Soldiers learn to survive combat, going all out to earn prized infantryman's badge
By Jeremy Kirk, Seoul bureau
chief
Andy Dunaway / Stars and Stripes
U.S. soldiers take a break while attending the Expert Infantryman Badge course in South
Korea. |
KOREA TRAINING CENTER — Spc. Jorge Duarte pulled a pin, drew
back and threw a grenade at a foxhole Thursday, then hunkered down behind a berm to a wait
for the “pop.”
The grenade hit the ground just in the front of the foxhole, then
skidded right across. It was a miss.
Again, Duarte threw. This time he drilled it, and the grenade sunk
into the foxhole.
“What I was told is it was all luck,” said the 20-year-old
soldier. “It all depends on the hop of the grenade.”
Duarte is one of more than 730 soldiers vying for the expert
infantrymen’s badge, a coveted patch that shows they have superb infantry skills. To
qualify, soldiers have to complete 34 separate skills under the watchful eyes of proxies
who grade their performance.
The competition tasks include: reassembling weapons, crawling through
an obstacle course, camouflage face painting, a grenade course, a physical fitness test, a
12-mile road march with a 35-pound ruck sack, land and navigation challenges, map reading,
a gas mask drill and more.
Each soldier gets one mistake during the day. If he fails his first
attempt at any event, he can try again and advance if he passes. If he fails any other
event, he’s done, said Command Sgt. Maj. David Draughn of the 2nd Infantry
Division’s 2nd Brigade.
Andy Dunaway / Stars and Stripes
Pfc. Charles Kirk runs to the next bunker as part of the individual movement technique
station, one of 34 stations soldiers must pass to earn the Expert Infantryman Badge. |
“We’re here to train these men to survive in combat,”
Draughn said. “There are a lot of jobs that are easier.”
Last week, 463 soldiers tested. Only 135 qualified.
This week, the second round of soldiers is getting familiar with what
skills are required, doing dry runs on the courses and getting tips. The next competition
starts Monday.
Already qualified soldiers wear a blue metal pin with a silver rifle
on their uniforms. The pin is designed to inspire soldiers, Draughn said.
The competition evokes emotion from soldiers and tears are not
uncommon. For five days, soldiers throw their hearts and bodies in an all-out blitz to be
among the best.
Many agree the most difficult course is the grenade course. Soldiers
get five grenades. They must throw one around a curve into a bunker. Another must be
thrown more than 100 feet into a circle near a target, and the last must be thrown into a
foxhole.
The problem is the spherical grenade tends to skid and can roll out
of the circle or skirt over the foxhole. It must stay in the circle and plop in the
foxhole to count.
Andy Dunaway / Stars and Stripes
First Lt. Christopher Forbes, of Camp Greaves, South Korea, demonstrates his camouflage,
one of the 34 tasks soldiers must pass to get the Expert Infantryman Badge. |
Sgt. 1st Class Ernesto Avalos has seen the pain this can cause. One
soldier completed 33 tasks but flopped on the grenades.
“A couple of times I had to look away because the alligator
tears started to well up,” said Avalos, who was running the course Thursday.
Another hurdle is many soldiers just don’t have good throwing
arms.
“We’ve got soldiers out here who have never thrown a
baseball,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Oscar Helton of 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry
Regiment at Camp Hovey.
Another stickler is the individual movement techniques course.
Soldiers must do a low and high crawl and a “rush” where they run toward a berm.
On the low crawl, soldiers can’t let any part of their body off
the ground, including their heads.
“Everybody thinks they’ve got it down, but once they get
here and actually do it they don’t know for sure,” said Sgt. Charles Wilkerson,
of 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment just after he finished the route.
For many soldiers, it’s not the first time they’ve
competed. The competition is so difficult, it took Draughn six times before he received
his badge in 1979.
But if you’re an infantryman, Draughn said, the badge is a must.
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