U.S. Army Tank Crew Wins International Competition for First Time

 A four-man Army tank crew from the 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade, 1st Armored Division, defeated teams from four other countries over the past week to achieve the first American victory in the U.S. Army Europe and Africa International Tank Challenge.

Taking place in Grafenwoehr, Germany, the competition — which first ran from 2016 to 2018 before being paused due to other competitions and the COVID-19 pandemic — comprises 10 graded events designed to measure a tank crew's physical fitness, marksmanship and mental acuity. 

"It still hasn't fully set in for me, yet, that we managed to win this competition in the manner that it happened," said Army Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Greene, the winning crew's tank commander. 

"The other crews that were behind and chasing … are really talented crews, and the fact that we're the first American team to [win] on this stage is incredible," he added. 

Rather than assembling a "dream team" from the battalion's various tank crews and then making it their sole job to train for the competition, leaders looked across the battalion, searching for the most well-rounded crew, according to Army Command Sgt. Maj. John Jean, the battalion's most senior enlisted leader. 

"We looked across the entire battalion and … had a couple [of crews] in contention to go and compete, but ultimately Greene and his crew were the [most] well-rounded in terms of technical and tactical competency," he said. 

Greene acknowledged that his team initially got off to a slow start because it had not had much time to prepare physically after having just returned from three weeks of field exercises.