Army medics train, compete in Best Medic 2025 at JBER

Members of the military will tell you that a large part of their time is spent training. Training enhances leadership, teamwork, and problem-solving skills, fosters adaptability, discipline, and resilience that are required when facing real-world scenarios and the diverse challenges the men and women in the military may face.

Training for military medics can mean the difference between life and death as the training the men and women go through prepares them to handle high-stress combat situations, provide advanced trauma care under fire, and adapt to unpredictable battlefield conditions, saving lives when evacuation is impossible. This training involves mastering skills like treating severe bleeding, managing airway obstructions, and preventing hypothermia, often while under duress, to build the muscle memory needed to react instinctively and effectively in life-or-death scenarios.

The medics of the 2nd Brigade, 11th Airborne Division recently participated in a regional competition for the Best Medic Competition at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER), showcasing the physical and medical skills of soldiers from that command.

During the competition, soldiers from across the command navigated a challenging series of events that pushed the competitors' physical and emergency medical skills to the limits, including a ruck march, among other events.

Across the Army, there is the Army Best Medic Competition, a yearly event designed to identify and showcase the most proficient and adaptable medics within the Army. It is a team competition where two-person teams are challenged in demanding, realistic simulated operational environment, testing the medics' ability to perform under pressure. Competitors are evaluated on their medical knowledge, mental toughness, physical fitness, and overall endurance. That event concluded in February 2025 with Capt. Jesse Guerin and Sgt. 1st Class Aaron Angulo as the winners.