HELENA — Members of the 1st Battalion, 163rd Infantry Regiment were honored by Gov. Greg Gianforte on Monday, June 1st, after placing third overall at the Sullivan Cup, one of the Army’s premier tank crew competitions.
The crew included Staff Sgt. Cody Warner, tank commander; Staff Sgt. Mitchell Clark, tank gunner; Sgt. Tyler Olden, tank loader; and Spc. Kendon Young, tank driver.
Madison Collier reports - watch the video here:
The soldiers were also inducted into the Order of St. George, a distinction within the armor and cavalry community.
The recognition comes at a turning point for the battalion.
On May 27, the unit was officially redesignated from the 1st Battalion, 163rd Cavalry Regiment to the 1st Battalion, 163rd Infantry Regiment during a ceremony at Fort Harrison. The change marked the battalion’s transition away from heavier combat vehicles, including Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles, and toward a mobile infantry mission using lighter infantry squad vehicles.
During the ceremony held at the capitol, soldiers gifted Gianforte their unit patches from the cavalry regiment before donning their new patches, marking both the end of one chapter and the beginning of another.
That transition is part of what made the Sullivan Cup finish especially meaningful. The Montana crew was the first, and possibly last, crew from the state to compete in the event before the battalion made the transformation.
“These guys really got to leave their legacy out there,” said Brig. Gen. Trent Gibson, adjutant general of Montana. “As the armor goes away, they’re the elite tank team that’s out there and will kind of be enshrined in history of the 163rd.”
The Sullivan Cup brought together some of the top armored crews in the world. Gibson explained Montana’s crew finished as the top National Guard team.
“When you think about third place in the entire international competition that was down there at the Sullivan Cup, that’s pretty awesome,” Gibson said. “The best crew in the entire National Guard, the second-best crew in the entire Army.”
For the soldiers, Monday’s ceremony was about more than placement or awards.
Clark said being inducted into the Order of St. George marked a major moment in their careers.
“We received or were inducted into the Order of St. George, which is kind of a cavalry tradition or kind of rite of passage for people in their career,” Clark explained. “And so we are now considered Knights of the Order of St. George.”
Warner said the moment was emotional, especially knowing the competition came near the end of Montana’s tank mission.
“We knew that the last ride was coming,”said Warner. “We didn’t know about the Order of St. George, but we knew that we were going to come and meet the governor and he was going to share some of the success that we had. And it’s a pretty overwhelming feeling, but we did what we came here to do.”
For leaders, the crew’s success also highlighted the commitment of traditional Guardsmen who balance military service with civilian jobs, families and employers back home.
“These are your citizen soldiers that get to train one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer,” Gibson said. “To go out there and to be able to demonstrate their professionalism, their lethality, and really what they can do against folks that are doing it every day is just a testament to the Montana pride and the skill and the grit that our soldiers and airmen have here.”
The 1-163rd has more than a century of service tied to Montana military history. Its recent redesignation marks a shift in mission, but leaders say this crew helped close the armor chapter with a performance that will remain part of the unit’s history.
