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On the other side of the testing site, Soldiers from Co. C sat in the claymore-mine station?s holding tent, waiting for the rest of their group to complete the testing..
?Everything?s pretty simple, but it?s still stressful,? said PV2 Jason Green. ?Messing up the smallest detail can make you fail.?.

?Yeah, but this is only stressful for two days,? SPC Tom Coffman interjected. ?Iraq was stressful for a whole year.?.


?To me, earning the EIB signifies advancing in the Army and in the unit,? said PV2 Leonardo Beltran, who had just received a passing grade at the claymore-mine station. ?But it?s also about personal pride.?.

SFC Lloyd Broom, the NCO in charge at that station, said the testing was about more than giving young infantrymen a boost of confidence. It was about giving them a great opportunity to soldier and to demonstrate their ability to soldier, he said..

?These guys aren?t going to have their leaders with them all the time. They have to know what to do without anyone telling them,? Broom said. ?If everyone has an EIB, you know you can rely on the man on your left and the man on your right,? Broom added..

When the testing was over, 74 infantrymen from the 2nd Bn. had earned the right to wear the prized EIB.