Maj. Josh Favaro, executive officer of the Virginia National Guard’s Fredericksburg-based 229th Brigade Engineering Battalion, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team receives the Expert Soldier Badge from Sgt. Maj. Justin Walkup, the 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team operations sergeant major, March 15, 2024 at Fort Walker, Virginia. The Expert Soldier Badge is a special skills badge awarded to Soldiers who have completed testing and do not serve in the Infantry, Special Forces or Medical Branches. Testing for the ESB consists of 30 tasks- Weapon Lane Tasks, Medical Lane Tasks, Patrol Lane Tasks, and five unit-level missions essential tasks chosen by the commander, as well as a 12-mile road march, a land navigation test and the Expert Physical Fitness Assessment.