USABOT visits the Iron Brigade during annual Home Coming

Photo By Capt. Tobias Cukale | U.S. Army Brotherhood of Tankers (USABOT) visits 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division gunnery during their annual home coming at Fort Carson, Colorado Oct. 15, 2021. USABOT is a non-profit organization of U.S. Army tank crewmen and tank mechanics dedicated to the preservation and promotion of tank and armor heritage.  

FORT CARSON, CO, UNITED STATES

11.08.2021

Story by Capt. Tobias Cukale 

3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division

FORT CARSON, Colo. - The U.S Army Brotherhood of Tankers (USABOT) held their annual homecoming at Fort Carson, Oct. 14 –16, 2021, and fittingly, the organization responsible for preserving Armor history and heritage attended gunnery with the oldest tank battalion in the Army. Members of USABOT visited with Soldiers assigned to 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division as they conducted gunnery table IV, Oct. 15, 2021.

Few formations in the Army are as small and tightknit as those within the Armor branch. With crews of four crammed into the close quarters of an M1 Abrams, and platoons half the size of their infantry counterparts, the bonds tankers make with each other are integral to their ability to fight their platforms effectively. Those tight bonds don't end after a tanker hangs up their uniform, and USABOT strives to maintain those ties between former, retired, and active‐duty tankers.

"We are the full community, tankers, wrenches [tank mechanics], Gold Star Families, Spouses, etc., and we want all to be involved," retired Lt. Col. Kevin Bolke, battalion commander of the Pikes Peak Chapter of USABOT, said, "This is so important because of the support we bring to the active Armor Community through morale support, Order of Saint George recognition, deployment support, etc. Then following service, we are here providing a known community to belong to and continue to be part of."

This year's annual homecoming helped to continue building that community by allowing the members of USABOT the opportunity not only to reminisce together but to share and build camaraderie
with the currently serving members of 3rd ABCT, 4th Inf. Div. Bolke even Knighted a 3rd ABCT, 4th Inf. Div. non‐commissioned officer who had previously served with him.

"All of us have great memories of being on the tank, being on the range, and making things happen. Sometimes they seem so far back, but then you get out on the range ‐ you see and hear the
tanks move and shoot ‐ it all comes back to you, and it feels like it was just yesterday," Bolke said. "Standing there with Ares 6 [Capt. Mack Azbell, commander of Ares Company, 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment] I was again a young company commander. I could see his pride in his Company and his tankers, and it made me proud to be connected to them."

While the visit brought back nostalgia for the members of USABOT in attendance, it also formed new memories for the Iron Soldiers of 3rd ABCT, 4th Inf. Div. Sgt. Jesse Esparza, a gunner, assigned to Ares Company, 1st Bn. 66th Armor Reg., 3rd ABCT, 4th Inf. Div. recounted the most impactful moment of the visit for him, "There was a widow whose husband, who was a former tank gunner. I had the opportunity to show her the gunner's station and explain what her husband's role was on the tank. As she sat in the gunner's seat, she began to tear up because it was such an incredibly emotional experience for her to sit where her husband sat in the tanks."

For Staff Sgt. Rojae Fraire, a tank commander from Ares Company, 1st Bn. 66th Armor Reg., 3rd ABCT, 4th Inf. Div. the most significant part of the visit was, "The older tanker's desire to come back and interact with new tankers really impressed me. These guys never lost touch with the armor community because it was more than a job to them; it's a culture."

With a dedicated community founded in the close quarters of the tank turret, it's no wonder why Armor veterans are fond of calling their time on tanks "The Best Job I Ever Had."

• Date Taken: 11.08.2021
• Date Posted: 11.08.2021 19:24
• Story ID: 408937
• Location: FORT CARSON, CO, US