According to an internal memo reviewed by Military.com signed this summer, military leaders really want their soldiers to earn expert badges, and service planners want their soldiers to have useful skill sets. We’re doubling the amount of promotion points awarded to those who earned the honors they were meant to reflect. by Lt. Gen. Gary Britto, who was overseeing personnel policy at the time.
In April, the Army will adjust the number of points awarded for promotions to Sergeant and Staff Sergeant. Soldiers can be promoted ahead of their peers by accumulating points by scoring high in marksmanship and army combat aptitude tests to advance their education, among other achievements.
Next year, Veteran, Infantry, and Field Medical badges will be worth 60 points, double their current value. However, the highest fitness score is worth 120 points, a reduction of 60 points from the current rate for promotion to sergeant, and 25 points for staff sergeant.
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The move to boost badges comes as service leaders, especially Army Sergeant Major Michael Grinston, place increasing emphasis on expert badges. These badges demonstrate the Army’s proficiency in basic infantry duties such as land navigation and combat medicine. The Army introduced the Expert Soldier Badge (ESB) in 2019. The test is the same as the Expert Infantry badge of decades ago, but now the badge is available to infantry or non-medical soldiers.
However, it is unclear how willing non-combat weapons units are to dedicate vast blocks of time to conducting training and testing of what is actually an infantry duty. This may increase the popularity of that badge.
“All other things being equal, the ESB is a differentiator and shows the board that you are an expert in a warrior’s mission, something every soldier should strive for,” he said. Grinston, the service’s top enlistment leader, said on Twitter in July.
Performance on the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) accounts for a large portion of the potential points earned by a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO). However, this adjustment arose out of unit concerns that too much emphasis was placed on physical strength, and leaders should not be determined solely by their ability to lift heavy weights and run as fast as two miles. .
But Army planners are also eyeing a new fitness test designed specifically for badges. The test at Fort Benning, Georgia, this month included a 1-mile run, a push-up, a 100-meter sprint, a soldier-stacking sandbag event, a 50-meter farmer’s carry and two of her 40-pounders. A new fitness standard will be piloted. There is a jug, a 50 meter lane where the soldier crawls and sprints, plus he has a mile run. The entire circuit takes place in body armor.
As the agency considers effective beta testing, there are no defined criteria for proposed fitness events.
This change will take effect from the promotion month of June 2023.
— Steve Beynon can be reached at Steve.Beynon@military.com. Follow him on Twitter @StevenBeynon.
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