FORT BLISS, Texas -- "Medic! medic!"
No other call on a battlefield generates as much uncertainty as this one.
On Friday, Aug. 12, more than 120 health care professionals took on the Expert Field Medical Badge Course, a two-week long field exercise which tests Soldiers on medical and combat-related tasks here at Fort Bliss. The course ended with a 12-mile forced road march.
"I'm glad we're still doing this," said Col. Charles Lombardo, commander, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division. "You are the role models, the fact that you're going beyond [medical tasks] and doing [the EFMB course] as a combat Soldier speaks greatly about your character."
The EFMB course was created in 1965 during the Vietnam War to distinguish field medical personnel who had demonstrated exceptional competence and outstanding performance in both medical and Soldier tasks.
Soldiers are tested in multiple areas, including litter obstacle courses, emergency medical treatment, survival skills in a Chemical, Biological, Radioactive and Nuclear environment, CPR, Medevac, and a 12-mile road march to be completed in three hours.
"The course consists of two phases, the standardization phase and the testing phase," said Maj. Barry Seip, test board chairman and physician assistant, Neurology Clinic, William Beaumont Army Medical Center.
"Soldiers don't realize how tough it is because, not only is the course physical, they're living in the field the whole time."
A native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, Seip was prior enlisted as a combat medic and earned his EFMB badge in 1990. Although the course has changed since those days, the importance of the course's real-world combat-simulated training hasn't.
"It's hard to get it," said Seip about the badge. "The title isn't just given to you, you have to earn it."
The course is as diverse in rank as it is in requirements, with Soldiers from the rank of private first class to lieutenant colonel attempting to earn their badge. The course welcomes Soldiers from around the country, including Soldiers from active, reserve and National Guard units.
"[EFMB] symbolizes that you're setting yourself apart from your peers," said Spc. Ero Wainio, 21, health care specialist, Training Support Activity, Camp Bullis, Texas. "You're showing you can pay attention to detail and do your job, accomplish all the warrior tasks and drills."
For Wainio, a native of Lincoln, California, it is his second attempt at earning his EFMB badge. It's not uncommon for Soldiers to return to the course a second or third time as the attrition rate is among the highest of any Army course.
"We started with 129 Soldiers, to be left with only 10 is by far the tough cut," said Lombardo. "It's not about winning it. It's the lessons that we've learned and the training that we've gained from it."
After the culminating event, a 12-mile forced road march, only 10 Soldiers had earned the right to be pinned with the EFMB.
"You can't just walk on to the field and earn a badge, you have to train for it," said Seip. "It's like a badge of honor for medics and recognition for excellence in field medicine."
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