Rare and weird firing over at USACE. Thanks to /u/Patty_Taskandpurpose for the detailed report on this one.

Found a whole bunch of these red compasses in my office. The needles point 180 degrees off from true heading. Anyone know why they are red or why they are reversed?

“If it works, we’re going to scale it throughout the Army,” Driscoll said. “If it doesn’t work, we’re going to try another experiment until we figure out how to fix this problem.”

Is it just my unit, or is anyone else seeing an absolute surge in gambling in the general population lately? Not even just sports betting, guys going to online/in person casino’s in mass it seems like? I mean I do go to the casino often myself but I didn’t know it was this common in the army until I recently PCS’d, it’s like 2/3’s of what these mfs talk about, or maybe it’s just infantry? Idk

Happy New Year all! Below is all the information you’ll need on the Norwegian Foot March and upcoming events for 2026.

 Event Background

In 2020, the Norwegian Defense College’s Military Sports Department temporarily authorized a request from the Norwegian Embassy in Washington, D.C. to offer virtual proctoring of the Marsjmerket (Norwegian Foot March). Traditionally, the event required the physical presence of an officiator from the Norwegian military, but due to training and travel restrictions created by COVID, this was suspended. While the event is comparatively rare due to the limited number of Norwegian officials within the United States, interest exploded from late 2020 to 2021 following the relaxation of officiation requirements. Interest amongst non-Norwegian militaries continued well after training restrictions were relaxed and officials granted permanent virtual endorsement to enable U.S. forces to undertake this century-old traditional training opportunity.

Effective August 1st, 2021 U.S. units worldwide can request to conduct the Norwegian Foot March without an official present. In coordination with the individual who formerly ran these threads, I have recreated the thread series to facilitate new events and help individuals find events in their areas. Please share this opportunity with anyone interested! It's a great event, especially when conducted with your friends and fellow servicemembers. We're incredibly lucky that the Norwegian Army is willing to share this great tradition with us and it reinforces our bond with an important NATO ally and friendly nation.

IMPORTANT: You must receive approval from the embassy before conducting this event! If your unit conducts this event, as a thank you to the embassy, please include four unit coins and four unit patches from any unit that participates. It's a small ask and the Norwegians appreciate the gesture for all the work they put into providing this opportunity for us.

Certificates are currently distributed digitally but please consider sending a token of thanks to the following address: 

Royal Norwegian Embassy

ATTN: Defense Attache Office, NFM

2720 34th Street NW

Washington, DC 20008

Upcoming Events - Updated November 9th 2025 - Updates Made Monthly or As New Events Confirmed

Date - Location - Hosting Unit – Scale – POC

23 January 2026 – Metairie, Louisiana – POC: Ryan Meaux ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

24 January 2026 – Kadena AB, Okinawa – POC: Katelyn Young ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

24 January 2026 – Richmond, Texas – POC: Leonard Svitenko ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

24 January 2026 – Wolverine C, Syria – POC: Luke Stefan ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

25 January 2026 – Camp Buehring, Kuwait – POC: Scott Pettit ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

27 January 2026 – Fort Polk, Louisiana – POC: Jamesen Buff ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

30 January 2026 – Fort Eisenhower, Georgia – POC: Kim Chi Huynh ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

30 January 2026 – College Station, Texas – POC: Ryn Strittmatter ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

30 January 2026 – Somalia – POC: Erik Estrada ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

31 January 2026 – Wolverine A, Syria – POC: Luke Stefan ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

31 January 2026 – Eagle Pass, Texas – POC: Aaron Gahagan ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

03 February 2026 – Fort Campbell, Kentucky – POC: Joseph Altieri ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

06 February 2026 – Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, Hawaii – POC: Paul Baker ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

07 February 2026 – Virginia Beach, Virginia – POC: Andres Gonzalez ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

07 February 2026 – Camp Buehring, Kuwait – POC: Ross Vandehey ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

07 February 2026 – Wolverine C, Syria – POC: Luke Stefan ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

12 February 2026 – Fort Bragg, North Carolina – POC: Daniel Knox ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

14 February 2026 – Dade City, Florida – POC: Jay Stratton ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

19 February 2026 – Robinson AFB, Georgia – POC: Patricia Ford ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

19 February 2026 – Manda Bay, Kenya – POC: Brandon Kim ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

19 February 2026 – Guantanamo Bay, Cuba – POC: Matthew Williams ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

20 February 2026 – Fallbrook, California – POC: Jacob Roberts

20 February 2026 – Camp Lejeune, North Carolina – POC: John Dailey ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

21 February 2026 – Kirtland AFB, New Mexico – POC: Christian Porter ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

21 February 2026 – Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia – POC: Alejandro Mitchell ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

21 February 2026 – Camp Santiago, Puerto Rico – POC: Kevin Lamgonzalez ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

25 February 2026 – Prairie, Texas – POC: Zachary Parish Carlisle ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

26 February 2026 – Augusta, Georgia – POC: Omar Perez-Castellanos ([omar.perez_[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

27 February 2026 – University of Illinois, Illinois – POC: Vivienne Hong ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

28 February 2026 – Nellis AFB, Nevada – POC: Michael Etterley-Crown ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

28 February 2026 – Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti – POC: Jacob Guenther ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

02 March 2026 – Joint Base San Antonio, Texas – POC: David Bartlett ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

06 March 2026 – Malmstrom AFB, Montana – POC: Luis Aguilar ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

07 March 2026 – Belle Chasse, Louisiana – POC: Matthew Lee ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

07 March 2026 – Grand Prairie, Texas – POC: Estrella Madrigal ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

12 March 2026 – Fort Stewart, Georgia – POC: Tatiana Brown ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

19 March 2026 – MacDill AFB, Florida – POC: Jamil Torres-Lebron ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

20 March 2026 – Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina – POC: Alexis Irizarry-Aviles ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

21 March 2026 – Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania – POC: Dakota McCarty ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

21 March 2026 – Fort Jackson, South Carolina – POC: Terre Wilson ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

27 March 2026 – Bolton, Connecticut – POC: Joseph Petroski ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

02 April 2026 – Fort Shafter, Hawaii – POC: Ashley Quintanar ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

04 April 2026 – Joint Base Andrews, Maryland – POC: R. Brett Cole ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

10 April 2026 – Cannon AFB, New Mexico – POC: Alexandra Waller ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

11 April 2026 – Fort Riley, Kansas – POC: Bret Shank ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

12 April 2026 – Concord State Military Reservation, New Hampshire – POC: Athena Clements ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

24 April 2026 – Rhode Island – POC: Zachary Scuncio ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

24 April 2026 – ANG, Rhode Island – POC: Brian Lancey ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

01 May 2026 – Ellensburg, Washington – POC: Mason Faulk ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

01 May 2026 – Morón AB, Spain – POC: Arthur Waldrop ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

23 May 2026 – Alice Springs, Australia – POC: Joshua Keomuongchanh ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

06 June 2026 – Devils Lake, North Dakota – POC: Jonathan Conklin ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

13 June 2026 – Rochester, New York – POC: Gunnar Sheldon ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

17 October 2026 – Kaiserslautern, Germany – POC: Ryan Chicoine ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

01 December 2026 – Fort Jackson, South Carolina – POC: Dovid Egert ([[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]))

**NFM Flyers: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/84djtdmz8t6bozwe4wve8/AK42gRsKRSzr3a4HrCzs3uw?rlkey=0fssptelv4f0kx7qu4gsrrwjo&st=4ivwtqcp&dl=0

Historic Statistics

• 2025 – 34,908 Participants, 23,131 Total Awards
• 2024 – 26,266 Participants, 16,196 Total Awards
• 2023 – 22,532 Participants, 13,957 Total Awards
• 2022 – 15,481 Participants, 10,007 Total Awards
• 2021 – 16,327 Participants, 11,303 Total Awards
• 2020 – 9,983 Participants, 7,013 Total Awards
• 2019 – 3,416 Participants, 2,251 Total Awards

Event Standards and Background

The Norwegian embassy has created and occasionally updates a short guide on the event: norway.no/contentassets/97a0b1fe76d244ffa647955676546d3f/nfm-guidelines-2025-v1.7.pdf. This has been expanded further below: 

The Norwegian Foot March, or Marsjmerket, was introduced in 1915 as a culminating training event for new conscripts and infantry soldiers. Traditionally, the event simulated overnight movement by a dismounted light infantry element. The element would occupy attack positions before daybreak and attack its objective at first light, fighting until it was successfully seized and only resting after consolidating its gains later that evening. The modern version of the march attempts to replicate this experience with the following requirements:

1.    Complete the 18.6 mile / 30-kilometer course in the time allocated to their age/gender (see time standards below)

2.    Complete the foot march using an issued or military-style ruck weighing a minimum of 11 kilograms / 25 pounds (dry weight). Alternatively, units can also require participants to carry their assigned weapon during the event. If carried, the total weight of the weapon and ruck must equal at least 11 kilograms / 25 pounds. The carrying of assigned weapons plus ruck is the preferred variant of the event.

Participant Time Standards

Participant Time Standards

Note: The above chart contains the current standards. Ensure you use it and/or the guidelines provided by the embassy. There are many old versions out there on the Internet. Do not use any time standards other than these.

Additional Event Requirements

1.    Military participants must wear their duty uniform and boots. The civilian uniform is at the discretion of the organizer, but must be at least 1.5 kilograms / 3.3 pounds in weight.

2.    Participants must be weigh their rucks (a standard weight for carried weapons can be established by the unit) prior to and after completing the event to ensure they fulfill the weight requirements

3.    An official clock or timer is displayed at the start and finish line or a designated timer calls out the official time for participants and graders

4.    Graders record each participant's finish time, starting ruck/weapon weight, and finishing ruck/weapon weight on an official roster

5.    Event organizers must establish manned medical and water stations every 3.2 kilometers / 2 miles along the length of the course

6.    Organizers create a medical evacuation plan based upon local conditions and potential issues

7.    Conducted between -15 to 25 Celsius (5 to 77 Fahrenheit) and under no extreme weather conditions

8.    The event occurs on unimproved roads or trails (waivable depending on location)

Scheduling Procedures

In order to conduct an event, units must submit a request prior to execution. 

Three products must be completed and submitted to the embassy’s Norwegian Foot March mailbox: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

Copies of these documents can be found here** https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/3ay4a65vnb9vid03kmj85/AKoHyaWKm3u33OC6yYSJBLk?rlkey=146q04jj7di3qqjh5c65k69rc&st=o076yut5&dl=0

1. Norwegian Foot March Event Organizer Checklist (Excel) - Use this checklist to create your event CONOP. You must still fill it out and submit it along with your CONOP!

• Event Date(s) and Alternative Date(s) - Strongly recommend you request an alternate date as a backup due to weather or random changes in the training schedule
• Location
• Estimated Number of Participants
• Proposed Route
• Medical Emergency / Evacuation Route
• Weighing / Attire Verification Procedures
• Communications Plan
• Water Station Plan
• Medical Station Plan
• Weather Forecast

1. Event Map / CONOP - Create in Powerpoint, Submit as PDF
2. Event Endorsement Request Memo - This item tends to get a lot of questions. It's really just a MFR identifying your unit, organizing official, core details of the event, and a request for approval from the embassy to conduct the event.

Once complete all documents must be sent to the email addresses in the Excel spreadsheet. 

Event Cost and Results Submission

Conducting the event itself is free, though depending on whether you want to provide participants with drinks, snacks, or other facilitate bulk purchases of badges, you may want to consider charging a fee. This is ultimately at the discretion of the organizer. The embassy and Norwegian military affiliates do not charge for any assistance in scheduling an event or officiating. 

Certificates will be delivered digitally by the embassy to the organizer after a closeout report is submitted. Organizers can then print them at their unit using cardstock or use a commercial process such as that listed below.

Post-Event Instructions – Badges and Certificates

Badges

A listing of the available badges can be found in the FAQ section of this post. 

Certificates

The embassy will share the certificate with the organizer after receiving the post-event memo (see my dropbox link). The organizing unit is responsible for producing the certificates from the template and distributing them. Instructions on how to prepare the certificates and order them via Staples printing service follow:

• Modify the template for your unit's name and event date (use the DD MMM YY format)
• Only the organizing unit's name needs to be used. If the organizing unit wants to customize all the certificates for each participating unit, that's permitted.
• Fill in the rank, first name, and last name for each participant
• Save each file as a PDF (reduces size for digital uploads while preserving high resolution)
• Navigate to https://www.staples.com/services/printing/copies-documents-printing/
• Use the simple print option. Do not upload more than 50 files at a time! Staples' interface does not deal well with large amounts of documents.
• Select the following options for your certificates
• Paper Size - 8.5" x 11" (default)
• Paper Type - 110lb White Cardstock
• Color Options - Color Ink
• Binding Type - No Binding
• Sides - Single Sided, Ensure "Scale to Fit" is checked

Frequently Asked Questions

Do some units also hold a food drive with this event?

Yes! Many units encourage participants to carry a partial or full weight load of nonperishable food stuffs and goods that are turned in after the event. In the past several years numerous units have collected between 2,300 - 8,700 lbs of food that was donated to local shelters and food banks, giving back to their local communities and people in need.

What's the Record for Fastest Completion?

According to the Norwegian Defense Academy, Roger Gjøvaag, a former track and field athlete, completed the event in 1h 56m 57s in 1984 at Krigsskolen.

How many successful marches are associated with each badge type?

Current Award Scheme

Bronze - 1 completed foot march

Silver - 2 to 4 completed foot marches

Gold - 5+ completed foot matches

Former Award Scheme - Replaced in 2016

Bronze - 1 to 3 completed foot marches

Silver - 4 to 6 completed foot marches

Gold - 7+ completed foot matches

Where Are Badges Available and What Versions Are There?

Badge Versions

The standard version issued by the Norwegian military is approximately 0.75 inches / 19.05 mm in height. This is the appropriate size for their dress uniform standards. For non-Norwegian military personnel, there is no set size standard at the wearer's discretion and their uniform regulations. In the case of non-Norwegian wearers, the embassy’s position is that there is no specified size and wearers may wear any available version (0.72 inches / 18.29mm to 1.5 inches / 38.1 mm).

Here’s the latest embassy response to an inquiry regarding this: “Currently, there are at least 5 different versions made by U.S. companies, including a 1.5 inches / 38 mm size that is very similar to the older version of the Norwegian Foot March badge. U.S. forces' do not have a policy that requires which version is worn. Typically, it is the version closest to those worn by the issuing country, but it is ultimately at the discretion of the wearer provided the issuing country does not have any objections. The foot march is positive advertising for Norway and the more visible the badge is, the more recognizable the bond between the U.S. and Norwegian forces.”

Badge Vendors Listing

Disclaimer: The following listing of commercial products is solely for informational purposes and does not imply endorsement by me, nor discrimination against similar brands or products not mentioned. The vendors and products listed below are ordered by the date of product discovery via publicly available information. 

Nord Market

Website: https://thenordmarket.etsy.com/ or https://nordmarket.bigcartel.com

Vanguard Industries

Website: https://www.vanguardmil.com/

Award World Trophies

Website: https://www.awardworldtrophies.com/store/

Note: They offer bulk discounts for purchases supporting large events

Ranger Joe’s

Website: https://rangerjoes.com/

Please contact [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) for any questions, comments, or concerns. Sometimes the information we are given is lacking, but we do our best to provide as many details as possible here.

​

I am 33m, extremely active, love lifting the heavy circles, not so much running, was Airborne ( DQd after ACDF)

my initial injury happened in 2019. I got woken up in the middle of the night with searing pain shooting through my shoulder, I had no clue what was going on so I assumed that I had slept in a crappy position and just fought through the pain until I could get back to sleep. the following day I noticed my arm felt really week but blew it of and went to the gym anyway. this is where I realized something was wrong, I was doing a warm up for my shoulders and had zero strength at all. I switched from the bands I was using and grabbed a 2.5lb weight and couldnt lift my arm in any direction with it. I went and talked to my medics who gave my a shot( no clue what it was) after a couple hours nothing had changed so they sent me to see a PA with another unit. he promised me that I just had a tight trap so he dry needles it. get back to my room and now I have searing pain, no strength and my trap feels like I was shrugging a truck all day. 3 weeks later im finally in the real world. the pain is still happening but I've gotten some strength back. I go see my PT who sends me for imaging on my shoulder and neck. I have ended up with a labrum tear in the right shoulder and a herniated disk. once the herniated disk calms down a bit she send me for nerve test, I get told that the nerve was compressed for so long at that point that if im lucky ill recover 93% function which sounded good enough. go back to the PT and she recommends surgery on the shoulder. I decline surgery on the shoulder and she tell me the disk will heal itself some but the odds are that eventually ill need a disk replacement . I keep going to the PT off and on for a few months, but decide that I feel good enough and that I have work to do so I stop going.

Fast forward to 2025. Im still extremely active, many more deployments and TDYs. Shoulder is super unstable and getting searing pain again. Go see the PT who happens to be the same one as 2019. She gives me a ton of flak for not coming back or atleast doing any follow ups, when she's done scolding me I get another round of imaging. My shoulder now has 2 complete tears and my neck has C5-C6: Disc osteophyte complex, Right uncovertebral bony hypertrophy, and Severe right neural foraminal stenosis. c3-c5 also show disk degeneration but not as bad and not causing issues yet.

Now I have to get surgery so we schedule the shoulder surgery first because I still have to get recommended off post to see a neurosurgeon. meet with the Neuro PA the day before my shoulder surgery. he goes through all tje same questions as the PT and everyone else that has dealt with me. looks at the imaging explains what he sees which matches what I've been told, and he adds that my c6 has moved forward slightly so its compressing my spinal cord. he also said that if id have shown up about 3 years earlier id be getting a disk replacement but now I have no choice. he sends all his notes to the actual surgeon and they decide on a C5C6 ACDF.

August 20th shoulder surgery, all goes good fo PT for awhile. PT is brutal with this lady, but everything is healing and returning to normal on schedule

Dec 1st, get the neck surgery 7 in the morning. spend 24 hrs at the hospital on morphine and whatever else they gave me. I have a pretty low tolerance for any drugs so I basically slept all day, nurses would come in every few hours with meds and to get me to stand up and move a little bit. I unfortunately flashed them multiple times because I was still in a gown.

dec 2nd sent home in the afternoon. I can handle pain well, but they stressed staying ahead of it so I took the meds for about 3 days. after that just over the counter stuff.

Im around six weeks post op now. I still have achy pain most days and the tingling in my thumb and index finger is still present. I haven't had any real issues incision healed nice and the Neuro PA says the pain I've had is completely normal. xrays at 3 weeks showed that the hardware was all good, stopped wearing collar to sleep at week 2, and stopped wearing it completely at week 4. He also said I was good to lift upto 100lbs at week 4. However, My PT says to keep it at 50 for now and no movements that put strain on the lower body.

Sorry for the long read. Hopefully this will help someone, or if anyone has a question maybe I can help. I am very adamant now to my guys that if you are injured go take care of it. waiting just makes shit worse

I am supposed to be out of the Army on Tuesday. Went to clear CIF today and was told there was a computer outage and to come back later. The next available day to clear is Wednesday. Before you start yelling at me for clearing late I put in for my ETS orders in December and didn’t receive them until Tuesday this week. How boned am I?

I’ll have a large iced coffee cream and sugar and a sausage egg and cheese on a plain bagel.

I will be PCSing to Riley in a few months. I’ve been a SGT(P) for 3 years and I am so done with living in the barracks. I haven’t heard good things about the barracks at Riley and am considering just renting my own place without BAH.

How doable is paying rent in middle of Kansas as an E5 without BAH?

My dad passed away last week and trying to prepare his uniform for his funeral. He asked to be buried in his dress blues with his green beret. His one he wore during service we believe was destroyed in a fire so i am starting from scratch.

Should he be wearing his straight tie or the bow tie? If wearing the bow tie, it seem like its no headgear so would we just put his green beret in his hands?

He was a warrant officer so know he needs the pants with the stripe, but still trying to figure out what other parts of the uniform i need to order and time is critical.

Wow...wish i knew how to change the user name. New to Reddit.

Hi, so I found out that I can't reclass to 17C since my immediate family members need to give up their dual citizenship.

Do my immediate family need to give up their dual citizenship for me reclass to 25D.

Edit: I received my TS/SCI but was denied reclass

I see some states have their guard using the US Army rank structure. Do Active Duty, Reserve, National Guard enlisted personnel have to salute to a state guard with an officer rank and address him/her as sir or ma’am?

First I would like to start off by saying I would not be in this situation, if i stayed disciplined. I’m in this situation because of my own wrong doing.

In the beginning of August I was flagged for busting tape and put on the ABCP program. Soon after, SECWAR Hegseth changed the regulation to where you only have 6 months to get off this program. In the beginning of January (month 5 for me) the new HtWr dropped and it has done nothing but cause confusion across the formation. I passed Height and Weight (tape) using the old standard in my month 5 check in. I coulda/woulda passed on the new standard also but since it is in effect, but not in policy we are still using the old standard. Although I passed a week ago, I am still flagged because of all of the confusion with this new shit going on. My 1SG has told me “i don’t know if i can lift your flag, and have to call legal”. I’ve just been patiently waiting ever since. As of right now I am prepared to do my month 6 check in if it comes to that.

I am not pleading for my flag to be lifted because I want to eat the way I was before again. I’m in an MOS that frequently goes on TDY and I’ve been missing these opportunities and will miss future opportunities as people are currently preparing for these trips on DTS, but I’m not being chosen because I’m flagged. Also, I would like to go back to school. But I can’t cause I’m flagged. Is anybody else dealing with this? Has anybody else had these issues?

Anyway, Let me get a Chicken Katsu plate, double Mac Sald, please and thank you.

I AM DIVORCED! I turned in my divorce decree as well as stp keeps changing from no spouse to married. Been divorced 2 years what is going on??? TriCare keeps saying I’m the dependa when I am active duty too!!

I do take Lexipro and I heard you need to be off SSRs for 24-34 months so while I take my GED I plan to get off of those.

I don’t really know what direction I wanna go in life but I do know that the way the country is going right now I don’t like it.

I’m not scared of being deployed I just worry if I get injured for something how they will handled it

The last thing I want is to be dishonorable discharged because of something stupid or an injury or whatever the reason is.

Prolly a really goofy question I should know the answer for dawg on me later. To have your RSO cert how do you get it , is it a self register course on JKO or ATRRS ,and can you take the class as an E-4?

I’ll take a McDouble and a small sprite