Female officer passes US combat skill test

1st Lt. Jeong Ji-eun of the Army’s 30th Mechanized Infantry Division

By Yi Whan-woo

A female Army officer has passed the combat skills test administered by the U.S. Army.

The South Korean military said 1st Lt. Jeong Ji-eun of the 30th Mechanized Infantry Division was awarded an Expert Infantryman Badge (EIB) after passing the U.S. Army’s tests on physical fitness, land navigation, use of weapons, forced foot march and other capabilities needed for ground combat.

Jeong became the first South Korean woman to receive an EIB, the military said.

This year, some 630 personnel, including 50 South Koreans, participated in the EIB test co-organized by the U.S. and South Korean military at Camp Casey in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province.

Twenty-one South Koreans received EIBs in the training held from May 8 to 26. Jeong was the only female.

Jeong, 26, also passed the South Korean infantry’s own test in November 2015. It benchmarked the EIB test.

Only 13 to 15 percent of applicants pass the annual EIB test, according to the military.

She reportedly performed 200 push-ups and sit-ups, each, and ran seven kilometers uphill every day in preparation for the EIB test.

Jeong’s achievement is especially noteworthy because the EIB test demands the same requirements of both men and women.

Jeong, a platoon leader, said the South Korean infantry test helped her “a lot” in preparing for the EIB test.

“I kept telling myself that ‘I can do it’ and it led me to perform well,” she said.

To earn an EIB, a soldier must endure a rigorous physical fitness test, including push-ups and sit-ups, and demonstrate skills in land navigation during the day and night without failing once, before going on to the next level.

A soldier is then required to use the assigned weapons proficiently, complete a 12-mile hike in full combat gear in three hours, perform first aid and show other skills necessary for survival.

Only infantry personnel are eligible to participate in both the EIB test and South Korea’s equivalent test.

The U.S. military officially opened the door for women on ground combat jobs beginning in January and there were no female participants from the U.S. side this year, according to the South Korean military.

In November 2015, Jeong was the only woman among the four successful candidates who took the South Korean infantry test. A total of 85 soldiers took the test then.