Photo By Master Sgt. Warren Wright | FORT DRUM, N.Y. – U.S. Army Sgt. Troy Perez, left, and Sgt. Joseph Ryan, both...... read more read more
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FORT DRUM, New York– After five days of grueling testing and intense physical and mental exhaustion, six infantry Soldiers and one combat medic from the New York National Guard’s 27th Infantry Brigade Combat team are now wearing the Expert Infantryman and Expert Field Medical Badges.
Hosted by the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York, the testing for the badges pushed Soldiers to their limits with a series of doctrinal tests designed to assess their mastery of individual infantry and medical tasks.
Testing commenced pre-dawn on Monday, May 17, and ended with a badge presentation and pinning ceremony Friday, May 21.
“It feels good,” said Staff Sgt. Robert Majewski with 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry Regiment. “It’s an opportunity I didn’t think I’d have. Now that I have this opportunity, it definitely feels good to make it through to the other side.”
Established in 1944, the Expert Infantry Badge, of EIB for short, is an award designed to recognize infantrymen and Special Forces Soldiers who have demonstrated the discipline and mastery of skills critical to being an infantry Soldier. The medic’s equivalent, the Expert Field Medical Badge, or EFMB, was established in 1965, and recognizes exceptional competence and outstanding performance by field medical personnel.
“The purpose of the EIB is to get future leaders prepared for infantry tasks and get them up to date with Army training doctrine,” Majewski said. “All the stations we went through, all the tasks, just to be subject matter experts on them.”
Preparation for testing began months earlier by studying the EIB and EFMB manuals before heading to Fort Drum for five full days of hands-on training the week prior to testing.
“My biggest obstacle was just making sure I got everything in sequential order,” Majewski said. “There are so many little things with the tasks. You can do the right thing, but if you mess up the order or do it out of step, that’s as simple as a ‘no go.’”
Testing for the badges included a challenging physical fitness assessment followed by dozens of testing lanes designed to assess Soldiers’ individual skills in multiple areas such as combat first aid, weapons proficiency, land navigation and other essential infantry and medical tasks. The event culminated with a 12-mile foot march which Soldiers had to complete in under three hours while wearing rucksacks weighing at least 35 pounds.
Receiving the award were:
• 1st Lt. Phillip Mullen, 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment – Expert Infantryman Badge
• Sgt. Troy Perez, 1st Battalion 69th Infantry Regiment – Expert Infantryman Badge
• Sgt. Joseph Ryan, 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment – Expert Infantryman Badge
• Cpl. Dakoatah Miller, 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment – Expert Infantryman Badge
• Sgt. 1st Class Alex Rotondi, 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry Regiment – Expert Infantryman Badge
• Staff Sgt. Robert Majewski, 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry Regiment – Expert Infantryman Badge
• Sgt. Klayton McCallum, 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment – Expert Field Medical Badge
“It’s another day, another school I went to, another course; I just conquered each task one by one,” said Sgt. Troy Perez a member of the 1st Battalion, 69th Infantry Regiment. “(The) EIB was created to stand you out, to show you are top tier and you are an expert in your craft.”
Testing for the EIB and EFMB alongside their 10th Mtn. Div. active duty counterparts was a welcome opportunity for the National Guard Soldiers not only to earn their badges but to showcase their skills and exhibit what they bring to the fight.
“We showed motivation and we worked great with each other,” Perez said of his interactions with other Soldiers. “We all wanted the same thing at the end of the day. So, it doesn’t matter what service you’re in. We’re in the same course, and we’re working together; we were all a big team effort.”
“They were very welcoming of us,” Majewski added. “It was definitely good to train with these guys, to work with them and just be a part of them for this time. Just having this invitation to be with them, I was very appreciative of that.”
Now that they have earned their badges, the 27th IBCT Soldiers will head back to their units to help prepare the next group of candidates for testing.
With earning the badge “comes a responsibility, your duty to now show others and help them develop their skills,” Perez said. “Because a (noncommissioned officer’s) duty is to help develop, motivate, and influence as many individuals as possible to become the better versions of themselves and help develop more leaders.”
Perez and Majewski said they hope others in their respective units follow their lead and take a shot at earning a badge of their own.
When asked what advice he would give to Soldiers looking to earn their badge, Perez said, “Just do it. If you want to have change in your life and you want to be better, then you have to be your own change.”
“The EIB is a great course to challenge yourself,” he added. “Just keep preparing yourself mentally and physically. Each task, each performance measure, it’s very tedious. So, just know each step of what you’re doing and slow down. It’s all slow and steady.”
| Date Taken: | 05.21.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 05.24.2021 09:12 |
| Story ID: | 397096 |
| Location: | FORT DRUM, NY, US |
| Web Views: | 293 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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