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USASOC selects its medics of the year

Two medics assigned to U.S. Army Special Operations Command chosen as the command’s medics of the year will be recognized at a Dec. 8 event in Florida.

Sgt. 1st Class Nicholas J. Wusterbarth, with A Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C., was chosen as the Special Forces medic, and Staff Sgt. Christopher M. McNamara, A Company, 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, Ga., was selected as the Special Operations combat medic, according to a statement from the USASOC.

The soldiers will be recognized at the USASOC Surgeon’s Conference in Tampa, Fla., for their accomplishment and service to Army Special Operations.

“They are all really winners in the sense that they’ve contributed in saving the lives of their fellow brothers, the guys to their left or right,” USASOC deputy chief of staff surgeon’s noncommissioned officer-in-charge Master Sgt. Samuel Rodriguez said in the release. “It’s a family, and as a family we try to recognize our brothers.”

Each year, one Special Forces medic and one Special Operations combat medic are selected as the USASOC Medics of the Year. This year’s winners were chosen out of 22 nominees reviewed by USASOC Command Sgt. Maj. Michael T. Hall.

The competition provides a way for medics to be recognized by their chain of command and the Special Operations community as a whole, Rodriguez said.

“It’s a snapshot of some of the amazing things the medics are doing out there,” he said. “With the training and equipment they’re given, they’re able to make things happen at a moment’s notice.”

In addition, the Special Operations Medical Association will select one medic from the four services as the Special Operations Command Medic of the Year during its annual Mess Night Dec. 11.