GRAFENWOEHR, Germany - Deep in the woods of the Grafenwoehr Training Area, an Army medic runs smack into simulated enemy fire.
He responds quickly by dropping to the ground and aiming his rifle toward a thicket of oak trees. Twenty yards in front of him, his battle buddy has taken a bullet to the leg and writhes in pain. The medic must make his way to his buddy, dress the wound and drag him to safety.
Sound exhausting? This is just one of the many field scenarios Army medics must maneuver through with proficiency in order to earn the highly-coveted Expert Field Medical Badge. This year's U.S. Army Europe-sponsored EFMB event attracted more than 260 candidates, 40 of them from nine European countries, for five rigorous days of physical and mental testing Sept. 4-8. Keeping candidates fueled for the diverse challenges they confront during EFMB competition falls onto the deft hands of 15 Army cooks, who are cutting a different approach to the standard three-meals-a-day menu.
"We see Soldiers as athletes and food as fuel. So, how can we fuel the athlete better?" said Capt. Ben Wunderlich, a registered dietitian with the 212th Combat Support Hospital, 30th Medical Brigade, 21st Theater Sustainment Command, and the unit responsible for organizing this year's EFMB event. "Our goal out here is to increase cognition and decrease fatigue."
Athleticism has been on full display since candidates began arriving to Grafenwoehr on Aug. 23 for 12 days of familiarization training followed by five days of evaluation. Each morning, candidates walk with 30-pound rucksacks from their barracks to the various combat testing lanes, where they drill through the litany of medical tasks spelled out in step-by-step format in the 147-page U.S. Army Medical Department Pamphlet 350-10. When candidates aren't sleeping, walking or maneuvering through a lane, they are buried in this pamphlet.
Remembering to eat is probably the last thing on candidates' minds. That's where Wunderlich comes in, with his team of culinary experts plucked from various Germany-based units including the 212th CSH, out of Bruchmuehlbach-Miesau, 16th Sustainment Brigade, out of Baumholder, and Headquarters Troop, Regimental Support Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, out of Vilseck.
With Wunderlich overseeing operations at two separate dining facilities - one for the hundreds of candidates and the other for the more than 300 support staff - cooks prepare upwards of 2,100 meals a day. That, of course, includes the normal fare of breakfast, lunch and dinner. But also sprinkled throughout the day are two primary snack meals, which are prepared and delivered to candidates directly in the field. Cooks have even been offering a third snack, served between 11 p.m. and midnight, to those candidates practicing the nighttime land navigation portion of the test.
"Everything we make is fresh," said Pfc. Alexander Neyens, a baker at the 16th SB Dining Facility in Baumholder and a native of Dubuque, Iowa. "We incorporate a lot of whole wheat flour into our products. We also try to use less sugar by adding a fruit and using that sugar in our products."
All snacks include a complex carbohydrate, such as potatoes, fresh-baked pretzels or whole-wheat crust pizza, a protein or dairy source, such as lean ground turkey or a carton of milk, sliced fruits and vegetables.
"With most Army rations, you get three large meals a day, and it just brings all that blood to the gut and slows everything down," said Wunderlich, a native of Mankato, Minnesota. "What we want to do is provide five meals a day spread about three hours apart in moderate portions to make sure [candidates] stay at their peak performance."
So just how many calories are candidates burning? Wunderlich estimates that with all the physical exertion required to run through the lanes, coupled with the mental activity (yes, the brain does burn calories), candidates can easily expend between 3,600-4,700 calories a day.
"If you aren't starting off at full, it's hard to get through the day," said Sgt. Sonja Williams, a noncommissioned officer in charge of Behavioral Medicine, Baumholder Health Clinic and a native of Waycross, Georgia. She is participating in her first EFMB event. "The lanes are demanding because you have to move at a fast rate and lift 'simulated patients.'"
And those dummies aren't light either, weighing between 140-165 pounds, explained Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Ebert, a noncommissioned officer in charge of Behavioral Health, Bavaria Medical Department Activity, helping to run this year's testing lanes. "CTL One" alone, for example, consists of three warrior tasks, three evacuation tasks and 14 medical tasks, he said.
"Going through the lane, some of the medical tasks on the performance measures have 7-10 pages worth of tasks [candidates] must do in sequence," said Ebert. "Just knowing when to check a pulse or when to apply a tourniquet to control bleeding in order to triage properly can be mentally taxing."
Wunderlich estimates that by the time the EFMB event wraps up with a graduation ceremony on Sept. 9, candidates will have walked, between the barracks and the testing lanes, some 38 miles. Add to that the 12-mile required ruck march and the nighttime land navigation portions of the test, and in the end, candidates will have covered a distance of nearly two marathons.
With so much emphasis at this year's EFMB event on nutrition, one of three components that make up the Army Performance Triad (the others being sleep and activity), Williams said she certainly appreciates all the healthy food she is receiving. But there's one thing she said she absolutely could not live without.
"I got to have my coffee," she said.
Related Links:
21st Theater Sustainment Command
USAREUR Expert Field Medical Badge Homepage
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