Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Hewitt | Medics assigned to 1st and 3rd Brigade Combat Teams, 82nd Airborne Division, perform...... read more read more
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FORT BRAGG, N.C.—The lights go out and a room immediately becomes dark inside the Taylor-Sandri Medical Training Center on Fort Bragg. Airborne medics begin assessing and treating a casualty in a simulated environment equipped with fog machines, speakers, strobe lights, and radio communications.
A select group of medics assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division—Sgt. Roberto Sanchez, assigned to 3rd Brigade Combat Team, and Sgt. John Reilly, Spc. John Yevak, Spc. Seth Green and Spc. Dillon Marker, assigned to 1st BCT—are preparing to compete in the 82nd Abn. Div. Best Medic competition, scheduled Sept. 24-25.
The medics have been training extensively both physically and academically since July 7, said Sgt. Maj. Carl Youngs, chief medical noncommissioned officer for the 82nd Abn. Div.
The medics, whom are detached from their units, are on a special, organized and rigorous schedule each day, Youngs continued.
The initial phase of the training began with attending and graduating the Fort Bragg Pre-Ranger Course. FBPRC is a physically and mentally demanding two-week course that familiarizes Paratroopers with small-unit tactics and puts students in graded leadership positions.
After that the medics began a training regimen developed by Youngs emulating tasks and obstacles the medics will encounter in the division competition.
The schedule has included land navigation, casualty movement, rope bridges, obstacle courses, long classroom hours and trauma training with simulated effects.
"We'll train within ourselves and create scenarios for each other using strobe lights and limited visibility," said Sanchez, a Paratrooper assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd BCT. "We'll go into a scenario not knowing what to expect—sometimes involving up to three patients—[and] give the assessment and treat them as fast as possible."
In addition to the training Youngs scheduled for the medics, the team has also received support from the Taylor-Sandri instructors in advanced cardiac life support, loading casualties into a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter and equipment operations in an medical evacuation aircraft.
"We have dedicated instructors that are teaching us new things that pertain to our job and will help us in this competition," said Sanchez.
Sanchez said the group has developed camaraderie and professionalism among one other during their strenuous schedule.
"Respecting one another, even though we're competitors, is the culture we've developed," Sanchez continued.
To ensure the Paratroopers are maintaining high standards of physical readiness, a specific fitness program was assigned to them.
"They are all in phenomenally good shape," said Youngs. "They continuously work out, conducting two-a-day [physical training] sessions and [are] constantly conducting foot march rucks."
The winners of the division event will continue to train for an additional four weeks and then travel to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, to compete in the Army Best Medic Competition slated for late October.
The 82nd Abn. Div. has a long lineage of success at the Army Best Medic holding the record for most wins—six—since the competition began in 1994.
"The division's expectations are that 'We go down to win'," said Youngs. "We don`t want anybody going down there to do anything but win."
| Date Taken: | 09.21.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 09.21.2015 13:23 |
| Story ID: | 176744 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 345 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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