A combat medic can be a soldier’s best friend. This week, Joint Base Lewis-McChord is trying to determine who’s the best medic.
The base is hosting a four-day competition this week with medics from Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, Japan, and Korea.
Eighteen men and one woman are competing for the title of “Pacific Best Medic.”
In addition to written tests, the competitors face-off in obstacle courses, weapons events, and physical challenges.
Winners will compete in a national competition next month.
Sgt. Major Clark Charpentier, with the Army's Regional Health Command-Pacific, said the competition is a great way to motivate medics in case they’re sent into combat situations to provide medical services in the battlefield to injured soldiers.
“We are their insurance policy,” said Charpentier. “They do what they do because they know their medics are trained, inspired, and physically capable of saving their lives."
