However, the new badge is proving to be a genuinely good idea, as shown by the fact that soldiers are failing to earn it.
Once a season when those not assigned to the infantry branch could sit back and watch their 11-series counterparts slog around with rucksacks and face paint as they performed a (mandatory) evaluation of their skills- the dreaded EIB.I'm a fan of the new Army Combat Fitness Test for similar reasons. The high failure rate is a good sign, not a bad sign.
No more, however. With the introduction of the Expert Soldier Badge (the Combat Action Badge’s equivalent to the Expert Infantry Badge and Expert Field Medical Badge), troops of all MOSs will now how to suffer through trials and field problems in order to prove their worth.
So far, it seems, that is a pretty tall order.
According to Military.com, of the 95 soldiers who began Expert Soldier Badge testing at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, VA, on Sunday, only three remained by Thursday.
Between the fitness test and land navigation (day and night) it appears that well over half the participants were either physically unfit or unable to read a map, with 59 participants being cut on the first day of testing.
“Either you meet the standard or you do not meet the standard … and that is the way it should be,” Command Sgt. Major Edward Mitchell, CSM for the Army’s Center for Initial Military Training.
Of the three Soldiers who remain, none are ranked below sergeant- an E-5, an E-6 and an O-3 remain.
I believe the same thing about the failure rates at universities; a university whose four-year graduation rate is much above 50% is probably not in fact a very good school, no matter how highly it is rated or how glorious its reputation. True challenge is what produces the virtues that allow people to rise to the top. The more certain success in a task, the less virtue likely developed in its pursuit.
So good for the Army. Now keep it up.
2 comments:
Based upon previous experience, I would expect that the test will be adjusted to make sure that sufficient females can pass it to avoid Congressional criticism.
I am sure they are horrified by that outcome, although mostly it's just one event that is giving the ladies trouble. I would think they could probably improve outcomes by focusing training on that one thing. In fairness, the leg tuck is an unusual exercise -- I'd never heard of it before the ACFT included it. It can take years to develop muscle, and if this exercise has identified an area of musculature that extant training has been ignoring, it may be important for that reason alone.
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