MCAS Cherry Point  –   Sailors serving aboard Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point celebrated the birthday and legacy of the U.S. Navy’s most decorated rate during a competition held aboard the base on Friday, June 13.

Corpsmen of Naval Health Clinic Cherry Point competed in the “Corpsmen Cup” to demonstrate their skills and claim the coveted trophy to display until next year’s competition.

“The goal is for Corpsmen of all ranks to remember our heritage and inspire the younger generations” said Hospital Corpsman Second Class Zachary Roy, one of the event’s organizers. 
Corpsmen serve aboard the clinic in a variety of roles ensuring the medical and deployment readiness of Marines and Sailors assigned to the base while caring for their family members.  They often rotate between departments to build their skillsets and expose them to different facets of the medical field.

“They will gain a sense of pride for their rate, learn about their history and build their physical fitness,” said Master Chief Hospital Corpsman Cory Butler, the clinic’s Senior Enlisted Leader about what the competition demanded of participants.

Early that morning, five teams gathered at MCAS Cherry Point’s Devil Dog Dare complex and received a briefing and encouragement from Butler before beginning. 

The events tested each Sailor’s physical stamina, technical skills and mental toughness through stations requiring tourniquet application and needle decompression with other stations challenging their patient care knowledge.

The final event was a tiebreaker between two evenly scored teams to see who could hold a plank exercise longest.  As competitors dropped out one-by-one, Hospital Corpsman Second Class Jon Cericola from the Warrior Wellness and Readiness Clinic remained, winning the competition for his team with a total plank time of five minutes, fifty-one seconds.