| War and History Non-Fiction posted August 19, 2020 |
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Another Army Tale
The Day I Was Perfect
by Earl Corp
The author has placed a warning on this post for language.
In the peacetime Army, the most prestigious, and sought after award for an infantryman is the Expert Infantryman’s Badge (EIB).
The EIB is a silver and enamel badge, consisting of a 3-inch-wide rectangular bar with Springfield Arsenal Musket superimposed on an infantry-blue field.
It’s awarded for hands-on testing. You also have to be an expert with the rifle, score over 225 out of 300, on the PT test, pass night/day land navigation courses, and complete a three-hour 12 mile road march.
I arrived in Germany as a PFC E-3. While I was in-processing, a Corporal from my unit came and asked if I wanted to go with the unit and try to earn an EIB. I had missed the testing window at Fort Campbell, so this would be my first time going for it.
“Sure,” I said.
“Let’s go,” he said.
This meant going to the field for the next three weeks. This didn’t bother me. I found being an infantryman an extension of being an Eagle Scout. We went hiking, camping, and now I was getting a chance to earn merit badges.
I aced the land navigation, road march, and scored exactly 225 on the PT test. I was never a very fast runner.
The next obstacles were 25 regular stations and four round-out (specialized) stations, In 1983 you could not fail any stations and still earn the EIB; you had to be perfect.
The first station almost did me in.
We were to don the M17 protective mask within 9 seconds and pull and zip the hood by the 13th second. When I got mine on I took a swipe at the zipper and thought I missed it. I was still clawing at the hood when the tester said, “Time.”
I thought I failed, so I let out my frustration.
“Fuck,” I yelled.
The tester checked the seal on each mask that had gotten them on in time. To my surprise, he checked my seal. I had gotten the zipper with that first swipe.
“I don’t know what you was cussing about, you passed,” he said.
An older NCO from the company pulled me aside before we went to the next station. He told me to calm down, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I didn’t earn an EIB. Actually, since I was new, they weren’t expecting me to.
This actually motivated me. Whenever I was underestimated I would do my best to exceed expectations. I sailed through the rest of the stations, then came the round out.
The first round out station was call for fire. They had a little town set up and were shooting fake mortars at it. We were to bracket the target and hit it within five rounds.
I called in my coordinates, and to my surprise,the first round hit the target. My mortar training kicked in.
“Fire for effect,” I said into the radio.
The tester looked sideways at me when I did this. I then explained how I would have walked the rounds onto the target if the first round missed. I got a Go.
The last round-out station was processing POWs. We were to search a prisoner who could have up to five pieces of information, or a weapon,on them. We had to find at least three. While searching my guy I reached into his front right pocket and found a piece of paper. This was the third item I’d found.
“Surely they wouldn’t put one in the other pocket,” I thought.
So I did a pat down of the left pocket, in case he had a weapon, but didn’t reach in and moved on.
I only found one more piece. The tester asked if I was done, and I told him I was.
“Show him where it was,” he said.
The guy pulled a piece of paper out of his left hand pocket. I almost died, I saw an EIB flying away on wings.
“You know what this means, don’t you?”
“Yeah I’m a dumbass that failed on the last station,” I thought to myself.
“Congratulations, you’ve earned the EIB,” he said as he shook my hand.
Less than 7 percent of the infantrymen who test for the EIB earn it. I knew guys who tested for it seven or eight times who never did. That year, 17 members of my company earned it. For some perspective, there were 63 EIB recipients in the whole 3rd Infantry Division, which consists of 15,000 infantryman, that year
I always look back on this as the only day in my Army career that I was considered perfect.
True Story Contest contest entry
In the peacetime Army, the most prestigious, and sought after award for an infantryman is the Expert Infantryman’s Badge (EIB).
The EIB is a silver and enamel badge, consisting of a 3-inch-wide rectangular bar with Springfield Arsenal Musket superimposed on an infantry-blue field.
It’s awarded for hands-on testing. You also have to be an expert with the rifle, score over 225 out of 300, on the PT test, pass night/day land navigation courses, and complete a three-hour 12 mile road march.
I arrived in Germany as a PFC E-3. While I was in-processing, a Corporal from my unit came and asked if I wanted to go with the unit and try to earn an EIB. I had missed the testing window at Fort Campbell, so this would be my first time going for it.
“Sure,” I said.
“Let’s go,” he said.
This meant going to the field for the next three weeks. This didn’t bother me. I found being an infantryman an extension of being an Eagle Scout. We went hiking, camping, and now I was getting a chance to earn merit badges.
I aced the land navigation, road march, and scored exactly 225 on the PT test. I was never a very fast runner.
The next obstacles were 25 regular stations and four round-out (specialized) stations, In 1983 you could not fail any stations and still earn the EIB; you had to be perfect.
The first station almost did me in.
We were to don the M17 protective mask within 9 seconds and pull and zip the hood by the 13th second. When I got mine on I took a swipe at the zipper and thought I missed it. I was still clawing at the hood when the tester said, “Time.”
I thought I failed, so I let out my frustration.
“Fuck,” I yelled.
The tester checked the seal on each mask that had gotten them on in time. To my surprise, he checked my seal. I had gotten the zipper with that first swipe.
“I don’t know what you was cussing about, you passed,” he said.
An older NCO from the company pulled me aside before we went to the next station. He told me to calm down, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I didn’t earn an EIB. Actually, since I was new, they weren’t expecting me to.
This actually motivated me. Whenever I was underestimated I would do my best to exceed expectations. I sailed through the rest of the stations, then came the round out.
The first round out station was call for fire. They had a little town set up and were shooting fake mortars at it. We were to bracket the target and hit it within five rounds.
I called in my coordinates, and to my surprise,the first round hit the target. My mortar training kicked in.
“Fire for effect,” I said into the radio.
The tester looked sideways at me when I did this. I then explained how I would have walked the rounds onto the target if the first round missed. I got a Go.
The last round-out station was processing POWs. We were to search a prisoner who could have up to five pieces of information, or a weapon,on them. We had to find at least three. While searching my guy I reached into his front right pocket and found a piece of paper. This was the third item I’d found.
“Surely they wouldn’t put one in the other pocket,” I thought.
So I did a pat down of the left pocket, in case he had a weapon, but didn’t reach in and moved on.
I only found one more piece. The tester asked if I was done, and I told him I was.
“Show him where it was,” he said.
The guy pulled a piece of paper out of his left hand pocket. I almost died, I saw an EIB flying away on wings.
“You know what this means, don’t you?”
“Yeah I’m a dumbass that failed on the last station,” I thought to myself.
“Congratulations, you’ve earned the EIB,” he said as he shook my hand.
Less than 7 percent of the infantrymen who test for the EIB earn it. I knew guys who tested for it seven or eight times who never did. That year, 17 members of my company earned it. For some perspective, there were 63 EIB recipients in the whole 3rd Infantry Division, which consists of 15,000 infantryman, that year
I always look back on this as the only day in my Army career that I was considered perfect.
The EIB is a silver and enamel badge, consisting of a 3-inch-wide rectangular bar with Springfield Arsenal Musket superimposed on an infantry-blue field.
It’s awarded for hands-on testing. You also have to be an expert with the rifle, score over 225 out of 300, on the PT test, pass night/day land navigation courses, and complete a three-hour 12 mile road march.
I arrived in Germany as a PFC E-3. While I was in-processing, a Corporal from my unit came and asked if I wanted to go with the unit and try to earn an EIB. I had missed the testing window at Fort Campbell, so this would be my first time going for it.
“Sure,” I said.
“Let’s go,” he said.
This meant going to the field for the next three weeks. This didn’t bother me. I found being an infantryman an extension of being an Eagle Scout. We went hiking, camping, and now I was getting a chance to earn merit badges.
I aced the land navigation, road march, and scored exactly 225 on the PT test. I was never a very fast runner.
The next obstacles were 25 regular stations and four round-out (specialized) stations, In 1983 you could not fail any stations and still earn the EIB; you had to be perfect.
The first station almost did me in.
We were to don the M17 protective mask within 9 seconds and pull and zip the hood by the 13th second. When I got mine on I took a swipe at the zipper and thought I missed it. I was still clawing at the hood when the tester said, “Time.”
I thought I failed, so I let out my frustration.
“Fuck,” I yelled.
The tester checked the seal on each mask that had gotten them on in time. To my surprise, he checked my seal. I had gotten the zipper with that first swipe.
“I don’t know what you was cussing about, you passed,” he said.
An older NCO from the company pulled me aside before we went to the next station. He told me to calm down, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I didn’t earn an EIB. Actually, since I was new, they weren’t expecting me to.
This actually motivated me. Whenever I was underestimated I would do my best to exceed expectations. I sailed through the rest of the stations, then came the round out.
The first round out station was call for fire. They had a little town set up and were shooting fake mortars at it. We were to bracket the target and hit it within five rounds.
I called in my coordinates, and to my surprise,the first round hit the target. My mortar training kicked in.
“Fire for effect,” I said into the radio.
The tester looked sideways at me when I did this. I then explained how I would have walked the rounds onto the target if the first round missed. I got a Go.
The last round-out station was processing POWs. We were to search a prisoner who could have up to five pieces of information, or a weapon,on them. We had to find at least three. While searching my guy I reached into his front right pocket and found a piece of paper. This was the third item I’d found.
“Surely they wouldn’t put one in the other pocket,” I thought.
So I did a pat down of the left pocket, in case he had a weapon, but didn’t reach in and moved on.
I only found one more piece. The tester asked if I was done, and I told him I was.
“Show him where it was,” he said.
The guy pulled a piece of paper out of his left hand pocket. I almost died, I saw an EIB flying away on wings.
“You know what this means, don’t you?”
“Yeah I’m a dumbass that failed on the last station,” I thought to myself.
“Congratulations, you’ve earned the EIB,” he said as he shook my hand.
Less than 7 percent of the infantrymen who test for the EIB earn it. I knew guys who tested for it seven or eight times who never did. That year, 17 members of my company earned it. For some perspective, there were 63 EIB recipients in the whole 3rd Infantry Division, which consists of 15,000 infantryman, that year
I always look back on this as the only day in my Army career that I was considered perfect.
 Recognized |
#391 2020 |
POW- Prisoner of War
* Ft. Campbell is in Kentucky and home to the 101st Airborne
PT Test = Physial Training test
This started out to be a My Biggest Dream Entry, But I couldn't get it below 500 words and do it justice. Enjoy and be kind.
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. * Ft. Campbell is in Kentucky and home to the 101st Airborne
PT Test = Physial Training test
This started out to be a My Biggest Dream Entry, But I couldn't get it below 500 words and do it justice. Enjoy and be kind.
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