Posted on Nov 25, 2019
Expert Soldier Badge Testing Will End Army's Culture of 'Mediocrity,' Sergeant Major Says
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JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Virginia -- Three soldiers were awarded the Army's new Expert Soldier Badge, or ESB, here Thursday after completing a tedious and often unforgiving test on basic soldier tasks. The test had eliminated nine female and 83 male candidates who tried out for the new skill badge -- a total attrition rate for the event of nearly 97%.
Capt. David Morin, Staff Sgt. Joseph Hansen and Sgt. Michael Smith were the only ESB candidates to start and finish the final event -- a 12-mile road march with a 35-pound pack and rifle in under three hours -- early Thursday morning.
"It was tough; it was an experience," said Morin, a signal officer with the 93rd Signal Brigade at Langley-Eustis. "It was doing a bunch of tasks that I hadn't done since the Basic Officer Leader Course ... in 2014."
The new ESB is designed to test soldiers on their knowledge of 30 warrior tasks and battle drills out of the "Soldier's Manual of Common Tasks" that focus on patrolling, medical and weapons skills. The ESB also tests soldiers on land navigation and physical fitness.
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Capt. David Morin, Staff Sgt. Joseph Hansen and Sgt. Michael Smith were the only ESB candidates to start and finish the final event -- a 12-mile road march with a 35-pound pack and rifle in under three hours -- early Thursday morning.
"It was tough; it was an experience," said Morin, a signal officer with the 93rd Signal Brigade at Langley-Eustis. "It was doing a bunch of tasks that I hadn't done since the Basic Officer Leader Course ... in 2014."
The new ESB is designed to test soldiers on their knowledge of 30 warrior tasks and battle drills out of the "Soldier's Manual of Common Tasks" that focus on patrolling, medical and weapons skills. The ESB also tests soldiers on land navigation and physical fitness.
Read more:
Expert Soldier Badge Testing Will End Army's Culture of 'Mediocrity,' Sergeant Major Says
Posted from military.comPosted in these groups: 
Soldier
Soldier
Edited 5 y ago
Posted 5 y ago
Responses: 9
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You don't end a culture of mediocrity by issuing a badge. All that does is identify those who are motivated. If there is such a culture, look at your units that have good esprit de corps, like Rangers, and emulate them.
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1SG David Spalding
Agreed. While here, it is proven to be a tough course, is the ESB too tough, or have our Soldiers gone wimp? When I tested for the Expert Infantry Badge (EIB), we had about a 20% pass rate, and the EIB does raise morale for the infantry. Remember, Iraq, 2003, the capture of Army PVT Jessica Lynch? After that incident, the Army Chief of Staff said we would utilize the Marine's saying and "every Soldier will be a Rifleman first." Problem is, that never happened. We spent our time on mandatory touchy-feely training. Instead of giving awards for knowing what they should know, how about we bring back the culture of pride in knowing you are the best at your job?
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Sgt Dan Catlin
1SG David Spalding - Sayings don't make it happen. As you point out, they say it, they need to follow through. Action and actual accomplishments are what builds esprit de corps. Then when you recognize the best out of the bunch it will mean something. Put it this way: take a civilian in the fashion industry and a green beret is just a fashionable accouterment for a uniform. It only means something to someone who has trained hard just to wear the basic uniform and so has at least some understanding of what it took to earn the privilege of wearing that beret.
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It'll make the Army realize that they aren't equipping most of the units and installations with the necessary materials and resources to keep soldiers trained.
This badge is like the Army giving a big middle finger to itself.
This badge is like the Army giving a big middle finger to itself.
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I have always felt that these badge and “Best Warrior” competitions are wastes of government funding. Literally millions of dollars are spent on such events annually, with little to zero public value Being generated. We should be investing these monies elsewhere.
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