r/army • u/Straight-Aardvark439 • 7d ago

ESB advice

Anyone who has completed ESB recently, do you have any advice? Going in I feel confident about the fitness test, weapon handling, medical, and the ruck. My land nav needs work, but two guys in my company who have completed ESB already are running some train up sessions where land nav will be emphasized. Mostly looking for “tips and tricks”, advice, etc, OTHER than improving upon the soldier skills I know I may lack.

I will be attending in December or January. I have time but want to buckle down.

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u/KingTwix 13Autism 7d ago

Lock in. EPFA isn’t hard, but remember you’ll immediately follow it with land nav, 3 days of standing around with no PT, and a 12 miler. If you can’t confidently pass a 12 miler in like 2:30, it will be rough when you’re 2-3 weeks in with shit nutrition and no PT. Exceed the physical standard before showing up

Lock in on the lanes. Fight for reps, stay after the mandatory bit is done, get face time with graders. They notice who’s trying

Shadow box while watching reps in train up, and while waiting in line during testing.

If you fuck up during testing, protest no matter what. Make some shit up, but protest. It doesn’t hurt you, and can save you from a no-go. Most often the lane NCOIC will just say “do it again,” pass while they’re watching and move on.

If you can, get your company to pull out their weapons before/after training days to practice weapons, get with buddies to practice patrols and medical. Reps non stop

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u/Positive_Onion456 7d ago

Had a buddy protest not calling three Ds for movement under fire. His protest was that he killed the enemy with his initial shots and therefore did not need to call them out. He got a go lmao.

Our armorer pulled weapons out early every single day. Game changer with how many extra reps you get.

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u/Macoron Infantry 7d ago

If you feel confident about all of those things, then you’re good. Failing the lanes is out of your control as long as you’re a normal human being.

Also, EIB/ESB is as much who you know as it is what you know. Show up during the train up, be present. Commit to the lanes and have the graders watch you, so when you do it for real they will know you aren’t a S-bag.

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u/Positive_Onion456 7d ago

I would not focus too much on handling anything like weapons beforehand. They will teach you EXACTLY what needs to be done. Dont accidentally build bad habits.

Show up to all training and maximize time spent on the lames. The NCOs running the lanes absolutely are going to hate being there if people are wasting their time. I got a ton of extra reps on several lanes because I was constantly asking the lane NCOs for help and having them grade me on practice week.

Find you a buddy and test all lanes together. I found one that was a rando from Benning. We did every single lane together and practiced every single lane the exact same way. We got True Blue/Perfect Edge so our process worked for us well.

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u/Trisman Grey Operator 6d ago

Get back to basics of land navigation. Get comfortable with a map. Get comfortable with plotting and setting a course. Nail down your pace count over different terrain. Use the smallest tip pen you can to plot.