AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar - The 3rd Battalion 43rd Air Defense Artillery Battalion also known as “Task Force Legion” held a top medic competition in February 2014. Combat medics from across the battalion faced four separate graded events, each testing their individual skills, readiness and fitness.
The competition began during the early morning hours with candidates conducting a modified “sprint” version of the Army physical fitness test. On a normal APFT the candidate has rest periods between the pushup, situp and run portion and they are graded based off of their age group. For this competition candidates were graded on the 17-21-year-old age scale and there were no rest period in between events.
The candidates were then tested on their overall medical knowledge by taking a timed written exam covering first-aid basics, anatomy and combat medic skills.
The culminating event was a 2.5-mile-long medic aid bag run conducted wearing their Army combat uniform, during the run the candidates also had to complete a trauma lane. The trauma lane took place in a blacked-out tent, with fog machines, strobe lights, and battle noise where the medics had to work quickly to treat several moulaged wounds on casualties played out by service members.
When the dust settled, Spc Vanessa Galvan, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery was named the Battalion Top Medic, she was awarded the Army Achievement Medal, along with an engraved Army Combat Medic medallion. Pfc. Bryan Crisp, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, received honors as the Iron Medic for earning the highest score in the physical events.
A 31st Air Defense Artillery Brigade senior medic, Brian Yaple, said, “Competitions like these fuel soldiers to strive in their fields. They provide the opportunity for individuals to increase their skills and to bond in a productive manner, facilitating teamwork and boosting the confidence in our support elements and their dedication to the air defense mission.”