Oklahoma Guardsmen Strengthen Medical Skills in Tactical Competition

Oklahoma Guard Medics Strengthen Skills in Tactical Competition

By Sgt. Kenshi Kaneshiro, Oklahoma National Guard

OKLAHOMA CITY - Medical personnel from across the state strengthened their medical skills Oct. 23-25 while competing for the title of Best Medic at the Oklahoma Tactical Medical Competition, hosted by the Oklahoma National Guard and designed to evaluate competitors through a progressive series of high-intensity challenges.

The competition, held at Camp Gruber Training Center near Braggs, Oklahoma, included events that tested individual medical knowledge, a physical assessment with an obstacle course, a team-based stress shoot, tactical trauma lanes and a culminating scenario involving prolonged field care.

"It gives them an opportunity to see what their job is outside of doing sick call and range support," said 1st Sgt. Russ Blevins, noncommissioned officer in charge of the competition. "[The Oklahoma Tactical Medical Competition] tests them against skills that maybe they haven't seen in a couple of years."

Competitions such as the Oklahoma Tactical Medical Competition strengthen the Oklahoma National Guard's ability to support combat operations in any environment by combining medical proficiency, physical fitness and tactical capabilities into a single event.

"From the Secretary of War all the way down, the focus is on lethality and survivability," said Command Sgt. Maj. Brent Pearce, command sergeant major for the 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. "What these medics are going to bring to the fight is just phenomenal … the capabilities and their drive and just their determination to come out here and compete is phenomenal."

As part of the Oklahoma Tactical Medical Competition, Soldiers responded to a mass casualty event that evaluated their ability to perform tactical combat casualty care with a delayed extraction time of more than one hour.

"A lot of these Soldiers haven't deployed, [so] they haven't really been put under pressure," said Maj. Michael Iten, officer in charge of the competition. "This helps stress them and their medical capabilities in a controlled scenario so that when they get to combat, they can be more proficient in their medical skills."

Though it's a competition for best medic, Iten said the event isn't really about the awards.

"The goal of the [Oklahoma Tactical Medical Competition] … it's to develop the next generation of medics," Iten said. "It testing medics under pressure to provide sound medical care, adapt … communicate and be more proficient."

Five teams from across the Oklahoma National Guard competed for the title of Oklahoma's Best Medic, with Sgt. Nathaniel Johnson and Sgt. Lisa Turner from the Oklahoma Medical Readiness Detachment, 90th Troop Command, competing as Team 5 and winning the 2026 title of Oklahoma's Best Medic.

The other teams included Sgt. Cody Stone and Sgt. Gabriel Wakefield, assigned to C Company, 700th Brigade Support Battalion, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, representing Team 1; Spc. Drache Marveggio and Spc. Fernando Jacobo, assigned to 1st Battalion, 279th Infantry Regiment, 45th IBCT, competing as Team 2; Spc. Tyler Sobolik and Spc. Thomas Kelly, also assigned to C Company, 700th BSB, 45th IBCT, representing Team 3; and Spc. Harrison York and Spc. Rene Ortega of the 545th Brigade Engineer Battalion, 45th IBCT, representing Team 4.