Acting Secretary of the Army visits Strong Europe Tank Challenge

By Staff Sgt. Kathleen V. PolancoMay 7, 2017

SETC Opening Ceremony
1 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Grafenwoehr, Germany (May 7, 2017) - The 2nd annual U.S. Army Europe Strong Europe Tank Challenge 2017 kicked off May 7 in Grafenwoehr, Germany with an opening ceremony, including special guest, the Acting Secretary of the Army, the Honorable Robert ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
SETC 17 Opening Ceremony
2 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – The 2nd annual U.S. Army Europe Strong Europe Tank Challenge 2017 kicked off May 7 in Grafenwoehr, Germany with an opening ceremony, including special guest, the Acting Secretary of the Army, the Honorable Robert M. Speer. The Strong Europe Tank Chal... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
SETC Opening Ceremony
3 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Grafenwoehr, Germany (May 7, 2017) - The 2nd annual U.S. Army Europe Strong Europe Tank Challenge 2017 kicked off May 7 in Grafenwoehr, Germany with an opening ceremony, including special guest, the Acting Secretary of the Army, the Honorable Robert ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
SETC
4 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Grafenwoehr, Germany (May 7, 2017) - U.S. Army Europe's Strong Europe Tank Challenge 2017 kicked off in Grafenwoehr, Germany, May 7, with an opening ceremony and visit from the Acting Secretary of the U.S. Army, the Honorable Robert M. Speer. The Str... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
ASA Visit
5 / 5 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Grafenwoehr, Germany (May 7, 2017) - U.S. Army Europe's Strong Europe Tank Challenge 2017 kicked off in Grafenwoehr, Germany, May 7, with an opening ceremony and visit from the Acting Secretary of the U.S. Army, the Honorable Robert M. Speer. The Str... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

GRAFENWOEHR, Germany (May 7, 2017) -- Gathered at a display of military tanks here, during this overcast Sunday afternoon were Soldiers from six different nations: Austria, France, Germany, Poland, Ukraine and the United States.

At today's opening ceremony for the Strong Europe Tank Challenge (SETC), multinational Soldiers climbed onto each participating unit's tank to compare and contrast as well as get to know the competition.

The second annual training opportunity is a U.S. Army Europe and German Army hosted-event that brought platoons and their tanks to compete against each other in offensive and defensive operations as well as vehicle identification, battle damage assessment and precision maneuvers. The event will take place here, May 7-12.

The Acting Secretary of the Army, Robert M. Speer paid a visit to the SETC opening ceremony where he mingled with the various Soldiers as he walked around from tank to tank.

Multinational training opportunities like the SETC improves Army readiness.

"We operated much more independently as the U.S. Army," said Speer, a 28-year veteran who has witnessed the Army transform. "Now we rely upon and must train with [Allies and partners] to build total readiness across the force."

Alongside improving mission readiness, multinational training aims to build unit cohesion.

Although competitions usually center around who will take home bragging rights, the SETC is focused on unity and partnership.

"This is a competition," said Sgt. Maj. David Glenn, 7th Army Training Command's operations senior noncommissioned officer. "But it's not really about the competition. It's really about training, partnership, esprit de corps and interoperability."

Regardless of who wins this year's competition, the training will strengthen all participating platoons as well as provide team cohesion among Allies and partners.

"Our promise to anyone who sends a team to participate is that the team you get back will be a better trained platoon than the one you sent us," said Glenn.

Related Links:

U.S. Army Europe

7th Army Training Command