NATO Allies and partners compete for SETC top honors

The U.S. tank platoon maneuvers through the offensive live-fire operations lane at Grafenwoerhr Training Area, May 10, 2017. The Strong Europe Tank Challenge was co-hosted by U.S. Army Europe and the German Army, May 7-12, 2017. The Competition was d...

Each Crewmember had to endure the physical demands of the obstacle course at Grafenwoerhr Training Area, May 11, 2017. The Strong Europe Tank Challenge was co-hosted by U.S. Army Europe and the German Army, May 7-12, 2017. The Competition was designe...

Crewmembers had to dismount their tanks to engage several targets during the combat pistol shoot off at Grafenwoerhr Training Area, May 11, 2017. The Strong Europe Tank Challenge was co-hosted by U.S. Army Europe and the German Army, May 7-12, 2017. ...

During the Tanker Olympics, U.S. Soldiers had to take part in a relay race carrying tank-related objects at Grafenwoerhr Training Area, May 12, 2017. The Strong Europe Tank Challenge was co-hosted by U.S. Army Europe and the German Army, May 7-12, 20...

A U.S. M1A2 Abrams tank conducts a friendly live-fire during the final event of the tank challenge at Grafenwoerhr Training Area, May 12, 2017. The Strong Europe Tank Challenge was co-hosted by U.S. Army Europe and the German Army, May 7-12, 2017. Th...

1st Lt. Brian Carroll leads his platoon through the obstacle course during the Strong Europe Tank Challenge at Grafenwoehr Training Area, May 12, 2017. The Strong Europe Tank Challenge was co-hosted by U.S. Army Europe and the German Army, May 7-12, ...

A member of the U.S. Army team completes an obstacle during the Strong Europe Tank Challenge at Grafenwoehr Training Area, May 12, 2017. The Strong Europe Tank Challenge was co-hosted by U.S. Army Europe and the German Army, May 7-12, 2017. The Compe...

A member of the U.S. Army team celebrates after completing the obstacle course during the Strong Europe Tank Challenge at Grafenwoehr Training Area, May 12, 2017. The Strong Europe Tank Challenge was co-hosted by U.S. Army Europe and the German Army,...

Members of the U.S. Army team celebrate after completing the obstacle course during the Strong Europe Tank Challenge at Grafenwoehr Training Area, May 12, 2017. The Strong Europe Tank Challenge was co-hosted by U.S. Army Europe and the German Army, M...

U.S. Army Europe and the German Army co-hosted the 2nd Strong Europe Tank Challenge that was designed to test capabilities, project a dynamic presence, foster military partnership, promote interoperability, and provide an environment for sharing tact...

1st Lt. Brian Carroll receives his third place medal for the Strong Europe Tank Challenge from the 7th Army Training Command from Brig. Gen. Tony Aguto, Commanding General at Grafenwoehr Training Area, May 12, 2017. The Strong Army Tank Challenge was...

1st Lt. Brian Carroll holds the third place trophy for the Strong Europe Tank Challenge with rom Brig. Gen. Tony Aguto, Commanding General, 7th Army Training Command at Grafenwoehr Training Area, May 12, 2017. The Strong Europe Tank Challenge was co-...

Members of the U.S. team from the Strong Europe Tank Challenge present their third place trophy at Grafenwoehr Training Area, May 12, 2017. The Strong Europe Tank Challenge was co-hosted by U.S. Army Europe and the German Army, May 7-12, 2017. The Co...

A tank platoon assigned to 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, completed live-fire offensive operations lane for the Strong Europe Tank Challenge at Grafenwoehr Training Area, May 10, 2017, as p...

GRAFENWOHR, Germany -- Knowing what was at stake, every soldier encountered a heightened sense of competitiveness during the rigorous five-day tanker challenge at Grafenwoerhr Training Area, May 7-12, 2017.

Platoons from six NATO Allied and partnered nations traveled from across Europe to showcase their capabilities during the 12-event challenge to compete for the bragging rights to be considered the best tank platoon in the Alliance.

During the challenge, Austria, France, Germany, Poland, Ukraine and the United States were tested on the basic soldier skills that any proficient tank force should have regardless of what nation they came from.

"We have a series of events that are scored out of 50 points each, but generally the live-fires are weighted a little more heavily," said Capt. Curtis Ballard, Commander, Company A, 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team. "Some of the events are, offensive and defensive live-fire operations, foreign vehicle identification, call for artillery fire, precision driving, combat pistol shooting, an obstacle course and the Tanker Olympics, that are all revolved around basic tanker soldiering skills."

1st Bn., 66th Armor Regt., had the opportunity to participate in a multinational competition while rotating through the European theater as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve.

"It's been a long arduous process for our soldiers, and I think we've overcome quite a bit," said Ballard. "Not only training for the competition, we're quite busy with our operational tempo to train for the partnered exercise we have coming up."

"However, the soldiers have done really well balancing the demands of both obligations," Ballard said.

Although the competitive nature of the challenge was high, the purpose of the event was to build esprit de corps, develop traditions and professionalism and strong relationships with NATO Allied and partnered nations.

Staff Sgt. Donnell Jordan, Master Gunner, 1st Bn., 66th Armor Regt., 3rd ABCT, discussed the tank platoon perspective on participating in the challenge, and having the opportunity to interact with soldiers from different nations.

"They're ecstatic, they talk about it every night," Jordan said. "When they all get together after the days events and they talk about how well they did, or if they think they did poorly at something, they also listen to the other countries as they talk about their performance on certain events saying what they could've done better. Then each nation shares tactic, techniques and procedures after the fact, making this a big learning experience."

The sharing of knowledge, advice and lesson learned could be one of the reasons that throughout the entire challenge the scores were extremely close. It came down to the last event to determine the overall standing with a small margin of victory. However, Austria took top honors with Germany placing second and the U.S coming in third.

While this is a competition with scoring and recognizing the top performing tank platoon, the Strong Europe Tank Challenge is ultimately about interoperability, with the ideal outcome to get NATO Allies and partners to learn from each other and to promote a common understanding of shared capabilities.

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U.S. Army Europe is uniquely positioned in its 51st country area of responsibility to advance American strategic interests in Europe and Eurasia. The relationships we build during more than 1,000 theater security cooperation events in more than 40 countries each year lead directly to support for multinational contingency operations around the world, strengthen regional partnership and enhance global security.

US Soldiers Compete in the Strong Europe Tank Challenege 2017 YouTube

NATO Allies and partners compete for SETC top honors

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