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Guam Guard soldier earns German gold badge
First Lt. Christopher Duenas, executive officer, Delta Company, Guam Army National Guard’s 1st-294th Infantry Regiment, earned the German Armed Forces Badge for Military Proficiency in Gold recently upon graduation from the 22- week Maneuver Captains Career Course in Fort Benning, Georgia. (GUAM NATIONAL GUARD)
A soldier from the Guam Army National Guard’s 1st-294th Infantry Regiment’s Delta Company is the first to be awarded the German Armed Forces Badge in Gold at Fort Benning, Georgia.
First Lt. Christopher Duenas, Delta Company executive officer, graduated from the Maneuver Captains’ Career Course on Aug. 14 at the U.S. Army’s Maneuver Center of Excellence, Fort Benning, Georgia.
The 22-week resident course takes place in a small group setting and includes curricula forces in all types of operations that a company commander may be forced to operate in, from combined arms maneuver to wide area security missions.
Duenas became the first Guam Guard soldier to be awarded the German Armed Forces Badge for Military Proficiency in Gold for his very successful completion of the evaluation from the commanding officer upon recognition of his physical and moral standards.
The purpose of the evaluation is to show evidence that an individual is both physically and morally fit.
Duenas had to successfully pass six tests: (1) First Aid Course; (2) NBC test, which required demonstration of properly donning a protective mast and all NBC protective clothing; (3) basic fitness test completion in 90 minutes, which included an 11×10-meter sprint test, a flexed arm hand keeping chin above bar for time and a 1,000-meter sprint; (4) marksmanship skills using a German-manufactured light (pistol or MP), a rifle and one heavy weapon (MG or AT-launcher) at varying distances, targets and positions of firing; (5) a 12-kilometer foot march with a 33-pound rucksack and (6) completion of a 100-meter swim in uniform in less than four minutes.
Duenas completed the proficiency at the highest level, or Grade III, earning Gold.
The German Armed Forces Badge for Military Proficiency is a decoration of the Bundeswehr, the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. The decoration is awarded to and worn by German service members of all ranks.
Allied service members may also be awarded the badge, subject to their nations’ uniform regulations.
In the U.S. Army, the German Armed Forces Badge for Military Proficiency is one of several hundred foreign awards approved for wear on the uniform. (PR)
