06/11/2026
Fifty volunteers from all across the 177th Brigade came together this week to conduct the first of its kind, Expert Soldier Badge train-up.
It started with the Expert Physical Fitness Assessment, a grueling mix of athletic activities that must be completed in 30 minutes or less. Candidates ran one mile, completed 30 push-ups, sprinted 100m, loaded sixteen 40lbs sand bags into a truck, carried 10 gallons of water 50m, then high crawled and rushed 50 meters. You'd think that'd be the end of it, but no, they had to do one more 1 mile run.
After that, they moved immediately into advanced r***e marskmanship training, culminating with three days of ranges, to earn their expert marskmanship badge. Total range time? 38 hours.
50 candidates, 30 cadre, 20,000 rounds, 29 expert marksmanship badges earned, 18,000 average steps per day, one Brigade.
Because when the message must go thru, when the obstacles must be cleared, when the fires must be extinguished, when people and critical sites must be protected, and when the mission must not fail, you don't call those other guys. You call the 177th Tiger Brigade. 🐅 🇺🇸 🪖
156th Expeditionary Signal Battalion
210 Military Police Battalion
107th Engineer Battalion
507th Engineer Battalion
📷 SSG Christopher Johnson
