Staff Sgt. Tevin Newborn, a drill sergeant with Company B, 787th Military Police Battalion, attempts to complete the two-mile run in under 16 minutes Tuesday on the Troop Trail across from Forney Airfield. The run was one of several events Soldiers here attempted to successfully complete this week to be considered for travel to one of the Army installations where they can demonstrate their knowledge of warrior tasks and battle drills to potentially earn an expert badge.

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. — More than 50 Fort Leonard Wood Soldiers are taking part in a validation event this week, as they attempt to earn the right to move one step closer to an Army “expert” badge.

Organized by leaders at the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and the Combat Training Company here, the highly-competitive, three-day process helps to ensure candidates know what to expect if they succeed and are chosen to travel to one of the Army installations where they can demonstrate their knowledge of warrior tasks and battle drills to potentially earn an expert badge.

“We want to set them up for success, as much as possible,” said Staff Sgt. David Tracy, one of the CTC cadre assisting with the grading process. “We also want to make sure Fort Leonard Wood is sending the best-qualified people.”

Each Soldier can earn one of three different badges, Tracy added, which show a Soldier’s proficiency in fitness, marksmanship, land navigation and other critical soldiering skills. Soldiers within Career Management Field 11 test for the Expert Infantry Badge, while Soldiers in CMF 68 test for the Expert Field Medic Badge. All other CMFs test for the Expert Soldier Badge, which entered service in October 2019. Any Soldier — enlisted, officer and warrant officer — is eligible to compete for a badge.

According to Sgt. 1st Class Toddrick Murry, noncommissioned officer in charge of operations at MSCoE, the difficulty in earning these badges “demonstrates a Soldier’s high level of dedication and fortitude.”

“All Soldiers can attempt to accomplish this,” he said. “All Soldiers will not succeed.”

The validation began Tuesday, with pushups, situps and a two- or four-mile run, depending on the Soldier’s CMF and the corresponding badge they were attempting to earn.

This was the third attempt to pass the validation process for Staff Sgt. Cory Borders, a drill sergeant with Company C, 3rd Battalion, 10th Infantry Regiment.

“It’s been alluding me for years,” he said. “I’ve always wanted it. It’s big for promotion, but more importantly, it shows that you’re proficient in your set of skills.”

Borders was one of seven members of his unit going through the validation this time around. He said that although the time-consuming nature of being a drill sergeant makes it difficult to find extra hours for fitness, his unit was very supportive.

“They really encouraged us to do this,” he said. “The life of a drill sergeant is not easy. You have to find time to train on your own, but a group of us worked on it together — working on endurance, trying to cut that four-mile time down — we just went out and did it.”

Tracy said that in addition to the pushups, situps and the run, every candidate also participates in day and night land navigation and a 12-mile ruck march in under three hours.

“Anyone who fails any aspect of the validation does not advance,” he said. “The grading is fair, but it’s also to the standard.”

At the run portion Tuesday, 1st Lt. Daniel Nyachwaya, a platoon leader with Company C, 3-10 Inf. Reg., was there to cheer on the competitors from his unit. Nyachwaya was the first officer on Fort Leonard Wood to earn his ESB, which he accomplished in April at Fort Riley, Kansas. He said it’s important to lead by example.

“We need to be the first people, so we can teach our peers and our subordinates,” he said. “I may be an officer, but we are all Soldiers. If you go to a battlefield, you have to know how to perform functions checks; when personnel go down, you need to know CPR, how to bandage wounds.”

Nyachwaya described the process to earn his expert badge as time consuming, but well worth it. He said Soldiers here are especially fortunate, as MSCoE leadership considers the expert badge a priority. He encourages every Soldier to make the attempt.

“It sets you apart from your peers,” he said. “Something has to differentiate you from everyone else, and earning your expert badge demonstrates you are willing to take the time and go through the training to accomplish something difficult.”

Soldiers interested in going through the validation process here can contact Murry at 573.563.5652.