The real first woman with an EIB
A diligent reader on Facebook dropped off a link to the story of the real first woman to earn an Expert Infantry Badge, and it was an American soldier, Capt. Michelle Roberts, back in 2011 according to army.mil;
Roberts, an activated National Guard Soldier, said she believes it is her duty to be trained as well as possible in Soldiering skills, which is why she did not want to pass up the opportunity to go through the test and the two-week training in preparation for the EIB.
“Male or female, we’re all Soldiers first. It doesn’t matter what your (military occupational specialty) is. It doesn’t matter what job you do for the United States Army. You’re a Soldier first,” Roberts said. “It’s good to have all the training under my belt. I know that if I go into combat now, I have confidence in myself, I can rely on myself, (and) my battle buddies can also rely on me.”
Roberts, who is a military intelligence officer, received a certificate for meeting the EIB requirements, but will not be able to wear the badge because she comes from a non-combat arms branch. Lt. Col. Larry Murray, commander of the 2-60th, said he is proud of Roberts and all the Soldiers who tested for the EIB.
Well, we didn’t write about it, so it never happened, until now.
Category: Military issues
Good for her. She has a good attitude.
Ex-PH2…I agree. Better a later story than never.
MG Milano is a stand up guy, so I feel confident that her EIB was earned, not given.
Kudos to her on her achievment. That testing is not easy by any means, standards are pretty high.
Well, well, well. An EARNED award.
Good.
That is pretty cool. She didn’t do it for the badge because she doesn’t get to wear the badge. She did the right thing for the right reason, no brag, just fact. That is a class act. I bet that she goes far.
When an officer promotion board evaluates her record, can they consider that certificate?
It depends on the type of certificate. Normally badge certificates don’t go in an officer’s record, just the orders. So from that standpoint it wouldn’t. IF, on the other hand, the certificate was a Certificate of Achievement, it could be filed in the record and considered by the board. If she has a smart commander, he’d do something like that. Finally, an officer can write a letter to the president of the board bringing matters to the board’s attention. So if she wanted to toot her own horn, she could write a letter with the certificate as an attachment.
I remember when I was running the EFMB at Fort Hood in the 1980s, we had a mechanic from a medical company in the 2nd Armored Division take the test with the medics from his company (he had gotten caught up in the training and wanted to do it). He successfully completed all of the requirements, and was one of the higher scoringing people out there, so my medical group commander put him in for an Army Achievement Medal.
Awesome Job Capitan!
And to shot out ot OWB… Wow! An EARNED award. She should pin the EIB under the flap of her pocket like us Marines did with our Air Assult Badge when we went through the school at Schofield in Hawaii.
EIB really is good training. Kudos to CPT Roberts for recognizing that and extra kudos to her for completing the 12 miler, that has to be a real tough ruck for someone who isn’t used to it, especially a female.
Damn it, Jonn!
It’s not the “Expert Infantry Badge”, it’s the Expert InfantryMAN Badge.
Get the name right, puh-leeze.
The EIB and CIB were created about on 27 October 1943. Both are “InfantryMAN” badges.
Cf: Institute of Heraldry:
http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Catalog/Heraldry.aspx?HeraldryId=15450&CategoryId=9361&grp=2&menu=Uniformed%20Services&from=search
Wasn’t Army AND I’m old as well. Also ain’t sexist and like wimin.
Your comment simply cracked me up.
The rules ought to be changed — if she can meet the requirements and pass the test, she ought to be able to wear the badge. Shouldn’t matter what sort of unit you are in. This is just my humble little ol’ opinion.
In my humble opinion Infantrymen have a special badges because they choose an occupation that’s purpose is to close with and kill the enemy by fire and maneuver. Someone who joins a with a support MOS doesn’t join with that expectation. Don’t get me wrong, their job is not less important. Us door kickers couldn’t do our job without them doing theirs.
That being said, kudos to this Soldier. She succeeded at something that is difficult for those that it’s their full time job.
As an NBC weenie, I always tried to learn the jobs of those units I was assigned to, hence I became a fairly decent Artillery man, know what WEFT means, could break track on 5 different vehicle types, can run a TTP, and do all kinds of other goofy things besides pass out masks. That’s why I enjoyed my MOS so much – I got to see and experience more of the Army than most. Had I spent more time in 6/6 INF, I may have been suckered into EIB training and quals too, failing miserably, but probably still enjoying it.
Should non-infantry types be awarded the badge? Nope. It’s rightfully theirs. But I think that those who support them should get a taste of what those they support do for a living.
Hi Val. Kinda missed ya since I left FB.