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FORT BRAGG, N.C. – Thirty-nine graduates achieve a career milestone in earning the acclaimed Expert Field Medical Badge in a morning ceremony Oct. 29, 2015 on Pike Field at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
The graduation ceremony followed a 12-mile road march, the final task of EFMB testing, which was completed less than an hour before the final recipients were determined and marched out onto the parade field.
The EFMB began with a standardization week during which all 214 candidates were introduced to the Combat Testing Lanes and the challenges of the EFMB. Candidates came from Fort Bragg, N. C., Fort Bliss, Texas, and Fort Benning, Georgia.
“As far as candidates, it’s a menagerie,” says Maj. Walter Skeistaitis, 82nd Airborne Division Preventative Medicine officer in charge. “They come from multiple locations across the U.S. to come here and compete.”
During the standardization week, the candidates are trained on the skills they are to accomplish on the testing lanes.
“We basically do what they call a validation to ensure that the EFMB is set up in accordance to the regulation,” says Skeistaitis. “[Army Medical Department pamphlet], 350-10 is the guideline for operating and running an EFMB.”
In this way, the EFMB is better known as a challenge.
Soldiers want to participate to prove themselves, rather they choose whether or not they are ready to try their hand at what less than three percent of the U.S. Army population has accomplished.
A submission packet is required to apply and military medical training along with a list of eligibility requirements is necessary to qualify.
“Anyone holding a medical military occupational specialty including you’re ancillary-type military occupational specialties,” says Skeistaitis. “Everyone in the medical field is eligible.”
All soldiers from army combat medics to dentists and veterinarians are welcomed to apply.
Testing week starts with a 60-question exam covering multiple medical manuals requires a passing grade of no less than four missed answers.
Next, daytime and nighttime land navigation that lead directly into the three Combat Testing Lanes with a series of timed warrior tasks and medical battle drills. Each candidate completes all three lanes.
Out of 42 total testable tasks in the entire EFMB Combat Testing Lane portion, the second Combat Testing Lane holds 20 of those.
“This lane’s a doosie, “ says Skeistaitis. “This is the one that usually makes them the most nervous.”
The lanes differ in the types of tasks on which the candidates are tested.
“CTL 1 [Combat Testing Lane] tests mostly on warrior skills and survival skills,” says Skeistaitis. “So a lot of [nuclear, biological, chemical] tasks, they have an M9 [pistol], then they have some [evacuation] tasks where they have to load a non-standard vehicle with casualties.”
CTL 2 begins with dissembling, reassembling and completing a function check on an M4A1 rifle and continues with the candidate moving down the lane immersed in a tactical scenario.
“Basically, the scenario we give them is that they’re on a patrol, as they move down the lane, we have [opposing forces] who will engage them,” says Skeistaitis. “The next warrior task they have to do is move under direct fire, which at that point one of the casualties will start calling out [for the medic].”
From this point, the candidate does three-to-five second rushes toward the casualty and doing medical call outs to check the status of the casualty from a distance.
Once they’ve made their way to the casualty is when they perform the first tactical combat casualty care, then comes an evacuation drill complete with tactical carries, a 9-line medical evacuation call and a casualty collection point.
“This one makes them most nervous because CTL 2 can end your entire EFMB aspirations on one lane,” says Skeistaitis.
CTL 3 is a combination of communication tasks and more [evacuation] tasks.
The test control office out of Fort Sam Houston will track the numbers and data percentages as far pass rates and how many people have earned the badge from the standpoint of one installation versus another. That information is published.
Around 20% across the board is a normal pass rate.
Today, 39 out of the original 214, about 18%, made it to Pike Parade Field for the pinning ceremony.
“They will join the ranks of an elite class of experts in the profession of arms,” says Col. Michael J. Talley, commander, 44th Medical Brigade.
The awardees were presented with EFMB certificates. In addition, an Army Medical Department expert field medical coin for outstanding individual achievement was presented to those EFMB candidates with the fastest 12-mile foot march time, the highest written exam and CTL score and the candidate who performed the most tasks to standard.
For these medical Soldiers, the last two weeks amount to setting themselves apart from their peers and achieving a highly regarded feat in the military and civilian medical community.
Soldier medics are revered the same as infantrymen for the hardships they endure and the Expert Field Medical Badge is the most prestigious skill award that military medical personnel can earn.
“The EFMB is a symbol of excellence,” says Talley. “With this badge comes instant credibility from those you support, those you lead and your peers.”
| Date Taken: | 11.05.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 11.05.2015 11:06 |
| Story ID: | 180988 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 26 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Expert Field Medical Badge 2015, by SGT L'Erin Wynn, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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