FORT RILEY, Kansas  –   CPL Gabriela Garcia, a dental assistant NCO, reached a breaking point in the middle of a dirt tunnel during a low crawl. From that moment in the dirt, the story rewinds to reveal the previous 33 hours that brought her to the edge of failure during the Irwin Army Community Hospital internal Best Leader and Best Medic Competitions.

Held on April 29-30, 2026, this two-day competition was designed to identify and nominate the most resilient Soldiers to represent Medical Readiness Command, West. Those who earn the privilege of representing MRC, West at the 2026 Army Best Leader Competition and the 2027 Army Best Medic Competition will go against warriors across the entire U.S. Army, including the National Guard, Army Reserve, Medical Brigades, Active Army Corps, and Special Operations Forces.

To earn that nomination, CPL Garcia and her fellow competitors were thrust into a two-day series of events that tested their readiness, featuring the Expert Physical Fitness Assessment, Army Warrior Tasks, Day and Night Land Navigation, a Written Exam, a standard Air Assault obstacle course, and Tactical Combat Casualty Care.

Alongside medical corps NCOs, CPL Garcia navigated these events, surviving a foot march of unknown distance across some of the most unforgiving hills on Fort Riley. But that exhausting march was only the second-to-last event. Completely drained, she still had to face a tactical medical lane involving Army Warrior Tasks, scaling a wall, and navigating a dirt tunnel. It was here, halfway through the 25-meter low crawl, that she confronted the ultimate question: when your body shuts down, the finish line seems impossible, and the scoreboard no longer matters, why keep going?

The Competitors:

SFC Ryan Thomas
SGT Seth Adkins
CPL Gabriela Garcia
SPC Isaac Cristalinas
PFC Dominic Reed

Music titles "Ignis," "Goliath," and "Helios" by Scott Buckley (@ScottBuckley) – released under CC-BY 4.0.