Michigan to Host First National Guard Competition for All Three Army Expert Badges

FORT CUSTER TRAINING CENTER, Mich. —The Michigan National Guard is hosting more than 200 Soldiers from nine states at Fort Custer Training Center as they work to earn one of three Department of the Army skill badges: the Expert Infantryman Badge, Expert Soldier Badge, or Expert Field Medical Badge. Collectively known as E3B, the event marks the first time a National Guard state has hosted all three badge assessments at once.

For Soldiers who earn these badges, the achievement means more than completing a series of demanding events. It demonstrates their ability to perform critical skills and fight and win the nation’s wars.

Capt. Austin DeOrio, the E3B plans officer, has already seen that impact firsthand. His unit initially selected him to participate in E3B, and he recently earned his own Expert Soldier Badge. Now, he is helping lead the effort to give hundreds of other Soldiers the opportunity to compete.

“It has been rewarding to get my Expert Soldier Badge,” he said. “When I went back to my unit and people saw it, I could tell Soldiers they will now be able to get it in Michigan.”

Hosting E3B in Michigan goes beyond the competition itself. The event brings together Army National Guard, U.S. Army Reserve, and active-duty Soldiers while establishing Fort Custer as a premier Individual training center where Soldiers demonstrate their ability to perform critical tasks to a demanding Army standard.

“These individual Soldiers will be the best Soldiers in their battalions, companies and platoons,” said Brig. Gen. Ravi Wagh, Michigan’s assistant adjutant general, Army. “They will be ready, lethal, and set an example for the entire formation. If you can build a level of individual readiness, it will be seen across the force.”

Candidates will work to earn a badge corresponding to their military occupational specialty. Infantry Soldiers will pursue the Expert Infantryman Badge, medical Soldiers will compete for the Expert Field Medical Badge, and other Soldiers will compete for the Expert Soldier Badge.

E3B requires a significant effort before competitors can compete for the coveted badges. Initially, Michigan did not have the capacity to conduct all three assessments independently. Instead of saying it was too much, Michigan found a solution.

“We did not have the capacity to run this in our state,” Wagh said. “So what we did was reach outside of our state. We found a way.”

Organizers began coordinating with Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Minnesota to identify qualified badge holders and cadre needed to conduct the event. As planning continued, additional National Guard organizations, including Oregon, and active-duty Army organizations offered personnel and participants.

The result is a regional effort built around a Michigan-hosted event.

“Everyone has been super receptive,” said DeOrio. “We reached out to our left and right for more badge holders. The great thing about the Guard is that we are all about partnerships and we work to build each other up.”

Partnerships are an important part of what makes the event possible. Soldiers and cadre from different states and Army components are working together at Fort Custer, bringing different experiences while working toward the same standard.

Planners have spent months coordinating personnel, equipment, training areas, assessment lanes, and requirements with organizations across the Army. Cadre have arrived weeks ahead of the candidates to prepare the site and validate the lanes before testing begins.

“For these last couple of weeks, we have been working intensely to make sure this goes smoothly,” DeOrio said.

For Wagh, hosting E3B is an investment in the individual Soldier and the larger formation.

“I look at this as an investment in our individual Soldiers,” Wagh said. “I am glad we are doing it at Fort Custer, and our Soldiers and the rest of the National Guard will benefit from this.” The opportunity is especially significant for the Army National Guard, where Soldiers must maximize limited training time while balancing their military service with civilian careers and responsibilities.

“We never want to be second best,” Wagh said. “The Army National Guard has 39 training days a year. To get something like this maximizes that. We are creating more lethal capabilities across the force.”

Wagh also views the competition as an opportunity to strengthen the Army profession through challenge and excellence.

“I look at this as a challenge,” Wagh said. “ The more healthy stress that creates a more capable leader down the road, I want to reward excellence in the formation.”

That is ultimately what Michigan hopes to build through its first E3B: an enduring opportunity for Soldiers to challenge themselves, develop their technical and tactical skills, and bring those capabilities back to their formations.

Before formal testing begins, candidates are participating in train-under-test conditions from Sept. 30 through Oct. 4. They will work through timed scenarios and variables designed to replicate the pressure and conditions they will encounter during the assessment. The event will culminate on Oct. 9 with a foot march and pinning ceremony for Soldiers who successfully earn their badges.

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