Staff Sgt. Justin May, with 2nd Military Intelligence Battalion, 66th Military Intelligence Brigade, lies in the starting position before the 110-meter shuttle sprint event of the German Armed Forces Badge for Military Proficiency testing, Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016, at Clay Kaserne in Wiesbaden, Germany. May earned a gold badge, meaning he met the highest standard in all six events of the testing. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Staff Sgt. Justin May, with 2nd Military Intelligence Battalion, 66th Military Intelligence Brigade, lies in the starting position before the 110-meter shuttle sprint event of the German Armed Forces Badge for Military Proficiency testing, Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016, at Clay Kaserne in Wiesbaden, Germany. May earned a gold badge, meaning he met the highest standard in all six events of the testing. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Capt. Nicholas Stortini, of the 66th Military Intelligence Brigade, performs a flexed arm hang during testing to earn the German Armed Forces Badge for Military Proficiency Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016, at Clay Kaserne in Wiesbaden, Germany. Stortini and three other soldiers earned the gold badge, meaning they scored in the highest bracket on all six events during the three-day testing period. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Soldiers with the 66th Military Intelligence Brigade take off at the start of the 1000-meter run event during testing for the German Armed Forces Badge for Military Proficiency, Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016 at Clay Kaserne in Wiesbaden, Germany. Nineteen soldiers began the testing, with 15 finishing all six events successfully and earning the badge, which they can display on their dress uniforms. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
Soldiers with the 66th Military Intelligence Brigade compete in the 1000-meter run portion of testing for the German Armed Forces Badge for Military Proficiency, Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016. Testing, which covered six events over three days around Wiesbaden, Germany, saw 15 of 19 participants earn the right to wear the badge on their dress uniforms from now on. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
German Army Sgt. Maj. Juergen Schulz, of the Landeskommando Bayern, left, and U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Daniel Dec, with the 66th Military Intelligence Brigade, confer before Dec competes in the pistol marksmanship event of the German Armed Forces Badge for Military Proficiency testing Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016, in Wackernheim, Germany. To pass the event, participants had to successfully hit three of five targets at 25 meters. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
German Army Lt. Christian Hapke, left, of the Landeskommando Bayern, and U.S. Army Sgt. James Lamb share a laugh after Lamb successfully completed the pistol marksmanship event of the German Armed Forces Badge for Military Proficiency testing, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016, in Wackernheim, Germany. To pass the event, participants had to successfully hit three of five targets at 25 meters. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
German Army Sgt. Maj. Juergen Schulz, right, of the Landeskommando Bayern, congratulates U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Daniel Dec on earning the German Armed Forces Badge for Military Proficiency Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016, at Clay Kaserne in Wiesbaden, Germany. Dec was one of 15 soldiers from the 66th Military Intelligence Brigade to earn the badge, which can be displayed on dress uniforms. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
German Army Sgt. Maj. Juergen Schulz, left, of the Landeskommando Bayern, pins the German Armed Forces Badge for Military Proficiency on the uniform of Capt. Dougal Hutton of the 66th Military Intelligence Brigade, Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016, at Clay Kaserne in Wiesbaden, Germany. Schulz and three other German soldiers administered testing for the badge, which covered three days and six physically and mentally challenging events. (Dan Stoutamire/Stars and Stripes)
WIESBADEN, Germany — Fourteen soldiers from the 66th Military Intelligence Brigade earned the German Armed Forces Badge for Military Proficiency after competing for three days in a battery of events designed to test their physical and mental strength as well as their marksmanship.
Depending on their performance, soldiers earned bronze, silver or gold-level badges. During this week’s competition, one earned bronze, nine silver and four gold.
German Army Sgt. Maj. Juergen Schulz of the Landeskommando Bayern, which provided four officers and noncommissioned officers to assist with supervision and evaluation during the event, said he has been conducting the qualification for the badge for about 10 years. It’s a good way to build unity between the two armies, he said.
“This brings people together from our different armies and lets us see what our strengths and weaknesses are and how we can help each other, to learn to trust each other,” he said following the award ceremony Thursday.
The first of the three days focused entirely on physical fitness: a 110-meter shuttle run, broken up into 11 10-meter sprints; a flexed-arm hang during which participants had to keep their heads above a pull-up bar for a set period of time; and a 1,000-meter run.
“I thought that the (event) that hurt the most was the sprints. I’m not sure why since it wasn’t very far, but it was a lot of back and forth,” said Spc. Andrew Curtis, who earned a gold badge. “I took a while to recover for the other events, but I never had any doubt that I could perform at a high level and get gold in every event.”
The second day of competition was a mix of physical and technical testing, with soldiers first asked to swim 100 meters in their uniforms in less than four minutes and then, a couple of hours later, hit at least three of five targets in a pistol qualification. The swimming event was a challenge, with five of the original 19 participants unable to finish.
“The toughest part was mind over matter, trying to figure out where you’re at in the pool to keep going,” said Staff Sgt. Daniel Dec, who earned a silver badge. “I would say three-quarters of the way in you start to get gassed, and you’re starting to get water in your mouth.”
Finally, on Thursday, the 14 remaining soldiers had to complete a 12-kilometer (7.45 mile) ruck march with at least a 33-pound pack in under two hours.
The soldiers may wear the badges on their dress uniforms for the duration of their military careers.
This article was corrected to state that the number of soldiers successfully completing all of the events was 14, not 15 as previously stated.
