Cavalry and tank teams from across the Australian Army and personnel from the United States of America Marine Corps have gone head-to-head in the School of Armour’s annual Coral-Balmoral Cup at Puckapunyal, Victoria.
Ten teams fought in the Coral-Balmoral Cup, a tough and fiercely competitive challenge inspired by the 1968 Battle of Coral–Balmoral.
Commanding Officer School of Armour Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Shepherd emphasised it was important to host the cup at the home ground of the corps.
“The significance of this particular competition is that this is our opportunity for all the regiments to compete and essentially see who is the best unit, based individually on the scores of the cavalry and tank crews,” he said.
Representing their units were the first Armoured Regiment from ninth Brigade, second Cavalry Regiment from third Brigade, second and 14th Light Horse Regiment Queensland Mounted Infantry from seventh Brigade and the School of Armour from Land Combat College, along with representation from the first Light Armoured Reconnaissance Battalion from the United States Marine Corps.
Tank Crew Commander Corporal Jordan Orr of the first Armoured Regiment was pleased his team were awarded best overall cavalry crew.
“We had some good days and bad days, but overall, we’re pretty happy,” he said.
Best overall tank crew was awarded to the second and 14th Light Horse Regiment Queensland Mounted Infantry and best overall unit was awarded to the second Cavalry Regiment.
United States Marine Corps Crew Commander Sergeant Tyler Willson said it was great to see how other crews took on the challenge.
“Definitely the gunnery was a key highlight from this cup. We outshot a lot of people, and it was just really fun,” he said.
“I would 100 per cent come back next year if I had the opportunity. A lot of good, different training, but altogether it’s been really fun.”
The School of Armour is the ancestral home of the Armoured Corps and is part of the newly formed Land Combat College, which continuously updates training programs to incorporate real-world applications to prepare personnel for the challenges they may face.
