Black Jack Soldiers win 8th Army Best Medic Competition

Photo By Sgt. Patrick Eakin | Spc. Juan Villegas, a combat medic with 1-8 Cav. goes the log jump portion of the obstacle course. One of the events he and his teammate must go through during the 8th Army Best Medic Competition 27-29 September at Camp Casey, South Korea.  

SOUTH KOREA

10.05.2017

Story by Sgt. Carolyn Hart 

2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs

CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea —Two Soldiers from 2nd Brigade Combat Team “Black Jack,” 1st Cavalry Division emerged victorious among a group of 10 elite competitors as they battled for the right to become the 8th Army’s Best Medic in a competition held Sept. 27-29.

Teams of two competed in a series of events testing their medical proficiencies and warrior tasks and battle drills. Capt. Brian Calandra and his teammate Spc. Juan Villegas won the 8th Army’s Best Medic and will represent Black Jack at the Army Best Medic competition.

“I don’t get to get out in the field much and do this type of stuff much,” Capt. Brian Calandra, a physical therapist with Charlie Medical, 15th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd BCT, said. “It’s just about being a Soldier, giving it your all and pushing through.”

Staff Sgt. Derek Stutz, operations NCO, Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion 2nd Infantry Division Brigade Surgeons Office, organized and supervised the 8th Army’s Best Medic Competition.

According to Stutz, the competition began in 1944 as medics wanted a competition to mirror the Best Ranger competition. Starting as a super Expert Field Medical Badge competition, it morphed into the current Best Medic Competition in 2006.

“These medics have to not only be good at medical skills, but they must also be good at all the Soldier skills,” Stutz said. “This includes weapons, land navigation, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense.”

The Best Medic Competition measures who is the best medic team on the Korean peninsula, and the best two will move on to compete at the Army Best Medic competition in Fort Sam Houston.

“I feel like this competition really allows us to showcase our medical skills as well as the physical side of being a medic,” said Spc. Juan Villegas a medic with 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd BCT. “This is my first year doing this and I really enjoy this competition. I feel like the other teams pushing us along make for a great situation.”

The requirements to compete in 8th Army’s Best Medic Competition are Soldiers must compete as a team and they must have either the EFMB or the combat medic badge.

“The qualifications really are a limiting on who can compete,” Stutz said. “When we’re talking about the skill-level, it limits the Soldiers that we have available for this competition.”

Soldiers are selected at their unit level, where they compete for the opportunity to represent their unit at the 8th Army level and finally, the winner from that competition will move on to compete for the Army Best Medic.

“Medics have very few opportunities to showcase and better their skills,” Stutz said. “Medics are one of the professions that are always in supporting roles, so this an opportunity to refine their medical skills and to push themselves. These medics will be better at their job at the end of this competition.”

• Date Taken: 10.05.2017
• Date Posted: 10.16.2017 01:14
• Story ID: 251171
• Location: KR