HOHENFELS TRAINING AREA, Germany – The drone team from the 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment (1-4 IN), Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC), fought to a second-place finish in the U.S. Army Europe and Africa (USAREUR-AF) Best Drone Warfighter Competition, and will participate in the U.S. Army’s Best Drone Warfighter Competition in February 2026.
The team consisted of Staff Sgt. Eric Navarro, Spc. Skylor Gibbs, Spc. Douglas Benton and Spc. Sean Kirby, who are all infantrymen, assigned to 1-4 IN. This event was the first time that the team has worked together.
“It was encouraging to see that they’re taking the drone operations in Europe so seriously,” said Benton.
The team found out they were going to the competition about a week before. They then started to train on different drone systems than what they are used to.
“We had to refine some of the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) that we use here at 1-4 IN and then get familiarized with some of the equipment that some of these guys haven't seen before,” said Navarro. “Being an opposing forces unit, we rely heavily on red-state systems to replicate the enemy threat. So the blue-state systems aren’t exactly mainstay here. We had to work on how to get those new systems in the air and get more familiar for the competition.”
“We did a lot of set-up practice to make sure everything’s smooth so we could get there and have a smooth flight,” said Benton. “We had repetitious practice to make sure we had no hiccups during the competition.”
They moved to the Grafenwoehr Training Area to start the competition on Dec. 8, 2025. The competition started that day with a vehicle identification test and a written exam.
The next day they participated in the obstacle course lane that tested aerial land navigation, accuracy and maneuverability of a first-person view drone through an obstacle course to clear and secure a trench, as well as team cohesion on decision making during a call-for-fire mission.
The last lane that they competed in was the urban recon lane, where they were tested on their tactical abilities to carry out an aerial reconnaissance and strike mission using a variety of small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS) platforms against an enemy force in an urban environment, including establishing camouflage and security.
In this lane, they were recognized for their lethality and tactical skills, earning the most points of any team with 250 out of 300 points.
“Even though I didn’t do much flying, I got to set up the drones for takeoff. It was good to see our practice play out,” said Kirby. “Seeing us get a good score overall was a big relief.”
“The chance to go against other sUAS pilots is a huge win because we can see where to improve and what the team is proficient in,” said Gibbs.
Leading into the award ceremony, they had doubts about placing in the top three.
“With a total score of 401 out of 600: 1-4 IN, JMRC,” said Brig. Gen. Terry Tillis, 7th Army Training Command commander, during the award ceremony.
“It was surprising because we did have a pretty massive hiccup with one of our drones on the first day,” said Kirby. “At that point, I thought we lost because of the amount of points we lost from that mistake.”
The JMRC team placed second in the competition, behind Spain.
“We did our best and got top U.S. Army team, so that huge win for us,” said Gibbs. “We can only get better.”
As the top U.S. Army team in the USAREUR-AF competition, 1-4 IN will compete in the U.S. Army’s Best Drone Warfighter Competition in February of 2026. The team plans to refine their skills and improve TTPs to take the win at the Army level.
“We’re going to refine stuff like our camouflage skills and call for fire,” said Navarro, “as you should after any kind of competition or event. You’re going to have areas that you need to work on.”