U.S. Army tank crew wins international competition for first time

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.

Sponsored by the 7th Army Training Command, this year’s tank challenge hosted two teams from the U.S., as well as teams from Italy, Denmark, Slovenia and Switzerland.

Upon learning of the competition, the “Death Dealers” of 1-67 AR — who have been mobilized to Poland from Fort Bliss, Texas since last fall — took a somewhat unconventional path to build their team.

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.

Jean said those competencies were proven by the fact that Greene and his crew went from fifth to first place in the final hours of the competition.

Battalion commander Army Lt. Col. Robert Humphrey attributes the victory to resiliency and the crew’s never-quit attitude.

“They never quit,” Humphrey said. “At 56 hours out, they were middle of the pack, and they could have just glided it out, but that wasn’t their mentality — that’s not the ‘Death Dealer’ mentality. They [were] going to finish it, and they [were] going to finish it strong.”

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.

“We started off kind of slow in the first few tasks we had to accomplish, but when it came to actually getting onto the tank and doing what [the] job is — and that’s being lethal — that’s where my guys were thriving,” Greene said. Lethality is one of five focus points that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth underscored in his Jan. 25, 2025, message to the force (the others being  meritocracy, accountability, standards and readiness).

“Being a combat arms guy, especially on tanks my whole career, that’s always one of our foundations: being as lethal as we can, and I think this competition attested to that ability,” Greene said.

He added that the competition demonstrated the overall readiness of tank crews like his.

“If we [have] to send troops forward again and these tanks have to go into battle, the crews are in the right mindset to be as lethal as possible, using that ‘one shot, one kill’ mindset,” he said.

As a result of their victory at the competition, Greene and his team — which also included gunner Army Sgt. Graham Parker, loader Army Spc. Donovan Lavery and driver Army Pfc. Nicolae Lawson — received Army Commendation Medals and initiation into the U.S. Cavalry and Armor Association’s Honorable Order of St. George for armored excellence.

Source: U.S. Department of Defense.