Oakville Soldier is Combat-Ready After Earning Expert Infantry Badge

Private First Class Ryan Drago, of the Missouri National Guard, has never seen active duty in a battle situation, but the 21-year-old soldier from Oakville thinks he's ready now. He competed for, and earned, an Expert Infantry Badge.

Drago was hand-picked when he was 20 years old by his platoon sergeant in the 1st Battalion of the 138th Infantry Regiment of the Missouri National Guard to compete for the badge. He needed to negotiate a rigorous series of physical tests designed to simulate ground combat, including weapons proficiency, map reading and land navigation, culminating in a 12-mile march that had to be done in three hours while carrying 52 pounds of battle gear.

The battery of tests takes two weeks to complete and, during Drago's qualifying sessions, started with 283 soldiers. Only 14 successfully earned the badge.

"A military career is something I always wanted to do," he said. "I was never meant to sit behind a desk."

Drago reveled in the opportunity challenge himself and compete for the badge.

"It was pretty awesome," said Drago, who hopes to become a member of a Special Forces unit one day. "It was a huge mental thing."

A 2009 graduate of , where he was a member of the football and baseball teams; Drago said he appreciated the "spit and polish" mentality of the school.

"I liked the clean-cut look we had to have," he said.

The clean-cut Drago was the youngest soldier who competed for the badge. He said the original group consisted of a variety of higher-ranking non-commissioned officers. But although Drago was "the kid" among those trying to qualify, he said he bonded with the more experienced soldiers and earned their respect as the grueling two-week testing wore on.

What's next for Drago? He says his goal is to be a full-time member of the U.S. Army and hopes to be accepted into a Special Forces unit. Meanwhile he still has a year to go at the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he is a business major.

If he does make it into a Special Forces unit, Drago's rigorous training will pay off, especially if he is able to put his expert infantry status into practice in a real-life combat situation.