FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska - Last week 183 Soldiers from 24 units and 10 states were at Fort Wainwright in hopes of earning the Expert Field Medic Badge. After five grueling days of qualification, followed by a 12-mile ruck march, only 31 were left standing for graduation.
The five-day testing was designed to eliminate all but the finest, but the Soldiers were not sent out unprepared, said Capt. Gabriel Medley, the officer in charge. The week prior, they trained to standards and studied for the written test.
Lt. Col. John McMurray, 25th Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, was president of the test board. He said it is one of the most difficult badges in the Army to earn. When the test was last given at Fort Wainwright in 2007, only 11 percent of the candidates earned the badge. In 2009 the pass rate was only 22 percent Armywide.
To earn the badge, Soldiers must demonstrate proficiency not just in various medical skills, but also in basic soldiering skills such as land navigation and moving and reacting under fire. Those with passing scores after the course's four and a half days of written and field testing must prove themselves worthy of the EFMB on a 12-mile road march.
Each lane offered different challenges, said McMurray said. The lanes that are not physically challenging were mentally challenging and vice versa.
Once testing began everything (written and practical testing as well as the road march) had to be completed within 120 hours. The testing was done in full combat load under simulated battle conditions at the Pvt. Joseph P. Martinez Combined Arms Collective Training Facility.
It was the third attempt at the badge for Capt. Jessica Millay, 25th BSB, 1-25th SBCT. Land navigation had defeated her in previous attempts. "It's always challenging. You have a lot to learn in a limited time. You have to make sure that you execute the tasks, the performance measures. There is a lot of information you're trying to get in your head at one time. It's challenging to make sure you get that and do it exactly right."
Milloy said she was out for the third time "Because because I am not going to let it get the best of me."
"It's been hard, it really has," said 1 Lt. Paul Tenpenny, Medical Department Activity-Alaska.
"Physically and mentally. You are running on like six hours of sleep a night. You have got the stress of doing everything perfectly. You have all these distractions.
"Everyone knows that EFMB is one of the three hardest badges to get in the Army," Tenpenny said. "Put a challenge in front of me and I've got to do it."
"It's been long days," said 1st Lt. Susan Brown, MEDDAC. Brown was making her second attempt at the badge. On her first try she made it 11 and 1/4 miles on the ruck march and had to stop due to severe dehydration. "I think they have done a good job of making scenarios as realistic as they can for a training environment."
Sgt. First Class Jerimy Laughlin, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, has had his EFMB since 2001 and was one of approximately 150 people who worked to make this event happen. "It puts that medic in an environment with a little bit of stress. Tests their ability to multi-task and pay attention to detail and get it right the first time," Laughlin said. "It's a mark of excellence. It's bragging rights. It proves you know your stuff."
Bragging rights was not the only reason these Soldiers came out to try for the badge.
Pfc. Steven Vazquez, 3-21st,1-25th SBCT, has been in the Army for about a year. He said he joined to turn his life around. "This is just another way to measure how I am doing. How I am bettering myself," said Vazquez said. "Decided I wanted it and I'm going for it."
"This is phenomenal training, with a tremendous amount of resources going into it," said Capt. Shane McDonald, MEDDAC. "When that increases seconds, when you can prioritize the casualties and work on the most urgent needs first, that's what will make a difference" in a combat zone.
Lt. Col. John Garrity, US Army Alaska, a member of the EFMB test board, was impressed by the candidates. "It's really fun. You have a core number of Soldiers who really want this. They are focused and determined and saying 'I want to be successful here.' Everyone else, even when they are not successful, learn a lot. They are more confident when they come back."
"When you see the young soldiers who are out there and have the EFMB - well this Soldier had probably not only deployed, but while they were home they said 'I want to become an expert in demonstrating my proficiency' and volunteered to go through a pretty stressful time away from home," Garrity said. "It's worth every cost we have put into it and they should be very proud of Soldiers who have accomplished it."
Maj. Gen. William J. Troy, USARAK commander, spoke at the graduation ceremony. "I am proud that people have seen what good training looks like. It looks just like this."
"For all the candidates, even those who were not successful, you are much better now for having gone through this training. You have gone through a lot and you are far better than the day you walked onto this site," Troy said.
Troy told the graduates "This test that you took, in many respects is the most difficult of all Army skill badges. It is tough in every respect." He said the candidates had to have not just knowledge and skill but a physical and mental toughness to go beyond the pain to succeed.
"American medics are the best medics in the world and now you EFMB winners are the best of the best."
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