JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – Staff Sgt. Kolby Kapsner, a Combat Medic Specialist at 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division was just recognized as one of the best medics in the U.S. Army after winning first place at the 2026 U.S. Army Best Medic Competition at Camp Bullis, Texas, Jan. 29, 2026.
Growing up in Cambridge, Wisconsin, Kapsner believed he always had a calling to join the Army. Both of his grandfathers, his father, and his uncle were in the Army. “I chose to become a medic because that’s what my dad was,” Kapsner said.
Kapsner and his teammate Sgt. Matthew Winters endured 72 hours of continuous tests and evaluations, during which they had to outperform 32 other elite medical teams from across the global force, proving their technical and tactical proficiency through a series of demanding trials.
“I think the prolonged field care lane was the most helpful as a takeaway from it all,” Kapsner said. “We had four casualties and had to sustain them for over two hours. It was really eye opening how much stuff we had to do and things we had to keep track of.”
Prolonged field care refers to the medical field care delivered to individuals who have sustained injuries or illnesses in situations where evacuation to a medical facility is delayed or impossible. This was just one of the several lanes in the competition. with others including land navigation, obstacle courses, stress shoots, Tactical Combat Casualty Care, water survival, and a 15-mile foot march.
“Sgt. Maj. Flemming says he wants top 10, so that was our goal initially,” Kapsner said. “Then they called first place and I thought ‘Did I hear that right?’ but it was exciting for sure.”
The reality of his achievement is that the result comes from a diligent regimen with their organization’s Holistic Health and Fitness team and investment from their leadership that began back in September, balancing physical and academic precision and delegations of duty.
“Our driving force was that we didn’t want to let the unit down. We had a great support staff here at JBLM helping us train up, our H2F and all our leadership.” Kapsner said, “They set time apart for us to train up, they helped teach us. I think the biggest thing for me was definitely my fiancé, Sophie and my family. They understood and supported me 100% when there were times that my confidence was lacking, and they just mean the world to me.”
| Date Taken: | 02.02.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 02.04.2026 17:54 |
| Story ID: | 557466 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WASHINGTON, US |
| Hometown: | CAMBRIDGE, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 346 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
This work, Cambridge Soldier Earns Top Honors in Best Medic Competition, by SGT Christian Morton, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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