HOHENFELS, Germany -- After two weeks of grueling testing, three Hohenfels Soldiers earned the prestigious Expert Field Medical Badge, with one taking the top spot from among nearly 300 competitors.
Spc. Ernest C. Johnson, earned top honors by completing each task with 100 percent accuracy. Sgt. Bradley N. Armentrout and Pfc. Benjamin Erny, all three from Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, also succeeded.
"We're extremely proud," said Sgt. 1st Class Michael S. Mason. "Hohenfels had a 33 percent pass rate and to have one of our medics come out as the distinguished honor graduate looks excellent on the 1st-4th medics."
The EFMB is awarded in recognition of exceptional competence and outstanding performance in field medicine. Competitors face a series of tasks designed to test their efficiency in emergency medical treatment, communications, physical fitness, land navigation, and more. For combat medics, it is one of the most prestigious badges they can earn.
"When you show up to a new unit with this badge, it shows that you can pay attention to detail, you can perform tasks as directed. It can give you a leg up on a lot of people competing for the same job," said Armentrout.
As one of two of the Hohenfels participants who had attempted the EFMB before, Armentrout was tasked with heading up the training for his team. Every week for almost 3 months preceding the testing, the nine Hohenfels EFMB hopefuls sequestered themselves and concentrated on training for the competition.
"Every Wednesday we'd do a ruck march in the morning and training in the afternoon," Armentrout said. "After lunch till the end of the day, we were training, everything from Soldier skills to medical evacuations."
"It was a real team effort," he added. "Everybody was an expert in something."
The training continued even during the test. Johnson said he and Spc. Eddie Lamar trained every spare moment.
"Lamar and I studied the tasks religiously while we were there," said Johnson. "So the fact that it paid off really made me feel good, especially since he ended up going home at the end of it, and I feel like I did him proud too because me and him decided at least one of us was going to make it through there."
Johnson did more than make it through, being recognized as an expert among experts, completing each tasks without mistakes.
"There was one task that had like 107 sub-tasks," said Armentrout, "and if you missed one, you were a no-go for that task."
As an example of the grit and determination required to earn the coveted badge, Armentrout cited his teammate Erny's trials. Struggling through the written test and the land navigation, Erny made it to the final 12-mile road march. Roughly 15 feet from the finish line, he suddenly collapsed. With his teammates and supporters cheering him on, Erny managed to crawl to his feet and complete the march with only 10 seconds to spare.
"He gave maximum effort," said Armentrout. "He was not going to accept getting that far and failing."
"It was probably one of the most dramatic finishes I've ever seen," added Mason.
That type of 100 percent effort characterized the entire 1st-4th team.
"Nine of us went, three came out with the badge," Armentrout said. "But I can honestly say that the three of us would not have left with that badge had it not been for our entire team. This was one of the best teams I've worked with my whole time in the Army."
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