Here's how you know
 **Official websites use .mil** .mil
 **Secure .mil websites use HTTPS** lock () https://


Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 Toggle navigation
            
            
            
            
            National Guard
                        Always Ready Always There
                    National Guard
            
            Search National Guard:
                        Search
                    Search
                        Search National Guard:
                            Search
    Home

    News
    
        Guard News

    Overseas Operations

    State Partnership Program

    News Features

    RSS Feeds

    Press Releases

    Transcripts

    Features
    
        Features by Year

    Posture Statement

    State Partnership Program

    Special Features

    About the Guard
    
        How We Began

    Air National Guard

    Army National Guard    
    
        DEERS Soldier Journey

    Leader Development Program

    History and Heritage

    I am the Guard

    NGB Official March

    Leadership
    
        CNGB

    VCNGB

    SEA

    DANG

    DARNG

    Joint Staff    
    
        J-1

    J-2

    J-3

    J-4

    J-5

    J-6

    J-7

    J-8

    Personal Staff    
    
        Inspector General

    General Counsel    
    
        Special Victims Counsel

    Public Affairs

    Executive Support Services

    Legislative Liaison

    Special Staff    
    
        Office of the Provost Marshal

    Office of the Joint Surgeon

    Director of Acquisitions

    Small Business Programs

    Chaplain

    Senior Leader Management Office

    Diversity Equity Inclusion

    Comptroller

    Resources    
        National Defense Strategy Implementation Guidance

    Community Engagement

    FOIA

    Fact Sheets

    Helpful Links

    Image Gallery
    
        News Images

    Graphics

    Historical Paintings

    Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

    Legislative Liaison

    Small Business Programs

    Social Media

    State Websites

    Videos    
    
        Featured Videos

    On Every Front

    2019 Videos

    2020 Videos

    2021 Videos

    Suicide Prevention

    Family Programs

    Environmental

    Trial Defense Service

    Holistic Wellness Challenge

    Contact Us  Home
  News
  Article View
 
 Download
 Details
 Share
 NEWS
 Four Soldiers are 1st in NYNG to earn Expert Soldier Badge By Eric Durr,
                New York National Guard
 FORT DRUM, New York - Four Soldiers became the first in the New York Army National Guard to earn the new Expert Soldier Badge Oct. 1, following two weeks of training and testing at Fort Drum. The four men joined another 950 Soldiers across the Army who have earned the badge. Created in October 2019, the Expert Soldier Badge, or ESB, joins the Expert Infantry Badge and the Expert Field Medic Badge as a special skills badge. The Expert Soldier Badge can be earned by all Soldiers who are not infantrymen, medics or Special Forces. They train and test alongside infantry and medical troops seeking their skill badges. As of July, according to Army Training and Doctrine Command, only 19% of the 5,000 Soldiers who have sought the Expert Soldier Badge have passed the course. Sgt. 1st Class Ryan Blount, a member of the 427th Brigade Support Battalion; Sgt. Alexander Sonneville and Spc. Nicholas Weber, both assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry; and Spc. William Neumeister, assigned to the 10th MCPOD; had to complete 30 Soldier tasks, a physical fitness assessment, day/night land navigation, a timed 12-mile march and qualify as expert on their individual weapon. The New York National Guard sent a team of Soldiers to compete for the ESB in May, according to Sgt. Maj. Matthew Stark, the 27th Infantry Brigade Combat Team operations noncommissioned officer. They did not earn the badge but passed on what they learned to the four who earned the badge Oct. 1, Stark said. Blount, Sonneville, Weber and Neumeister agreed that their success came from showing up at Fort Drum four days early and working together to master the tasks. The session run by the 10th Mountain Division allocated two weeks for the skill badge evaluation. During the first week, Sept. 20-26, Soldiers reviewed the skills and mastered them with hands-on training. The testing phase came Sept. 27-Oct. 1. "Once we got there and we saw what it was all about and how challenging it was, it was pretty clear we were going to succeed or fail as a group," said Blount, a full-time human resource specialist. Blount said he has helped plan Best Warrior competitions, so he figured he could use his experience and help the younger Soldiers. "We wanted to make sure we didn't leave anybody behind," Blount said. "We went at it as a team." "We would stand there and test each other while we were getting ready to go through the lanes," Sonneville said. "Having other people there to talk it through and correct me if I am wrong or out of sequence was important," Neumeister said. "If I didn't have them with me, it would be a different story." For Blount, the toughest part of the two weeks was "maintaining a calm and collected outward appearance as a leader" for the other Soldiers and "managing the internal stress and anxiety as a participant." "With the 30-plus tasks that you have to perform near flawlessly, it can get extremely stressful and overwhelming," Blount said. Tasks included weapons, medical and patrol, which involved map reading, transmitting a spot report and emplacing a Claymore mine. Sonneville, a cavalry scout and team leader in the 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry's Alpha Troop, said he was fairly comfortable with the 10 weapon tasks. But it was still "kind of overwhelming" to work through tasks involving the Mk 19 grenade launcher, the M2 .50-caliber machine gun and the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon without making a mistake, he said. They also had to learn to break down the new M17 Sig Sauer pistol instead of the Beretta M9 pistol used by the New York Army National Guard because that is the pistol issued to 10th Mountain Division Soldiers. Sonneville said his training as a scout stood him in good stead when it came to the patrol tasks. His unit spends a lot of time training on range estimation and call for fire, he explained. Weber, a part-time college student and full-time security guard, said he also found the weapons lane the most challenging. He got interested in tackling the badge after talking to Sonneville. "Because it is a new badge, and not many people have it, it was something I wanted to go for," Weber said. "Just having the word 'expert' attached to you is awesome. And at the very least, if I failed, I know I would have learned a lot of stuff I could bring back to my unit." A signals intelligence analyst, Neumeister said he signed up for the ESB competition when his chance to go to Air Assault School fell through.
The ESB competition was Neumeister's last official act with the New York Army Guard. Neumeister said earning the ESB has been a real confidence booster as he moves into a full-time job with the Colorado Army National Guard's 19th Special Forces Group as a full-time intelligence analyst.
 SHARE
 PRINT
  New York National Guard
 Colorado National Guard
 Expert Soldier Badge
 
 New York Army Guard Soldiers Heading to North Africa
 By Eric Durr,
  New York Army Guard Chaplains Train with African Counterparts
 By Eric Durr,
  New York National Guard Sharpens Disaster Readiness Skills
 By Master Sgt. Warren Wright,
  More
 Idaho Air Guard Conducts Panther Shadow Exercise5/3/2024Massachusetts Guard Helps Host Crisis Leadership Seminar5/2/2024Massachusetts Air Guard Airmen Test New Air Combat Tactics5/2/2024 View more Guard News »
 Vermont Army Guard Soldiers Attend Brazilian Mountain School5/3/2024
New York Army Guard Soldiers Heading to North Africa4/30/2024
Pennsylvania National Guard Members Deploy to Africa4/19/2024 View more Overseas Operations News »
 North Carolina Guard Welcomes New Zambian State Partnership5/3/2024

Guard Leaders Stress NCOs Role in State Partnership Program5/3/2024

Enduring Partners 2024 Begins with Thai-US Airmen Exchange5/2/2024 View more State Partnership Program News »
 Back-to-school tools for military families8/11/2015DoD sends blended military retirement proposal to Congress6/16/2015First employment symposium held for National Guard spouses5/11/2015 View more Family Programs News »
 Home
 Site Map
 Privacy & Security Policy
 Link Disclaimer
 Web Policy
 DOD Information Quality
 DOD Open GovernmentFOIA
 No FEAR Act
 Accessibility/Section 508
 Contact Us
 Army Guard Careers
 Air Guard Careers
 USA.gov
                    
Staying Connected
    XYouTubeFlickrFacebookInstagram
                 
                
                

Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil