JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. — “I was so nervous in the morning,” said 2nd Lt. Elena Chavez, shaking her head. “You train for an entire month, so you don’t want to mess it up in the final hours.”
Chavez, an infantry officer from Kansas City, Missouri, assigned to Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, had spent the last four weeks training and testing for her Expert Infantryman Badge.
Now, as she approached the morning’s final two events for 2-2’s EIB testing, it wasn’t just her badge on the line – it was also her perfect score and coveted status as “True Blue.”
“It really had to be right on – everything had to be perfect, the stars had to align,” Chavez said. “It’s the small things that get people on the lanes.”
During the three weeks of train-up, her squad was one of the first out on the lanes and last to leave, drilling through the rain and cold to ensure they had each task down.
It was through working as a squad that Chavez had come so far, a fact she kept in mind going into the final 12-mile road march and weapons disassembly and functions check.
“We’re Buffaloes – we’re a herd and we keep each other accountable,” she said. “I got out there and saw my guys and it was just like any other day when we were training. I lost all my nerves, gained my composure, and it was just another day.”
All those days of training certainly paid off, as Chavez soared through the morning’s final events, earning her EIB and an Army Commendation Medal for clearing all 34 EIB events with a perfect score and achieving “True Blue” status.
Of the 151 infantry Soldiers earning their EIB, only 59 were designated as a “True Blue.” Chavez was one of two female infantry Soldiers to earn the coveted status, along with 1-17 Inf. Reg.’s 2nd Lt. Natalie Bulick-Sullivan.
Sgt. Tracker Sines, Chavez’s squad leader, knew that getting out on the lanes and drilling together would prove instrumental for his young team’s success during testing week.
“I wanted them to train as much as possible, but not burn themselves out,” Sines said. “It’s as simple as going back, going over it again and again. Having your peers watch you, having (your squad leader) watch you, training each other, walking somebody else through the task and reinforcing what you know – that’s a big thing.”
Sines felt confident that Chavez was “True Blue” material after watching her in the weeks leading up to testing.
“She doesn’t waste her time out here,” he said. “She has her own system of talking herself through it. Whatever she needs to do to help learn it.”
2nd Lt. Benjamin Hinkle, Chavez’s squad mate who also earned his EIB, agreed.
“She’s definitely been the workhorse of the group,” Hinkle said. “She arrived straight after NTC, was assigned a platoon, and then came straight here for her EIB.”
Chavez said now that the EIB is done, she looks forward to getting back to her platoon and getting to know them better.
“I’ve learned so much by training and participating, and can take it all back to my Soldiers,” she said.
It might be a bit before she gets the chance, though.
“I’ll be leaving on Wednesday for Yakima Training Center,” she said, shaking her head and laughing. “I’m really going to try to enjoy this weekend.”
By Spc. John Weaver
Who gives a shit about a non tabbed infantry officer getting their EIB?
Clearly you do since you thought it was important enough to comment on.
Females shouldn’t be in the Infantry and they sure as hell shouldn’t be leading troops as officers in the field. This has nothing to do with equality, or the “Patriarchy” denying woman opportunities, this is about radical leftists in our Nation’s government, as well as the civil and military bureaucracies, setting us up to lose the next war. Putting women in the Infantry is a threat to the survival of the United States of America. If woman were innate warriors, how come there has never been woman used in large scale combat in recorded combat? And don’t give me nonsense about the Russians and Israeli’s, in Israel they serve more a police function to be used in regards to the female Arab population in one unit tasked with the Judea and Samaria area and in the Soviet Union it was a matter of national survival against the Nazi’s and woman were still used only sparingly.
A Marine Corps study based on strict scientific analysis (which even filtered for gender bias) found that mixed gender Infantry units performed at 60% the level of all male units. Females aren’t in the NFL, they aren’t in MLB, and when biological males compete in woman’s sports they dominate. This is about “fundamental transformation” of the United States of America into a socialist dictatorship.
If they can meet the same standards…
the problem comes if the standards for entry are too low. If a 90 lb female is able to sign up to be the one holding the m240 because she can score the minimum on the APFT for her gender, that’s a problem.
The new army PT test rectifies this, it creates job-specific minimums to ensure the soldiers able to do the job, regardless if they are male or female
The thing is they can’t meet the standards. The standards have already been lowered for the Millennial generation as a whole because 80% of male Millennials are either physically, intellectually, or morally unfit to serve in any branch of the United States Military. Read, they are too fat and weak because they play video games and look at their smart phones all day, too stupid because the American Left controls the educational system and instead of teaching them History, Science, Math, use logic, and to think critically, they are busy being brainwashed into thinking that it is normal for two men can marry one another and that women can serve in the Infantry, or do any job a man can do (if only they meet the standards) and that this won’t have a detrimental affect on society or the combat capability of the military at all. That is just poppycock, part of the Big lie.
I already mentioned in the post above that a rigorous scientific study conducted by the Marine Corps found that mixed gender infantry units performed at 60% the level of all male units. This is why the Marine Corps had to be forced by the Obama DoD to tacitly allow women in Infantry units, the same Obama regime that released terrorists that murdered American’s (Ali Daqduq, the Taliban Five), facilitated traitors like Bowe Bergdahl and Bradely (Courtney?) Manning, and gave $150 billion to the Iranian terrorist regime so they could acquire nuclear weapons, so their opinion pretty much regarding anything is worth about as much as Allahs promise of 72 virgins to al Baghdadi IMHO.
Okay, boomer.
Great come-back, snowflake!
Proud Gen Xer. The last generation of American’s worth a Dern.
Heh, coming from a country where all genders (Canada) are allowed into all trades, hearing all these naysayers talking about how females shouldn’t be in combat arms, is just that.
Absolutely hilarious.
It is indeed hilarious, as Canada seems to once again ignore any kind of empirical evidence in favor of subjective feelings. Females in the infantry are detrimental to the unit as a whole, full stop.
Maybe it’ll take the moment when Canada gets into another conflict where they actually have to pull their weight to get you to figure it out.
Haha, love the trolls on this website
Yeah let’s conveniently ignore our tier 1/2 SOF units helping you guys out during Anaconda.
And do me a favor and read off which country and unit currently holds the worlds longest sniper kill record.
Rob c, Please stop. Don’t ride the accomplishments of others. I mean where does that argument lead to, or stop for that matter?
What do think about the women who serve, and succeed, in numerous parts of JSOC? They all passed rigorous and “peer-approved” selection elements.
Are they detrimental to national defense?
I commend SSD for not placing the word “female or woman” in the title. At least they just said Infantry Officer and put the rest in the story. She is an Infantry Officer first, female second. Far too many other news outlets would lead with female as a qualifier right in the headline.
Buts lets all be honest, the ONLY reason this was ever a news story is because she is a girl. Congratulations, but how is this news? Its not her fault but seriously; are we gonna have a puff piece on every badge, certificate of achievement and medal that a female earns?
-Next puff piece in the chute: first female infantry company commander, then first female infantry squad leader, then first female graduate of “insert school name here”. These stories are so dumb.
If we are all supposedly equal then why is this news or surprising in any way?
Why must male soldier’s accomplishments be quietly brushed aside while a single female is highlighted and praised in front of them as somehow exemplary when they did the exact same things?
I was more impressed it was an LT.
Eric, were you also impressed by the 57 other male soldiers, several of them 2LTs, that also achieved True Blue? Not much written about them, it seems.
There also seems to be a dearth of discussion on the fact that the APFT standards for EIB were changed in 2016 to merely require candidate to PASS the test, rather than earn the 75% score in each event as it was in the past. Let’s see…what could have happened in 2016 that would drive such a sudden drop in physical standards for EIB…?
I’m always impressed when a Soldier excels. Likewise, I don’t belittle them when they do.
”First female infantry company commander”? Sorry to break it to you, but that already happened, over two years ago. (82nd ABN) I guess that puff piece never made it to you.
Ah yes, CPT Kristen Griest, for whom the Army waived half of its less than 30-day old requirements for females to branch transfer to Infantry to magically create the first female Infantry officer. It seems that all you need to do is pass Ranger School to qualify you to be an Infantry company commander–don’t worry about that pesky being an Infantry PL thing first.
Are you new here? That is precisely the requirement to be an infantry company commander.
3 MQs, Masters Degree, 2x Deployments with CIB but no Tab? Headquarters Troops and Human Resources Company’s need good leaders too.
Not new here or to the Infantry, Hoss, and there are non-short tabbed IN COs out there, since thankfully there are also O5s and O6s in command that recognize The Suck is not the ultimate indicator of leadership ability. I weep for the future of my branch if you believe it is, and are truly a branch manager.
And incidentally, SuperGrrl already bailed (temporarily) on the Infantry to be an SFAB advisor.
Agreed, this fluff does not belong on this site, unless the purpose was to stir the pot.
I got mine at Fort Campbell and I’ll never forget our good luck mantra, “Bumble Bee Tuna”.
I have never understood all of the fanfare around females achieving things like this across the DOD. It’s not newsworthy. You got your EIB and went True Blue. That’s the standard. You did your job. Cool. Now on to the next thing. I just don’t understand the mixed messages. “They will be treated equal and observe the same standards.” Where is the exposé on the random PFC that got his EIB true blue?? It just blows my mind. But hey, I’m sure her platoon will respect her and not sabotage her to get her the fuck out of the unit.
I only wish it was doing “doing your job”
but with only 15% of Infantrymen getting goes on 10-level tasks, there’s a problem across the force.
That may have been true in the past, but over 30% of candidates earned their EIB during this round of testing at JBLM, and 39% of those that earned it went True Blue. The three weeks of lane training prior to taking the test may have had a hand in that high percentage. Why three weeks, one might ask? Likely that the concurrent ESB testing had a hand in that decision.
That’s good info!
It’s generally been 10% earn each attempt and that includes all the turds who fail the PT test and Land Nav to get out of it. Try again every year until you get it. Most E-5s and above have it now. It’s pretty much required for E7 if not E6, and expected of every Infantry Officer prior to pinning CPT. You don’t want to be the only one with nothing blue on your chest by the time you get to MCCC.
Used to not be a big deal during GWOT due to lack of time, but it’s important now.
Israel,
In the Infantry, getting the EIB is the EXCEPTION, not the standard. The fact that this Lieutenant is one of the first women to do something exceptional is newsworthy – and she certainly deserves the same respect as every other EIB recipient. I’m proud of her and everyone else who made the extra effort – even if they ultimately didn’t get the badge. There is always next year.
As far as what women can or cannot do successfully in the military, let’s find out. Funny, I remember when women couldn’t fly helicopters – until they were flying helicopters. women couldn’t fly fighter jets – until they were flying fighter jets. The airframes don’t care. If history provides any lessons – and contrary to El Terryble’s opinion – when the naysayers get out of the way, women have been able to meet every challenge so far.
I always find it ironic that these exact arguments were made in the military to fight against racial integration. It was an article of faith – a “fact” according to some – that black soldiers could NOT successfully perform to the same standards as whites. Sure, they could be laborers – but not combat soldiers or Marines. Not fighter pilots. Until they were.
Oh, but that is different some will rush to say. That was prejudice – this is biology! Except that is what whites said about blacks in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. Sadly, as we well know, some still say it today. If you want and expect women to be held to the same standard, I fully agree that is the right way to move forward. If you want to arbitrarily exclude them because women in combat makes you uncomfortable – get over it. It is up to them – not you.
TLB
A little disingenuous, but I’ll bite. The fact that even getting to try out for the EIB is dependent upon your unit is telling enough. Try getting EIB or EFMB in the Guard, is isn’t just a case of “Raise your hand if you want to do X”.
Flying helicopters and airplanes isn’t comparable to the infantry, as both of those tasks are reliant almost entirely on the machine and not the physicality of the operator.
The issue regarding racial integration was that it was presumed that blacks were not mentally capable of handling the same tasks. While race and IQ are certainly linked (adoption and twins studies, etc.), the hole in that argument is that the tasks required of the average soldier aren’t exactly on a PhD level to begin with. So while yes, there are biological differences between whites and blacks, they aren’t particularly relevant to the military.
When it comes to gender exclusivity, we have tremendous amounts of data showing that the average human female is not the physical equivalent to the average human male in terms of performance.
Just the start:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4285578/
Since you want to bring up Israel, are you also going to bring up the fact that, since they are effectively surrounded by hostile nations? Sort of changes the game a little. Are you also going to bring up the fact that even within the IDF, women typically are not in combat arms roles?
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/08/gaza-a-mans-war-israel-gender/375689/
Are you going to ignore the higher prevalence of stress injuries as well?
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4151859/
At the end of the day, policy is not made for exceptions, but for the average. Is it POSSIBLE for a woman to outperform a man? Absolutely. However, you can’t on the one hand declare naysayers to be bad and then on the other willfully ignore not only the lack of gender neutral standards, but also willfully ignore empirical data (on both race and gender differences) as well as your own prejudice against those who use said data to support their arguments.
I just find is funny that the people who seem to be the most willing to display their unabashed ignorance of the topic and the science behind it aren’t the ones who are putting their lives on the line.
Yawnz,
I did not “bring up Israel.” I was responding directly to Israel Hoffman’s comment above mine. El Terryble brought up the policies of the nation state of Israel (also above) and he apparently agrees with you. I don’t. What Israel choses to do or not to do with their female soldiers does not in and of itself prove or disprove whether women can perform to an acceptable standard in combat. Which is why I did NOT make reference to Israel.
The point I was making with racial integration was not that it was exactly the same – rather that the arguments against racial integration are EXACTLY the same as those made against gender integration.
“Race and IQ are certainly linked” you say. I question the objectivity and validity of the “empirical data” that you say supports that conclusion. But setting that aside for now, we as a society make policy and law based on exceptions all the time.
The “average” person in the US has no intention of volunteering for the military at all – ever. And that is nothing new. So everyone that raises their hand is already exceptional. I never said naysayers were “bad.” I said that history shows that naysayers are invariably wrong.
You may call me ignorant if you like; however, I have put my life on the line for this country many times. I have also served with a number of outstanding women that I would much prefer to have alongside me in combat than a number of the less-than-stellar men I have also served with. In short, I’ll take the exceptional woman over the mediocre man any day.
TLB
I’ll take the exceptional woman over the mediocre man any day. Me too.
But remember- she is the exception, not the rule.
This is a cute experiment.
Those behind it don’t give a shit about you, only their agenda- hint: it has nothing to do with improving anything or anyone.
Boys and girls have different body parts still right?
Women who strive for equality lack ambition.
^ You win the internet today Sir. 🙂
Oh the EIB , the one award only officers and shit-talkers give a shit about.
No real grunt gives a crap about those stupid, stupid test. Believe me , it don’t matter duty station you’re at, the standards are always different.
Had an E-7 with his EIB PCS from Fort Jackson(drill sergeant)to us as our new PL after our 1st tour, guy talked so much shit in a platoon where we all had our CIB. He would blow a fuse or something , he’d get so frustrated every time we did “high-tempo” training. Guy couldn’t keep up with the “flow”.
2nd tour , about a month in , he was riding shotgun in an LMTV that went on its side. Something about that freaked him out cause he went to 1st SGT and volunteered for Headquarters platoon.
So………yeah,,,,,,,EIB…….blah!!!!!!!!
REF:https://www.benning.army.mil/Infantry/EIB/content/PDF/USAIS%20PAM%20350-6%2002%20JAN%202019.pdf?V2
I got my EIB in 89. It was after I PCSd to Campbell from my 1st assignment in Germany. I’d already taken the EIB twice in Germany and didn’t get it either attempt. But I got it in Campbell, the grenade throw had gotten me the last time in Germany, and almost got me at Campbell. Throwing the grenades was no joke, I think at the time we had to throw them 35 meters, and then IMT to another spot, cook one off and stick it in a bunker and them IMT to another spot throw one of your last two grenades into a small trench. I don’t remember the distance to the trench, just that it was closer, but the trench was small and a real bitch to get that grenade into that trench. That part of the grenade throw test got a lot of guys knocked out of the test.
Looking over the 2019 standards, they obviously eliminated that step sometime in the last 30 years. All in all, the standards look the same or similar.
Back then there were “badge protectors” too, no going guys for sighting in a claymore mine wrong, that “knife edge sight” is very subjective, it seems straight forward enough, but I remember one NCO no-go ing guys like crazy on that step, I got lucky I guess . And the standards although published, were interpreted differently each time I took the test. Still it was good training.
Had a female marathon runner in AIT with us, over 30, 0.01% body fat.
We never grumbled about her maxing the PT test at teenage male standards, because she was obviously operating at a completely different level.
Funny how PT Standards change due to age/injury, old/broke people should be held to the same Standard as healthy teenagers, for proper combat readiness.
Good job to the True Blues and the rest of the EIB Soldiers; we’re going to need you…
If you’re not still no one cares what you think.
Huge kudos to a dedicated Warrior!
Congrats for a fine job. Without a doubt, a fine example of a leader and Soldier.
It’s great she did it, but it’s an omen for where we are now, and where we’re going.
It won’t end well.
I wonder if these same people that are like, “Females in the Infantry is a great idea, as long they meet the standards”, would feel the same way about Drag Queen Story Time Hour coming to their local elementary school or library to indoctrinate their five year-old on gender fluidity and their innate sexuality? Or, what their opinion would be if their mentally unstable ex-wife were given custody of their biologically male son, and she convinced the boy that he was a female and sought to perform chemical and physical castration on him to turn him into a female? Because the same forces that want females in the Infantry, are the same forces that want to preach sexual deviancy to your children and turn your male son into a female, and use the police power’s of government to take him from you if you disagree. And, if you are okay with that, you are the problem; and you not only have no business making decisions about females in the Infantry, but you are ignorant of the American way of life you swore an oath to protect and have no business being in the military.
Let’s all congratulate El Terryble on exercising his First Amendment rights! (Assuming he’s a U.S. Person.) And also congratulate all recipients of the U.S. Army EIB because… they met the standard. Period.
I guess you would rather ignore the truth and be amused by the shiny distraction of PC culture.
I’m here for the comments on this one. Good points for either side though. Key pointers, exceptional makes you an exception – not the standard. The standard on many levels across the board are porta shitter fires, they stink. Early female aviators flew like barn sparrow babies knocked out of their mud cup despite having exceptional testing scores vs GWOT sky pirate lassies who can fly exceptionally well AND bring the menstruated rage upon the enemy with common core millennial educated test scores. As a side note, the sight picture of pregnant chicks in BDU’s still gives me night terrors and the residual trauma is haunting. How the hell so many LT’s can pass is exceptionally exceptional to the exception as well…
Not sure if this leg unit gives out “FREE – IBs” like all the Ranger Battalions, but at the 82nd EIB was not simple to get. So congrats to the LT on earning her EIB.
People see what they want to see, in all these things.
The real question is, what will the end result look like? Are we setting ourselves up for another Task Force Smith, here in a few years? What happens when these units can’t hang on a withdrawal like the one from Chosin Reservoir?
Yet another carefully-ignored question in all of this goes to the long-term health effects of this lifestyle on the female soldier. Anyone care that so many of them break, long before their male peers do, or how much they cost in health care while on active duty, or in retirement?
Is anyone even looking at that, keeping records, doing the due diligence to ensure that we’re not leading a lot of good people down the primrose path to a life-long set of disabilities and health issues?
Everyone’s all rah-rah-rah at the whole thing, but I keep remembering all the health issues I had crop up in the first batch of female soldiers we integrated into the Combat Engineer battalions. Long-term, it wasn’t pretty–And, those young ladies were not trying to be front-line Infantrymen, either. I want DOD to start telling us how many of these women we’ve conned into all these jobs are doing, five-ten-fifteen years down the line, and how much they’ve cost the force in health care and other opportunity costs. Last time I looked, we weren’t exactly suffering a shortage of qualified 18 year-old males that qualified for Infantry duty, so what’s the actual point of all this? To say we did it, and make someone at DACOWITS feel all warm and fuzzy?
There’s gonna be another day come, when something like the Chosin Reservoir retreat happens, or, God forbid, another Bataan Death March. I hope all the rah-rah types are there in the ranks, watching what happens, and suffering the pain right alongside all these young women we’re putting out there.
I somehow doubt they will be, though. It’ll all be too bad, so sad, while they pontificate about how badly the Army f**ked this all up, and served these women so poorly, putting them at risk. Because that’s what these assholes do.
Bravo, Kirk. You bring up valid points of truth.
Two good articles along these lines:
https://medium.com/@Doctrine_Man/diversity-at-what-cost-207a499a4978
The article referenced here has since been wiped from the MCA website:
https://www.businessinsider.com/female-troops-against-women-in-combat-tammy-duckworth-katie-petronio-2013-2
but I found a backup of it here:
https://www.blackfive.net/main/2013/01/get-over-it-we-are-not-all-created-equal.html
Is there anyone of rank who is actually willing to hold men and women to the same standard? I don’t mean in graded “standard” PT testing, I mean in training, mission requirements, and actual field work…
People who have been in MIL and / or LE work for any real length of time know exactly what I’m talking about.
Training to pass a test is one thing, but actually living that standard as a daily requirement is something else.
Stickman,
Ditto, I agree.
EIB/EFMB/ESB = I’m all for it as they support the individual training skills that support collective operations for combat. The fact that I’m typing about this subject confirms that our profession has been hijacked by this jackassery and laziness that’s at a level of stolen valor….because some of you evidently didn’t pass any sort of measure of the military maxims I learned and mastered over 24 yrs because you’d never speak in the way you are if you did. PC? You’re either a professional or you’re not. This isn’t 1962.
Kirk, c’mon man, NCOs had a term for guys like you…..Hell, I remember MG Helmick saying it as well…Lesser Man! C’mon, the sky isn’t falling blah blah blah about your pre-Grenada reading list you mentioned. You probably couldn’t tell me in AAR points what happened at the Haditha Damn, at Wanat, at COP Keating and many other locations since 9/11 because you didn’t serve, or you haven’t served in 20+ yrs….your ‘experience shelflife’ has expired, nobody in uniform is listening. One of my old subordinates is a 1SG in the 82nd and he laughed at your comment.
Hey, I’m headed onto Bragg now. Will we see any of you out there at 3rd SFG or the 82nd fixing all the problems you mention? Well many of us from SSD are here this week, doing our part. My company was on Campbell last week, doing our part! You act or you watch in silence. No talking with no action.
Hats off to SSD, Terry Baldwin, Stickman and others who know how to move the stick forward. We need people of character who can lead forward, not those who need it to be perfect, but those who can create perfect.
This 2015 article from the Federalist pretty much slam dunks on “if they meet the standards” crowd.
https://thefederalist.com/2016/12/09/science-says-putting-women-combat-endangers-national-security/
My professional self can’t even click on that link partner!
You’re ODF (Out Der Flappin’)! Big Windy 45 is enroute to pick you up! Dude, what happened? You’re the kid drill sergeants and DIs warn about across DOD. They have manuals on you, bro.
Straight todays ‘Merican madrasa = Dangerous.