NY Army National Guard Specialist Nicholas Weber, a Cicero resident, earns Army's new Expert Soldier Badge

New skills badge recognizes Soldier excellence

FORT DRUM, NY (10/14/2021) — New York Army National Guard Specialist Nicholas Weber, a Cicero resident, is one of the first four New York National Guard Soldiers to earn the U.S. Army's newest skills badge.

Weber and three other Soldiers were awarded the Expert Soldier Badge on October 1 at Fort Drum, following a week of testing conducted by the 10th Mountain Division.

Sgt. 1st Class Ryan Blount, a Liverpool resident, also earned the new badge.

The four men joined another 950 Soldiers across the Army who have earned the new badge, which was created in October 2019.

The badge, which can be earned by all Soldiers who are not infantrymen, Special Forces or medics, joins the Expert Infantry Badge and the Expert Field Medic Badge as a special skills badge.

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.

"The badge represents Soldier excellence," said New York Army National Guard Command Sgt. Major David Piwowarski, the New York Army National Guard's senior enlisted Soldier. "No one earns this badge without hard work and dedication."

Weber, a part-time student at Mohawk Valley Community College and a full-time security guard, and the other three Soldiers had to successfully complete 30 Soldier tasks, qualify expert on their individual weapon, complete a physical fitness assessment, pass a day and night land navigation course and complete a timed 12-mile foot march with pack and weapon.

Weber, a cavalry scout in Alpha Troop for the 2nd Squadron, 101st Cavalry, said he got interested in competing for the new badge after talking to another Soldier.

"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," he said. "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."

He prepared for the test by studying military skills, going over the tasks and practicing taking apart weapons and putting them back together in the proper order. He also ensured he was in good shape by working out whenever possible, Weber said.

The training and testing session run by the 10th Mountain Division allocated two weeks for the skill badge evaluation.

The first week, from Sept. 20 to 26, gave Soldiers a chance to review the skills and then master them with hands on training. The second week, from Sept. 27 to Oct. 1, was the testing phase.

The New York Guard Soldiers arrived at Fort Drum early so they could get a jump on the training and then they resolved to work together throughout the program.

The tasks are broken down into three lanes: weapons tasks, medical tasks and patrol tasks which involve things like map reading, transmitting a spot report and emplacing a Claymore mine.

In the weapons portions the soldiers had to work through tasks involving the Mk. 19 automatic grenade launcher, the M-2 .50 caliber machinegun and the M-249 squad automatic weapon without making a mistake.

They also had to learn to break down the new M-17 Sig Sauer pistol, instead of the M-9 Beretta pistol used by the New York Army National Guard, because that is the pistol issued to 10th Mountain Division troops.

The weapons lane was the most challenging for him, Weber said. That was probably because it was the first set of tasks they had to complete and he had to get used to the testing system, Weber said.

Earning this new badge "feels awesome," Weber said.

"Just too even have the chance to be selected to go and attempt to earn it was great. It was a good feeling going there," Weber said.

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