FORT HOOD, Texas – The U.S. Army has two soldiers they can officially call the best medics of them all.

The two competed in the 2022 Command Sergeant Major Jack L. Clark, Jr. U.S. Army Best Medic Competition. Out of a total of 42 soldiers, two scored higher than the rest.

“Grueling foot marches, buddy runs, high value target extractions, prolonged field care, weapons qualifications, so you combine it all and you put it in 144 hours continuous with limited amounts of sleep and food and you can get just a taste of what these warriors went through,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Diamond D. Hough, of the U.S. Army. “Training for war is grueling, and we made sure this competition represented war-like conditions and those soldiers didn’t quit, and that’s part of the American spirit. So I am extremely proud of the medics that demonstrated their warrior ethos in the last week.”

The competition tests soldiers physically and intellectually in a demanding and continuous operational environment.

“I think the biggest challenge is the unknown, the mystery event. It was almost every event was mystery because competitors don’t know,” said Lt. Gen. Scott Dingle, of the U.S. Army.

During Friday’s awards ceremony, the Sergeant Major of the Army called in a video call to congratulate each soldier.

Out of the 21 teams, Major Brian Ahlborn and SFC. David McAfee beat their competitors. The pair say they were pushed to their limits.

“Many of the events after you completed, it was a mentally and physically tough event and then right away you start something else that’s equally difficult,” said Maj. Ahlborn.

Both competed last year and came out in third place, this year they knew they could win.

“We realized then that we could actually you know, compete at this level, so over the last year we’ve done nothing but get better,” said SFC. McAfee.

“It gave them a determination and a will power that ‘look we are coming back and we are going to win’ and that’s exactly what they did this year in 2022,” added Lt. Gen. Dingle.

To learn more about the Best Medic Competition click HERE.