The Army said 1st Lt. Jeong Ji-eun, who is the platoon leader of a battalion belonging to the 30th mechanized infantry division, has been awarded the EIB. (image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 6 (Korea Bizwire) – A South Korean female officer has won the coveted U.S. Army female Expert Infantryman Badge (EIB) by passing a grueling series of tests last month, the military said Monday.
The Army said 1st Lt. Jeong Ji-eun, who is the platoon leader of a battalion belonging to the 30th mechanized infantry division, has been awarded the EIB.
She got the badge after passing tests organized by the South Korea-U.S. forces at Camp Casey.
EIB recipients must pass tests that examines a person’s physical strength, combat proficiency and overall effectiveness as a soldier. It encompasses rigorous physical fitness screening and a forced march of 20 kilometers in three hours, weighed down by full combat gear.
Of those that apply, the average passing rate stands at 13-15 percent, sources said.
The Army said that besides winning the EIB, Lt. Jeong also won the South Korean military’s equivalent of the badge last November, when only four of the 85 people that tried passed the test.
It said of the 630 soldiers who tried for the EIB last month, 50 were South Korean troops. Of these 21 won the badge with Chung being the only female recipient.
(Yonhap)
