In October 1995, I went out into the woods of Ft. A.P. Hill, Virginia, to test for the Expert Field Medical Badge. The EFMB is the highest skill award that a military medic can earn and something that those people who can wear it wear with pride. I was never really interested in wearing it for others to see. I wanted it to prove to myself that I could do it, I wanted a challenge and this was a real one. In the three years that Walter Reed (as the North Atlantic Health Service Support Area and, later, as the North Atlantic Regional Medical Command) hosted the test, almost 500 people tested. Thirty-five of us passed.
The EFMB test is divided into nine testing categories most of which are called "lanes." Each part of the test must be passed seperately and each lane generally is divided into several tasks. Making a mistake on one of two tasks is usually allowed. My experience at the testing was not typical: most people fail at least once. Many people fail several times before passing.
Even before arriving at the testing site in central Virginia there are tests. The prerequisites to the field test include an official Army Physical Fitness Test which must be passed within six months of the test date and a minimum marksmanship score on the rifle range. The prereqs are easy, however, so most people study and practice the field tests for months even though there is a week-long "train-up" period at the testing site.
I was one of those people who studied in advance. Mark Probus didn't study until he got there. Mark was a few years older than me, tough, and more than a little strange. He was the natural cheerleader that kept our platoon and our tent in good spirits throughout the entire two weeks. In a plastic bag that he carried in his pocket was one of his son's small blue socks. It still smelled like a baby boy and we passed it around before each test rubbing it and sniffing it until it smelled like the inside of a pocket.
The written test: Subjects include preventive medicine, map reading and general military and medical knowledge. 75/100 is required to pass. Most people do pass.
Land navigation course: Given a map and a compass and a bunch of eight digit grid coordinates, we are taken out to a remote starting point and required to find our way to a finish point (there are three intermediate points in the way). I am comfortable in the woods with only a map and a compass and reach the finish point first. There are some tense moments as more and more people finish and we sit together and talk. After the alloted time ends, one of the instructors calls out the names of those who pass. Several of my friends go home immediately after the roll call.
Night land navigation course: At night, they
take our maps away and simply give us a list of directions and distances
(i.e. 1000 meters at 270 degrees). The terrain at Ft. A.P. Hill is
murderous. I spend a large amount crawling on my stomach through
the underbrush because it is too thick to walk We are allowed a flashligh
with a red lens filter on it. I learn to throw it straight over fallen
trees when there are in my way, then make my way around the root ball to
where the flashlight lies.
About halfway through I stop caring about passing
and decide that if I finish without losing an eye, the event will be a
success. I do finish (and pass) with both eyes. Not everyone
is so lucky: some guy I don't know leaves on the back of a truck with a
large, red-stained bandage over one eye.
Military survival lane: Tasks include
Emergency medical treatment lane:
Medical evacuation lane:
Litter obstacle course: The only team event of the test groups the three of us pictured with a woman who came close to passing.
CPR: Performed on a dummy to exacting American Heart Association standards.
A 12-mile road march is the last event. It
takes place on the final morning. I'd never done anything like this
before, but I figured that if I got this close I would pull myself the
12 miles on my elbows if I had to. Besides, Sergeant Richter always
said "Practicing for a road march is like practicing for an ass whooping."
You just deal with it when the time comes. There are rules here as
well. The road march must be completed in under 3 hours and the M-16
must be carried along with a nominal load in the ruck sack. People
have died on the 12 mile road march when they had heart attacks and no
one stopped to help. The rules state that if you touch another person
to help them you are both disqualified.
Most of us had a plan for the road march. Mark Probus was going to run the whole thing in brand new boots. I decided I would run downhill and walk uphill. The road march course at Ft. A.P. Hill is almost all up and down for the first four miles. Two water points were provided on the course.
I made it to the halfway point in one hour and 11 minutes. With six miles to go and almost two hours to get there, I figured I could walk in if I had to. Around the seven mile mark the last of the others I had been running and walking with disappered from view. As I approached the eigth mile I was dehydrated, alone and walking. By the tenth mile I was starting to get light-headed. I had meant to pack a Power Bar into the cargo packet of my pants, but was unable to find it. I realized that I was about to pass out when from behind me appeared two sergeants from Walter Reed. Although I had been ahead of them for the first ten miles, they were in much better shape that I was at that moment. We talked for a few minutes and one of them offered me a couple of caramels to keep me going. Remembering the rules about touching each other, he through the candy into the air for me to catch. I couldn't do it and picked them off the ground. As the sugar rush hit, they took off again.
Somehow I continued on. At eleven and a half
miles, the finish line came into sight. I started to run as the crowd
cheered. I watched both the crowd and the clock as I ran toward the
finish line. Right in front of the line, right in front of Mark and
Jack, I stopped, picked up my right foot and stomped it accros the line.
I was instantly mobbed by about 20 people as if we had all just won the
National Championship.