Posted on Feb 21, 2022
What happens if you fail a spur ride?
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So we have a spur ride coming up. I'm looking to leave the military and viewed this as one last thing I get to do with the guys before I'm out. We've been studying virtually every day for it: weapons assembly, disassembly, call for fire, 9 line medevac, etc. However, one of my fellow LTs said he's just going to wing it. It got me thinking; the wrong attitude aside, what happens to a Soldier, especially an Officer, if they fail a spur ride?
Cavalry
19C: Cavalry Officer
19D: Cavalry Scout
Edited 3 y ago
Posted 3 y ago
Responses: 12
Having been in an Armored Cav unit....if an Officer fails to achieve receiving the Spurs, then nothing happens other than the other Spur holding Cav Officers giving them shit. And get shit they will.
LTC Jason Mackay
Maybe if they are on the line between MQ and Q on the OER the Spur holder has demonstrated work to achieving unit standards.
A Spur ride is not necessarily a go or no go event. It is usually developed to build commadarie. I wouldn't say to wing it but I can't recall ever meeting someone that has said they had to retest their spur ride. But then I don't understand cav things.
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Roger, sir. This spur ride seems rather different from all the ones that I've read about in that there seems to be less of a focus on camaraderie. It seems like that will be something shared IF you are successful...which kinda goes against why I'm doing it in the first place.
Are you infantry? I'm curious about the same question but in the context of the EIB.
Are you infantry? I'm curious about the same question but in the context of the EIB.
CPT (Join to see)
The Expert Infantry Badge is an Army recognized award with established testing requirement by the US Army School of Infantry. It is a means to establish credibility with others in the infantry. When it comes to the Spur Ride you have a very wild variation of what events occur. I have heard of some very questionable events that were more like gigs than a skills test. It really depends on the unit. The purpose of the EIB is to recognize Infantrymen who have demonstrated a mastery of critical tasks. These tasks build on the foundation of individual proficiency, allowing them to locate, close with, and destroy the enemy. It is a means, like a Ranger Tab, to build your skills to bring to the fight. When I read about a spur ride one article called it a "24-Smoke Session." First, we don't just smoke Soldiers but you can induce stress in a control environment like Ranger or SFAS. The issue you have when a unit decides that is they may induce too much risk. Good luck with that.
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CPT (Join to see) Agreed. The variation in spur rides makes one wonder if you fail one, could you pass another. Im not a fan of the lack of standardization.
A soldier who fails the Spur Ride simply continues his life without the recognition of having qualified as having "earned his (or her) spurs." Generally this won't be damaging for a junior enlisted soldier. It may be a bit damaging for an NCO, at least in comparison to his peers. Earning their spurs will probably be a bullet comment on the next evaluation report for those who qualified. It MIGHT be a negative bullet comment on the next report for an NCO who failed, depending on how the rater views his overall performance. For an officer, qualifying is EXPECTED - just as meeting standards in any professional activity is expected - failing the spur ride probably won't be mentioned directly in his next evaluation, but the failure will almost certainly impact his overall evaluation, especially for any officer in a line leadership position. Another impact for any officer in a leadership position comes from the valid loss of respect from any of his subordinates who DO qualify.
Your "fellow LT" might be confident he can qualify and might just not like group study programs, but if he really is blowing off preparing for the Spur Ride, he would be far better off finding some way to not participate rather than fail.
Your "fellow LT" might be confident he can qualify and might just not like group study programs, but if he really is blowing off preparing for the Spur Ride, he would be far better off finding some way to not participate rather than fail.
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