Force Skills Competition Again

Lucky me, I got to be here for another Force Skills Competition. I graded the Combat Life Saver lane again. The competitors were much more competitive this go around.

We put a patient under the vehicle this year. He wrapped his leg up in there and then went "unconscious". Every single team hated that patient. I thought it was great. Some of the methods to free the patient were a little rough, and one team decided to not free him at all and did all the treatments wedged under the vehicle. To each their own, I suppose. I wasn't grading on the ability to actually MEDEVAC the patient so they didn't lose any points.

 

 

 

I had fun grading the competition again. I feel very important here as the unofficial official Combat Lifesaver director of training. That's the title I gave myself. No one has challenged it, so it made it real. I'm not going to be nearly as special when I redeploy and my title is squad leader again.

Force Skills Competition

Over the past 3 days there has been a competition between the contingents called Force Skills Competition. The competition included an obstacle course, 3k run, firing range, and 3 scenario lanes that test your combat skills. I did not compete in this competition, I decided to take a small break from torturing myself. Instead, I was a grader for the Combat Lifesaver (CLS) lane.

 

I was given the opportunity and freedom to reinvent the lane as I saw fit. So I changed the entire grading sheet. In my lane, the teams of 5 had to keep control of a "civilian" mob and treat 2 casualties with life threatening injuries. They also had to send up via radio an incident report and a 9 line medevac.

 

A total of 13 teams were tested on my lane. The Hungarians did the best, hands down! They scored 118 out of a possible 120 points. A few of my Medics had trained them up the week before Force Skills, and I was so proud of my Medics for doing such an outstanding job teaching.

 

A Canadian Soldier applying a pressure dressing.

Uruguayan Soldiers running with their casualty on a litter made from their fatigue tops.

Italian Soldier reading from the casualty's ID tags.

Hungarian Soldier dresses a head wound.

 

Over all, New Zealand won the Force Skills Competition for 2014. But there were several American teams who placed in the other categories, such as highest score at the shooting range.

 

This was such a fun event to be a part of. Working with all the different Armies is such a unique experience. I can tell you first hand, the Australians swear like Sailors and the Fijians are the most respectful people you'd ever meet in your life! The cultural differences I am getting to experience are priceless.