Armed Forces of the
Federal Republic of Germany, which can be worn on U.S. Military dress uniforms.

The three-day competition included the German military's basic fitness test, a swim test, 9 mm pistol shooting, and a timed 12-kilometer ruck march.

“The most challenging part of the event was the swim test,” said Spc. Danielle Frymark of the 514th Ground Ambulance Medical Company at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. Frymark, who earned her gold by tallying a total of 463 points for all the events and also has held the highest Army Physical Fitness test score in her company for the past year, said she was terrified of the swim event. She and her fellow competitors had to complete a 100-meter swim in their uniform in less than four minutes. Nearly a quarter of the Soldiers failed the swim portion of the event. However, many of them continued to compete in subsequent events just for the experience, they said.
The event was also a challenge for the coordinators.

Schultz began planning in October 2014, he said. Because the Armed Forces Reserve Center in Marysville does not have all the facilities to conduct every event, he worked to bring much of the test to places nearby like Naval Station Everett and the cities of Arlington and Marysville. Typically, the 364th ESC looks to JBLM, a military facility approximately 80 miles south of its headquarters, to conduct military events. “It was great to be able to rely on our local partnerships. The community relationships help us keep some of our training local and helped us get this event finished without putting extra transportation concerns on the Soldiers,” said Schultz.

Schultz hopes this will become a yearly event, he said. “A well-run and fun event like this is the kind of thing that brought some of these Soldiers into the Army and I hope it is the kind of thing that will help them stay,” he added.

• Date Taken: 06.03.2015
• Date Posted: 06.05.2015 14:29
• Story ID: 165631
• Location: MARYSVILLE, WA, US