Photo By Staff Sgt. John Onuoha | Spc. Robert Santee, a tank crewman assigned to 1st Battalion, 77th Armored Regiment,...... read more read more
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Armor crewmen with 1st Battalion, 77th Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, sharpened their combat skills in preparation for the Sullivan Cup competition April 19 at Fort Bliss, Texas.
This year will mark the event’s 100 year anniversary, and it is a week-long event scheduled for April 30 – May 4 at Fort Benning, Georgia.
The Sullivan Cup is a competition to determine the best tank crew in the Army, and it is designed to provide a realistic and challenging competition that will build esprit de corps within the armored force.
“I think this [competition] is really good to showcase what we do here at 1st Armored Division,” said Staff Sgt. Mitchell Cross, an armor crewman and a Sullivan Cup participant with 1st Bn., 77th AR, 3rd ABCT, 1st AD.
The competition will be a physically and mentally demanding world-class event that rigorously tests every participant in tank crew maneuver, sustainment, and gunnery skills, said Sgt. Jonathan Klein, a combat medic specialist with 1st Bn., 77th AR, 3rd ABCT, 1st AD.
In preparation for the Sullivan Cup, 3rd ABCT armor crewmen trained to improve various combat skills: tactical and precision gunnery skills, tactical combat casualty care, call for fire and their ability to shoot, move and communicate effectively in both an offensive and defensive posture.
Training for the Sullivan Cup is designed to be repetitive to sharpen individual skills and establish muscle memory in participants, Klein said.
“I feel very confident going into the competition,” Cross said. “I think all of our training and preparations have paid off. I have seen a large growth in the crew.”
Every armored brigade combat team from across the Army will be competing in the event, Cross said. The U.S. Marines are one of the competitors as well.
The Sullivan Cup will also provide the opportunity for Soldiers to share combat skills and compete with international partners including Kuwait, Germany, Britain, Australia and Canada.
“It builds our relationship and our ability to work with them,” Cross said. “I think it will be good for our multinational partners also to be able to come and see how we conduct training.”
Klein said it will be the first time competing in the Sullivan Cup for some of the Soldiers, and their attentiveness during training was outstanding.
“I think they are ready,” Cross said. “They are really excited to be participating, and I think they are at a high state of individual readiness that they need to be in order to go to Fort Benning to compete.”
It is all about having that motivation and pride, Klein said. It is the effort Soldiers put in the competition that makes it great.
“I wouldn’t be going to Fort Benning to represent third brigade combat team if I didn’t intend to win,” Cross said. “1st Armored Division took the Sullivan Cup in 2012 when second brigade won it, and we intend to do it this time.”
| Date Taken: | 04.23.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 04.24.2018 13:49 |
| Story ID: | 274166 |
| Location: | FORT BLISS, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 82 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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