U.S. Army’s special forces command holds first drone competition

Green Berets from 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) won the U.S. Army’s first-ever Best Drone Team Competition organized specifically for special operations units, beating 14 other teams during a five-day event held August 24-28 at Fort McClellan and the Clarke Range Complex in Anniston, Alabama.

The competition, run by 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne), tested how well Special Forces teams could work small drones into realistic combat scenarios, including rural and urban tactical problem sets. Fifteen teams from units across the command took part, combining Special Forces operators with soldiers focused on robotics and unmanned systems.

The competition follows a broader Army push to formalize drone skills testing across the force. The service held its own inaugural Best Drone Warfighter Competition in Huntsville, Alabama, in February, drawing more than 800 participants from active duty, National Guard and Reserve units. This August event was the first version built specifically for Army special operations formations.

1st SFG(A)’s preparation began well before the competition itself. The unit selected an Operational Detachment Alpha, the basic 12-soldier team structure used by Army Special Forces, and started training at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. During that process, the team identified gaps in its equipment, and staff officers at the group level pushed through last-minute procurements to get soldiers the gear they needed in time.

“We wouldn’t have been successful without the last-minute procurements Group pushed through for us,” the team sergeant said after the competition, according to 1st SFG(A).

Judges evaluated teams on more than just flying ability. Competitors had to read changing conditions, figure out which of their available systems fit the problem in front of them, and fold that into their broader tactical decisions, rather than treating the drone as a separate task from the mission.

Col. Ronald J. Hudak, commander of 1st SFG(A), described the winning team as “good people taking disciplined initiative and getting results” in guidance issued after the event.

“These are some of our best [Soldiers],” said Brig. Gen. Joseph Wortham, commander of 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne). “They stare at the UxS problem day in and day out and they do so in a very tangible, tactical way.”

1st SFG(A) says it now plans to fold what the winning team learned into training across the wider group, rather than keeping that knowledge with the individual soldiers who competed. That includes developing hands-on instructional materials and looking at ways to raise baseline drone proficiency across the formation, not just among specialized operators.

The unit has not said whether 1st Special Forces Command plans to hold the competition again next year or how it intends to measure whether the post-competition training changes have taken hold across the group.