Abrams tanks line up at a Fort Benning, Ga., range for the daytime live-fire event in the inaugural Sullivan Cup competition to select the Army’s best tank crew.
24 ARMY I July 2012 Text and Photographs By Dennis Steele Senior Staff Writer
he U.S. Army Armor Center and School at Fort Benning, Ga., hosted the inaugural competition to select the Army’s best tank crew in May with the overarching goal of advancing the Armor Corps in the long term. With the contest theme “Forge the Thun- derbolt”—a reference to the lightning sym- bol on the traditional Armor patch—the Ar- mor Center is using the competition as a line of departure to reset Armor after 10 years of war and prepare the branch for the future. The competition reflected the lessons learned from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan while getting back to tanker basics, especially precision gunnery. Over four days, 15 tank crews representing individual armor brigades from throughout the force vied for the Sullivan Cup, named in honor of GEN Gordon R. Sullivan, U.S. Army retired, the 32nd Army Chief of Staff and a tanker. Currently, GEN Sullivan serves as president of the Association of the U.S. Army.
July 2012 I ARMY 25 At right and below, crews work to assemble a track section during the maintenance event of the best tanker competition.
The contest was composed of 12 scored challenges, which included crew tasks in Abrams tank maintenance, dis- mounted operations, live tank gunnery, small-arms proficiency and physical fitness along with tactical simulations Crews were scored that tested individual crew members on the time taken and the crew as a team. to complete the challenge. Based on total points scored, the crew from the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT), 1st Armored Di- vision, based at Fort Bliss, Texas, cap- tured the Sullivan Cup. The 1st ABCT, 1st Cavalry Division, home-based at Fort Hood, Texas, but currently deployed to Kuwait, placed The top-placing crews were: second; the 3rd ABCT, 1st Cavalry Division, from Fort Hood, I Representing the 2nd ABCT, 1st Armored Division: placed third; and the 194th Armored Brigade from Fort Ben- SFC Ryan Dilling, tank commander (TC); SGT Zachery ning placed fourth. Shaffer, gunner; PFC Mark Backer, loader; and PFC Kyle Braun, driver. I Representing the 1st ABCT, 1st Cavalry Division: SFC Oscar Ayala, TC; CPL Michael Adams, gunner; PFC Grant Vonmoss, loader; and PFC Wesley Foster, driver. I Representing the 3rd ABCT, 1st Cavalry Division: SSG Lou Rodriguez, TC; SGT Roman Villareal, gunner; PFC Robert Reyna, loader; and SPC Joseph Henry, driver. A crew hauls a I replacement track Representing the 194th Armored Brigade: SFC Jason section. The Hansford, TC; SSG Edwin Rodriguez, gunner; SPC Dylan section weighs Cornelius, loader; and SPC Brian Blanchette, driver. more than 700 At the end, only 19.1 points separated the first- and pounds. fourth-place finishers. Consistency was essential—finishing among the top three crews in a majority of the events with the considera- tion that day and night gunnery was weighted at 60 per- cent of the final scores and the other 10 events composed 40 percent of the total points. The better shooters racked up more points.
26 ARMY I July 2012 A tank crewman advances during the dismounted small-arms event.
The 2nd ABCT, 1st Armored Divi- sion, crew finished among the top three places in eight of the events; the 1st ABCT, 1st Cavalry Division, crew was among the top three in six events; the 3rd ABCT, 1st Cavalry Division, crew was among the top three in four events; and the 194th Armored Bri- gade crew was among the top three in six events. This year, the winning difference came in the last event of the competi- tion, day live fire. SFC Dilling of the winning team said that his crew was third after the night live-fire event but pulled ahead I Day live fire: 2nd ABCT, 1st Cav- in the day live fire to get the win. The alry Division; 81st ABCT, Washington 2nd ABCT, 1st Armored Division Army National Guard (the only Na- team is the top crew in gunnery for tional Guard brigade competing); and the division. Officials said that the 2nd ABCT, 1st Armored Division most successful among the Sullivan (providing the winning edge). Cup crews were selected through unit The competition was organized by competitions. the 316th Cavalry Brigade, which is The top gunnery teams in the Sulli- responsible for leader training at the van Cup competition were (first Armor Center and School, and the through third, respectively): competition’s heavy lifting manpower I Night live fire: 3rd ABCT, 3rd In- was provided by the brigade’s 1st fantry Division (Mechanized); 3rd Squadron, 16th Cavalry. ABCT, 1st Cavalry Division; and 1st The Armor Center and School re- ABCT, 2nd Infantry Division. cently moved to Fort Benning from Fort Knox, Ky., to join the Infantry Center and School and form the Ma- neuver Center of Excellence. Right, crewmen fire M9 pistols for scores. Within the Army, there are now Below, crewmen scan for targets during the dismounted rifle phase. many “best” competitions, but a tanker competition until now was not among them. Years ago, there was the Cana- dian Cup, a competition for NATO tank crews, but it was discontinued. The idea of establishing a best tank crew competition within the U.S. Army began while the Armor Center was at Fort Knox. It became a reality at the center’s new home, getting valuable mentoring from one of its new Maneu- ver Center of Excellence colleagues, U.S. Army Ranger School, which holds the annual Best Ranger Competition, the oldest and best known event in the Army. The Rangers particularly pro- vided advice about gaining sponsors,
28 ARMY I July 2012 Left, the winning tank crew from the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT), 1st Armored Division, carries a stretcher toward the finish line during the competition. Below, PFC Kyle Braun, driver for the winning crew.
which is necessary for any A-list competition. As a result, the inau- gural Sullivan Cup competition was well sponsored by many of the Army’s defense industry partners, setting the foundation for continu- ing success. Armor leaders said the best tank crew event will grow in coming years because the word will spread among the Armor community. More units will become interested in rep- resentation at the competition, with an increasingly higher emphasis on unit competitions sending the top crews to Fort Benning. The event was designed to be the catalyst for what Armor Center officials want to achieve among tankers in the fu- ture—a higher standard of basic
Above left, SFC Marc Westenbarger, tank commander (TC), for the 4th ABCT, 1st Armored Division, signs a score sheet. Above right, SFC Ryan Dilling, TC of the winning 1st ABCT, 1st Armored Division, crew waits to start a dismounted drill. Left, GEN Gordon R. Sullivan, U.S. Army retired (center), checks the score totals while having lunch with crews during the competition.
July 2012 I ARMY 29 Above, a crew moves to the firing line during the daytime live-fire event. Right, a technician and scorer watch a crew’s progress during a simulation event.
tanker skills throughout the armored force, honed at their home stations with emphasis on precision gunnery and the use of training simulators. Armor officials said that they sense that precision gunnery skills have slipped somewhat during the last 10 years of emphasis on counterinsur- gency warfare, a necessary emphasis for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Keeping with future national strat- egy as the Army returns to a reset po- sition, precision gunnery and advanc- ing other fundamental armor skills again must receive focus, officials ex- plained. Along with the reemphasis on tanker basics, there are also the re- All competing alities created by budget cuts, which crewmembers were is why home-station training will be a awarded belt mainstay to reduce costs within the buckles and coins. armored force, especially the use of simulation training, which is far less expensive than conducting the level of field training and live-fire exercises that would be necessary to sharpen armor skills. Hence simulator events
30 ARMY I July 2012 The winning crew from the 2nd ABCT, 1st Armored Division, accepts the Sullivan Cup and displays Colt M1911A1 pistols, which were awarded for the win. From left, SFC Ryan Dilling, TC; SGT Zachary Shaffer, gunner; AUSA President GEN Gordon R. Sullivan; CSM Jim- mie W. Spencer, U.S. Army retired, AUSA’s director of NCO and Soldier Programs; PFC Kyle Braun, driver; and PFC Mark Backer, loader. composed about a quarter of the inaugural competition So it is not what the Armor Corps has done in establish- and why precision gunnery was weighted, setting the tone ing the Sullivan Cup; in the long run, it is what the Sulli- for the future. van Cup will do for the Armor Corps. (
July 2012 I ARMY 31