What's the significance or importance of the EIB? And is it something I will test to obtain within my unit?
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- Thread starter Ball N' Chain
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What's the significance or importance of the EIB? And is it something I will test to obtain within my unit?
E.I.B.=expert Infantrymans badge, tests proficiency on all soldier skills. Yes, you should test in your unit. Medics tests similar, expert field medic badge. Both are difficult, pretty much by the book, but not the least impossible. Being a shit hot Infantryman, knowing the basics, mastering them will make things easy. Ask any hitter from S.F., SEAL, MARSOC, what ever, they will tell you, mastering the basics...
M.
Hawaii is expensive. The jungle is your friend.
EIB kinda got put on the back burner during the hight of the Iraq war. A few years back, the Rangers introduced a new way to test and I heard it went Army wide. It was more an updated version to include lessons learned from Iraq/Afghanistan. I have no idea how or what the testing is now.
As a member of 25th ID, you will go to Air Assault, Jungle Operations, (possibly Lightfighter leaders course if they still do it) and you should test for EIB. Before you pin E5, PLDC or whatever it's called now. Than before you get a squad (E6) you will most likely go to Ranger school (Airborne in route) is how they used to do it. Keep in mind this is decade old information.
But focus on the 25m target, get through OSUT without getting hurt. Max your APFT (300) get that Excellent PT badge, and they might let you go to Airborne school before Hawaii. It's a hell of alot easier to do it while you are at Benning vs trying to get orders back for it. Get your APFT scores up, and nag the shit out of your drill sgt to go, I mean, run around screaming in child's girly voice "airborne, airborne, airborne, I want to go to airborne school". They will get a laugh and get the point. But really put a bug in their ears aND show you are a stud, and they will work some magic for you.
Just my $.02
As I type this out and realize you are actually in the middle of OSUT, I am reminded of the pay phones and 5 minute phone calls with drill sgts yelling at me that my time is up. LOL:wall:
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I continue to see 'drill sgts' referenced. Does this mean that the OP is still in boot camp but has internet/phone access? This is not a stupid back-in-my-day shot, I am genuinely curious.
Yep, Infantry OSUT is basic and AIT in one shot, he finished basic and is in the AIT portion now.
I appreciate the insight @Diamondback 2/2 . It all sounds really exciting, especially air assault. I got a 282 on my last APFT, I am maxing the runs out with ease, and I am right on the brink with my push ups and sit ups. I have 2 or 3 more left to get that 300, and I am confident I will.
From what I understand in regard to airborne school is that if I take the airborne slot, my orders will change to put me into an airborne unit. The airborne liaison is coming in the next week or two to hand out the available slots after 18x and opt 40's are handed out and they know how many slots are left, and I will find out more about it then I assume.
Also, @Ooh-Rah , I graduated the basic portion of OSUT, so I am on a weekend pass, which ends tonight. I will be turning my phone back in when I return to Sand Hill and won't get it again until I turn blue the day before graduation. In the first 2 months of basic we received our phones at the end of red phase, mothers day, and my platoon specifically received our phones for coming in first in both PT and Rifle marksmanship. So about once every 3 weeks we get our phones for half an hour if we perform well.
For those that know, is there an jump batt. in the 25th? I recall seeing some dude with a 25th. I.D. patch and an Airborne rocker a few years ago.
M.
M.
Yes, the airborne unit in the 25th is stationed In Alaska. Just got deployed to Afghanistan actually.
DocIllinois
Verified Military
The 4th IBCT (ABN) shares a lineage with the 25th ID and thus has the tropic lightning patch. They don't fall under the 25th, though, but US Army Alaska, which reports directly to Army Pacific.
Good luck. Go hard in the paint.
Alright guys,
Time for me to turn myself back into the Army and continue on. I will be sure to update you all when I graduate and give my run down on the infantry portion of OSUT. I appreciate all the advice and encouragement, words of wisdom and so on. Next time I get on here I will be wearing a blue cord and be heading to Hawaii, until then, god speed and take care!
Time for me to turn myself back into the Army and continue on. I will be sure to update you all when I graduate and give my run down on the infantry portion of OSUT. I appreciate all the advice and encouragement, words of wisdom and so on. Next time I get on here I will be wearing a blue cord and be heading to Hawaii, until then, god speed and take care!
Checking back in to let y'all know that I am officially done. Graduated OSUT yesterday! Now I am back home getting my wife and I's affairs in order before we fly out to Hawaii next week.
A note about the final stages of OSUT...
The stairway to heaven was a huge smoker, there were times I questioned if I could keep going but I zoned out for most of it.
IMT, STT, and ITT were all pretty fun. They didn't allow us to wear knee pads so when I was bounding I either hauled ass to my next cover point so I didn't have to hit the deck as much, or I posted hard on my hand and kicked back up without hitting my knees.
I was very fortunate to evade injuries for the most part. I strained my back in combatives, but I pushed through it. I also had a period where I was battling shin splints, but that too passed.
We did a 3 day FTX before our culminating 5 day FTX and they were both pretty sucky. We rucked 12 miles out to our 3 day FTX and it was pouring rain most of the time. Peoples feet were messed up, and I myself was chafed raw. We got to our FTX area and it seemed as if everyone was dead, but we still had to dig our hasty fighting positions and get the patrol base set up. It rained all three days... My feet were a mess, I said to myself then that I would rather blistering sunshine and heat over rain any day.
I got my wish. The 5 day FTX was brutal! It was the hottest FTX on record in any of our Drill's time as a drill. I went through 3 bottles of sun screen and I was still burnt to absolute shit on my neck and other exposed areas. I might as well have been rained on considering how sweaty I was. I managed to escape serious chafing by using vasoline by the scoop full, and blisters left me alone. When we started off our bayonet march though, I was pretty beat up in other ways.
My platoon was on detail so broke down the entire cadre base, the ammo point, and the water buffalo tent, and I was in the back of the LMTV getting gear handed to me for an hour. It must've been 120 degrees, closed in! When we finished loading we stepped immediately. I was just telling myself one more step every step. The first objective was taking a bunker on the top of a hill. I actually enjoyed it, and got a good laugh when two of my guys in my squad fell and ate shit after stepping in holes that wild hogs had dug up. After that, we had a 5 mile hike to get to our next point. On that hike, 13 people hit the deck as a heat casualty. One kid right in front of me swayed out into the middle of the road and then came back in and crashed. I immediately went to help and the Drill took action quickly as well. We followed routine, stripped him, ice sheets, the whole nine. It was bad, he was only responsive to some seriously hard sternum rubs. He puked on me because I elevated his head because he was unconscious and his breathing was shallow. His core temp, taken through his rectum, was 108.8. Well he was the worse, but all the guys who went down had to be taken out of there, all with temps between 101 and 104 other than my guy.
The bayonet was cancelled after that. Temps were in the high 90's and we were about to go deep into the woods where help would not be available immediately, so the risk factor was too great with all these guys going down.
We got our cross rifles that night, and the rest of the time we spent cleaning gear and what not.
Personally, I received two Army Achievement Medals. One for shooting 40/40 in marksmanship, and one for scoring 300 on the APFT.
Now I have my blue cord and my cross rifles, and I am ready to get to my duty station and get to work.
A note about the final stages of OSUT...
The stairway to heaven was a huge smoker, there were times I questioned if I could keep going but I zoned out for most of it.
IMT, STT, and ITT were all pretty fun. They didn't allow us to wear knee pads so when I was bounding I either hauled ass to my next cover point so I didn't have to hit the deck as much, or I posted hard on my hand and kicked back up without hitting my knees.
I was very fortunate to evade injuries for the most part. I strained my back in combatives, but I pushed through it. I also had a period where I was battling shin splints, but that too passed.
We did a 3 day FTX before our culminating 5 day FTX and they were both pretty sucky. We rucked 12 miles out to our 3 day FTX and it was pouring rain most of the time. Peoples feet were messed up, and I myself was chafed raw. We got to our FTX area and it seemed as if everyone was dead, but we still had to dig our hasty fighting positions and get the patrol base set up. It rained all three days... My feet were a mess, I said to myself then that I would rather blistering sunshine and heat over rain any day.
I got my wish. The 5 day FTX was brutal! It was the hottest FTX on record in any of our Drill's time as a drill. I went through 3 bottles of sun screen and I was still burnt to absolute shit on my neck and other exposed areas. I might as well have been rained on considering how sweaty I was. I managed to escape serious chafing by using vasoline by the scoop full, and blisters left me alone. When we started off our bayonet march though, I was pretty beat up in other ways.
My platoon was on detail so broke down the entire cadre base, the ammo point, and the water buffalo tent, and I was in the back of the LMTV getting gear handed to me for an hour. It must've been 120 degrees, closed in! When we finished loading we stepped immediately. I was just telling myself one more step every step. The first objective was taking a bunker on the top of a hill. I actually enjoyed it, and got a good laugh when two of my guys in my squad fell and ate shit after stepping in holes that wild hogs had dug up. After that, we had a 5 mile hike to get to our next point. On that hike, 13 people hit the deck as a heat casualty. One kid right in front of me swayed out into the middle of the road and then came back in and crashed. I immediately went to help and the Drill took action quickly as well. We followed routine, stripped him, ice sheets, the whole nine. It was bad, he was only responsive to some seriously hard sternum rubs. He puked on me because I elevated his head because he was unconscious and his breathing was shallow. His core temp, taken through his rectum, was 108.8. Well he was the worse, but all the guys who went down had to be taken out of there, all with temps between 101 and 104 other than my guy.
The bayonet was cancelled after that. Temps were in the high 90's and we were about to go deep into the woods where help would not be available immediately, so the risk factor was too great with all these guys going down.
We got our cross rifles that night, and the rest of the time we spent cleaning gear and what not.
Personally, I received two Army Achievement Medals. One for shooting 40/40 in marksmanship, and one for scoring 300 on the APFT.
Now I have my blue cord and my cross rifles, and I am ready to get to my duty station and get to work.
Topkick
Verified Military
Outstanding , congrats Soldier!
DocIllinois
Verified Military
Good work.
Getting the job done when things tremendously suck most of the time - that's life in the Infantry. It's a distinct MOS for a reason.
See a good chiropractor for your back. Just because the hurt went away doesn't mean there isn't still an issue that can reappear with a vengance in the future.
104TN
Verified Military
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2006
- Messages
- 921
Congrats and good on you for following through and sharing your story. As someone that went through Sand Hill over a decade ago now, the one piece of this that surprised me the most was how much you knew about what you had coming coming up event wise. Enjoy Hawaii with the missus!
Fucking A. Get some. Congrats. Be a good 11B.
m.
m.
Outstanding. Congratulations.
@Ball N' Chain , great work. Be a really, really good 11B. Work the basics, learn the game, and go win it. Shoot move communicate.
Proud of you.
Proud of you.
