Mark Of Distinction... Elusive Goal

Story & Photos by SFC Cheryl Lesser   -   Posted May, 2001

     There are two things that make the Expert Infantryman's Badge (EIB) so special to Infantrymen.  First, you have to be an Infantryman or Special Forces soldier to even take the test.  But the thing that really sets this badge apart is the difficulty - no doubt some will say the impossibility - of completing the testing process, absolutely perfectly, the first time.

     It is not unusual for a 600-man Infantry Battalion to award only a dozen EIBs when it's all said and done.  Many of those standing in the ranks of the awardees will have taken the test two or three times before earning their badge.

     The EIB was first authorized in October of 1943.  The badge itself is a 1924 Springfield Arsenal musket, the first official shoulder arm of the United States Army, on a bar of blue, the branch color of the Infantry.

     In order to be eligible to take the test, a candidate must possess a Military Occupational Specialty within the Infantry or Special Forces Career Management Field.

     The testing process begins with a standard Army Physical Fitness Test.  Following that are tests on Land Navigation, First Aid, NBC, operation of equipment such as radios and night vision devices, use of various mines and tests on 6 different types of weapons.  At the end of it all is a 12-mile tactical road march in 3 hours wearing 35 pounds of equipment - in all, more than 60 tasks in 19 different areas.

     Individually, these tasks do not pose much of a challenge to a well-trained Infantryman.  But there are many subtle deviations that have crept into the way an individual Infantryman performs the chores of war.  The test standards used are the most currently accepted procedure out of the latest manuals.  That means that older soldiers frequently have to unlearn a task they may have performed for years, in favor of subtle changes in a new procedure.

     During the EIB testing process, an expert instructor will closely observe the candidates every move for the slightest deviation from the manual, timing each movement to the second with a stopwatch.  Each candidate is allowed a single retest on one task.  It's the details that cause most candidates to fail.  As the end of the test draws near, the stress and tension become the enemy.

     Active duty Infantry units typically conduct the testing for the Expert Infantryman's Badge only once every two or three years.  Because the normal rotation between assignments can also be two or three years, it is entirely likely that a soldier may be a veteran of many years before even having the opportunity to test!  Full-time soldiers may have as much as a month in which to train on the testing site before finally stepping up to try their hand at the week-long test.

     Simply setting up a qualified training and testing site is more than some units can handle.  The preparations are extensive: from the qualifications of the instructors and testers, to the layout of the site to the exacting standards for each event, everything is covered in excruciating detail.

     So what about the Infantrymen of the Army National Guard?  EIB testing is, indeed a rare opportunity for these Citizen Soldiers.  1LT Jamie Quintanilla, a Platoon Leader with Company C, 1-161st Infantry was with the program from the start.  He explains how the whole process got started.  "The CO, CPT Clarke, brought up the idea for the course last year, during one of the training meetings.  A lot of the soldiers kept asking when they would get their chance to earn their EIB.  So he put the plan together, got feedback from our active duty advisors and other Guard units that have successfully conducted the test in the past."

     "In August the EIB board convened and certified each instructor at each station, and at each performance measure."  Luckily, the Guardsmen got a little help from the 25th Infantry Division's 1st Infantry Brigade, stationed on Fort Lewis.  They had conducted their EIB testing just a month before.  "1st Brigade had developed the site extensively.  We took it over and continued developing it.  They loaned us some of their signs and other equipment, and helped us out a lot with their support.  Testing started in September.  The course was made available to both officers and enlisted, and was conducted in Training Area 4 on Fort Lewis."

     Over a period of 4 months, Washington Army National Guard Infantrymen spent their weekend drills training and testing in various tasks, including placing and operating anti-tank mines and fixing problems with machine guns.  Although Infantrymen are already proficient in most of these skills, the rigors of the testing proved daunting.  Soldiers were taxed mentally and physically, and some even trained in their off time to prepare for the course.

     "A lot of this course has to do with the training level of each soldier.  It's attention to detail, the small things," commented Quintanilla, adding,  "There are certain steps you have to perform, in sequence.  If you go out of sequence, just once, then you're a no-go."

     The battalion Command Sergeant Major, CSM Robert Barr, noted with enthusiasm and commitment: "The lessons learned from this were invaluable.  Now we have a great continuity book on how to set up and certify the stations, how to run this whole event, how to organize, and conduct command and control... we're ready for the next go-round!"

     These types of courses are few and far between in the active army, even rarer in the National Guard, and it took a lot of work to bring all the elements together.

     Despite the time and effort it took to conduct the course, all agree that it was worthwhile.  "These basics in themselves will help any Infantryman, from the Private to the Company Commander," explained Quintanilla.

     More than 50 Guardsmen started the testing process, but there were no EIBs for the group this year.

     However, the battalion now knows that the task of conducting EIB training and testing is not an impossible one.  More importantly, the Guardsmen who tested now know the parameters of the struggle for the badge.  That struggle is not an impossible one either... as some of these same Infantrymen will demonstrate during their next test.

     SGM Stephen Kern, the Senior Army Enlisted Advisor to the Washington Army National Guard was an integral part of the preparation and execution of this event.  Although the unit did not receive any EIBs this year, four or five guys were very, very close.  The soldiers thought it was great training, highly motivating.  Some of the soldiers have been invited to attend 1st Brigades training in 2001."