1st Cavalry Division invited to participate at E3B qualifications in Poland | Article

DRAWSKO POMORSKIE, Poland – Dawn breaks the cold morning as soldiers run to the finish line of a 12-mile ruck march. As the sun beams down, amongst the expert field medical badge candidates, Pfc. Eric Garcia, a combat medic specialist, with 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, finishes the ruck march and completes a weapons function check for his qualifications.

For the past two weeks, the 4th Infantry Division hosted the Expert Infantry, Soldier, and Field Medical Badge (E3B) qualifications near Drawsko Pomorskie Combat Training Center (DCTC), Poland, from Oct. 6 to Oct. 18, 2024. Active duty, reserve, and national guard components of all backgrounds were invited alongside Polish Army soldiers. The U.S. Army consolidated the previous individual qualifications into one mass event in 2021 and its primary focus is to test soldiers’ knowledge and expertise of skill level 10, or entry level, tasks..

“I chose to sign up for this competition. It’s just not an opportunity a lot of medics have,” said Garcia. “ Especially how hard it is to get to school.”

Garcia is from Pico Rivera, California, and like man others, this is his first time participating in a E3B qualifications event as a candidate. Meanwhile, other contestants have attempted to achieve their respective expert badge previously, such as Staff Sgt. Franklin Walker, a Bradley crewman with 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division.

“I chose to come to separate myself from my other counterparts,” said Walker. “But also just to inspire and to lead my soldiers that anything is possible.”

The qualifications, or testing, portion takes one week to complete, with an official familiarization, or train-up, portion the week prior. The tasks include some very perishable skills that one must use throughout their career, stated 1st Sgt. Bobby Delaporte, first sergeant of Alpha Troop, 1st Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, and the primary instructor for adjust and direct fire.

“This is a competition to award what many of us would see as an invaluable badge to these young soldiers and leaders,” said Delaporte. “We are building subject matter experts here. These folks we award these badges to will become graders probably as soon as next spring.”

Badge-holding instructors test the candidates’ expertise through various medical and weapons lanes to move on to the final event of qualification, the 12-mile ruck march and weapons lane. Each candidate, regardless of their respective badge category, must complete the forced-march within 3 hours. After the ruck, soldiers must successfully assemble and disassemble an M4A1 carbine in a timed event to earn their badges.

Out of approximately 485 candidates that were invited to participate in the 4ID hosted event, only 118 graduated. 61 candidates received the Expert Infantryman Badge (EIB), 35 candidates received the Expert Soldier Badge (ESB), and 22 candidates received Expert Field Medical Badge (EFMB).

Garcia is the youngest candidate of the qualifications, and the only EFMB candidate who succeeded from 2-5 CAV, 1ABCT. Walker was the only candidate from 1-7 CAV, 1ACB, to receive the ESB.

“My old platoon sergeant would tell me, ‘Keep your head in the clouds and your feet on the ground,” said Walker. “No matter what, keep pushing. You got it.”