Best of the Best; 2nd SBCT Soldiers compete for EFMB

By U.S. ArmyOctober 23, 2014

Best of the Best; 2nd SBCT Soldiers compete for EFMB
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii -- 1st Sgt. Gary Petty, from Fla., the senior enlisted noncommissioned officer assigned to Company C, 225th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Stryker Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, loads a simulated causality in a medical am... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Best of the Best; 2nd SBCT Soldiers compete for EFMB
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii -- Sgt. Amberlee Boverhuis, from Edinburg, Texas, a health care specialist assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division dr... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Best of the Best; 2nd SBCT Soldiers compete for EFMB
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii -- Sgt. Amberlee Boverhuis, from Edinburg, Texas, a health care specialist assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division pr... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Schofield Barracks, Hawaii -- More than 60 health care specialists assigned to 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division sought after the most coveted badge in the Army.

The Expert Field Medical Badge qualification course was held Oct. 19-24 on Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, and is made up of three lanes; day and night land navigation courses, a written exam consisting of 150 questions on material that was not taught during the course and a 12-mile ruck march which had to be completed in less than three hours.

"This a great opportunity for us to be out here trying to achieve this badge," said Sgt. Amberlee Boverhuis, from Edinburg, Texas, assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 2nd SBCT. "The EFMB is a very prestige badge in our medical field."

According to Boverhuis, to earn the EFMB, a medic must be willing to adhere to the mental and physical challenges the course puts a Soldier through.

"The training is very mentally demanding; not too many people complete the training," said Boverhuis. "It's few and far between that you see somebody with it on their uniform and opportunities open up for them later on in their careers."

For 1st Sgt. Gary Petty, who is originally from Fla., the senior enlisted noncommissioned officer assigned to Company C, 225th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd SBCT, he believes this is an opportunity for his Soldiers to see their leaders lead from the front.

"My company's whole command team and 14 of our Soldiers are out here competing to earn this badge," said Petty. "I'm always preaching to my Soldiers about how important this badge is for the medical field and it's hard for me to keep pushing them if I don't have it myself. It doesn't matter what rank I am wearing today because if a leader is telling their Soldiers to do something then they should be able to do it as well."

With only a 7-percent graduation rate, the EFMB distinguishes medics among their peers as the best of the best.