NY Army Guard Sgt. Thomas Mulhern, a Cincinnatus resident, to compete in Army-wide best medic competition

Grueling 72-hour event tests military skills, medical knowledge, physical fitness and stamina

Utica, New York (01/18/2023) — Cincinnatus resident Thomas Mulhern, a sergeant in the New York Army National Guard, will be one of two combat medics representing the 340,000- member Army National Guard at the Army's annual best medic Competition.

Mulhern, and Sgt. Klayton McCallum, who both served in the Headquarters Company of the 2nd Battalion, 108th Infantry Regiment in Utica, will go up against top performers from Army medical units located around the world at Fort Polk, Louisiana.

The grueling 72-hour competition begins January 23rd and runs to the 27th.

It is the second year in a row that medics from the 108th Infantry have represented the Army National Guard at the Command Sgt. Major Jack L. Clark U.S. Army Best Medic Competition.

In 2022, Staff Sgt. Dylan Delamarter, the 108th's medical platoon sergeant, and Sgt. Ethan Hart, a medic in the platoon, represented the Army Guard against 21 other two-man teams.

"The competition requires adaptability and agility, both physically and intellectually, through excruciating and continuous realistic tasks," said Master Sgt. Dustin Knapp, the senior medical operations non-commissioned officer for Army National Guard Medical Operations section.

The competition tests the Soldiers' physical fitness, endurance, military knowledge, and medical skills. They will be going around the clock, with little sleep, and get thrown challenge after challenge to test their abilities.

Getting selected for the competition is a real honor, but there is a lot of pressure too, Mulhern said.

Their names were put in two months ago, McCallum said, but they only got a final confirmation a few days after 2022 turned into 2023, he said.

1st Sgt. Michael Hoffman, the top NCO in the battalion headquarters company, said he is confident that McCallum and Mulhern will meet the challenge.

"These two NCOs are going to do outstanding," Hoffman said. "They are highly technically and tactically proficient and physically fit. "

Mulhern joined the Army in 2012 and served as a medic in the 101st Air Assault Division before joining the New York Army National Guard in 2016.

He currently works in construction but served on full-time as the medical readiness non-commissioned officer for the FEMA Region II Homeland Response Force for a couple of years. He was also one of 7,077 Soldiers and Airmen who took part in the state's COVID-19 response.

The two both hold the Expert Field Medic Badge, or EFMB, which is the medical equivalent of the Expert Infantry Badge.

Both men have also served as cadre during EFMB competitions held by the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum.

Mulhern and McCallum both have active duty and Army Guard experience which should make them successful at the competition, Knapp said.

"These combat medics are true professionals and capable of delivering tactical combat casualty care under the toughest conditions," he said.

In 2022, the request for a medical team to participate in the Army's competition came at the last minute, said Command Sgt. Major David Piwowarski, the New York Army National Guard's top enlisted leader.

Even then, the team beat half of the other competitors, he said.

This year the 108th volunteered early to field a team.

"I think that Army Guard knows that they can count on New York to send ready Soldiers always," Piwowarski said. "With the extra lead time, I am confident that this year's competitors will excel, and make New York proud."

To get ready for the Fort Polk competition, Mulhern and McCallum tapped into the experience Delamarter, and Hart gained during the 2022 event.

Hart deployed in June to the Horn of Africa with the New York Army National Guard's Task Force Wolfhound, but Delamarter has been working with them on a training plan, Mulhern and McCallum said.

They got time on the Medical Simulation Training Center at Fort Drum to hone their skills and did medical skills training with Delamarter.

Because there's swimming involved, Delamarter also got them access to a swimming pool where they could jump in with their gear, he added.

They also spent time hiking with full packs, known as "rucking," to Soldiers.

"The biggest challenge is the physicality of it," Mulhern said. "It is my understanding that we are going to be rucking around a lot."

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