What follows is a tale, a true one, not a tall one. It is the legacy message of a unit in which leadership, teamwork and esprit de corps flourished. Beyond that, it also is the story of a game and the special role it played in helping prepare the officers, NCOs and soldiers of that unit to fight and win on other fields on other days.
I arrived at my new unit, the 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, in January 1984 and was there only 24 hours when I first heard of the game that dominated the unit’s casual conversation throughout the year.
On the surface, the Panzer Bowl was a flag football game played annually at Panzer Kaserne, Germany, on the day before Thanksgiving between the officers of the 1-16 Infantry and its sister battalion, the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment. But to say it was only a football game is an incalculable understatement. It symbolized everything good in our unit.
With the drawdown of European-based Army units in the 1990s, the Panzer Bowl as I remember it ceased to exist. The purpose of this holiday reflection is to chronicle my memories of the game. Moreover, it is intended to uphold the importance of athletic contests and intramural sports programs in fostering and sustaining unit leadership, teamwork and esprit.
It is offered up as a way of keeping the game’s spirit and enduring value alive by passing on the spark to those who might not have enjoyed such an experience.
Yearlong Event
Each year, the Panzer Bowl story followed a similar narrative. It started the day after the game. Wearing our Dress Blue Uniforms, the officers of the 1-16 Infantry limped into the mess hall to share with our soldiers the holiday banquet the cooks had prepared. Over the meal, every big play was analyzed, every hit or block exaggerated and, after a great win, our victory celebrated. Throughout the winter and spring, all the same “war stories” were told time and again.
During the summer, our thoughts began to turn to the upcoming season. Who were we losing from our team? Who would coach the team? How would newly arrived officers fit into the game plan? And, most importantly, when would practice begin in the fall?
Around the middle of October, Panzer Bowl season began in earnest. The coach, generally a captain with some football experience, held the first meeting. Playbooks were passed out, the practice schedule published, and, important for all newcomers to the battalion, the system of monetary fines was explained. A veteran player was designated to collect the fines. Morning physical training was turned over to the NCOs, and daily football practice took its place.
Practices were always well organized. Following warmups, the offense and defense separated to work on formations and plays. Sprints and a team meeting concluded each session. Junior members challenged veteran players for starting positions, fines were assessed, tempers flared occasionally, the hitting was intense, and the team bonded. As the game drew near, our conversations became focused, not on past glory but on the upcoming game.
Ready for Action
With issuance of the Panzer Bowl operations order, you could feel a sense of mission throughout the battalion. It was an event everyone looked forward to. The wives prepared baked goods for sale during the game. The communications platoon set up the sound system. The support platoon set up the bleachers and prepared the pregame bonfire. The maintenance platoon inspected and road-tested the “Iron Ranger,” our fully functional World War II half-track. The command sergeant major coordinated the battalion’s march to the playing field with the first sergeants, and practice continued.
Tuesday evening before the game the next day, the officers, with wives or dates, rallied in the mess hall for a potluck meal. After dinner, the battalion commander and coach presented jerseys and made comments about each player’s previous game experiences and current fine balance. This was always an occasion for good-natured ribbing. After everyone was honored and harangued, we adjourned outside for the bonfire.
On Wednesday morning, officers wore their game jerseys to breakfast in the mess hall. Although I was never aware of any betting, I am sure some soldiers asked questions on game day to validate their wagers. “Are we ready? What’s the score going to be? We are going to win, right, Sir?”
The games are remembered by everyone who played as the hardest-hitting flag football contests of all time. The postgame parties at the officer’s club, paid for with the fine money of the battalion that finished in second place, were like the games—examples of good sportsmanship at its best. Still in game uniforms, the officers from both units congregated to celebrate the end of another season. Handshakes were exchanged, the trophy was presented, and war stories originated that would last throughout the year.
Lasting Value
The enduring value of the Panzer Bowl speaks for itself. It is the actualization of a message emphasized by Army leaders when addressing the importance of leadership, teamwork and esprit.
Affixed to a wall of the Arvin Cadet Physical Development Center at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, is this enduring message from former General of the Army and school Superintendent Douglas MacArthur: “Upon the fields of friendly strife are sown the seeds that, upon other fields, on other days, will bear the fruits of victory.” The Panzer Bowl was played on such a field.
In a 1941 speech to the first graduating class of Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia, now known as Fort Moore, Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Marshall said, “The truly great leader overcomes all difficulties, and campaigns and battles are nothing but a long series of difficulties to be overcome. The lack of equipment, the lack of food, the lack of this or that are only excuses; the real leader displays his qualities in his triumphs over adversity, however great it may be.”
No Losers
Only triumphant leaders walked off the playing field at the end of the Panzer Bowl—leaders tested and bonded by the adversity of athletic contest. There were no losers.
For the cheering soldiers who surrounded the field and congratulated their officers at the end of the game, the Panzer Bowl provided a rallying point for unit association and pride. For all of us, the game provided a welcome touch of familiar Americana over the Thanksgiving holiday in a place across the ocean and far from home.
As all-encompassing as these preparations appear, our unit readiness never took a back seat to the Panzer Bowl. In fact, the game fostered a momentum that pervaded everything our unit accomplished. We were winners—on the gunnery ranges of Grafenwoehr and the maneuver battlefields of Hohenfels. We rail-loaded, road-marched and maintained our equipment like winners. Challenged by the proud heritage of our battalion and regiment, we lived up to our motto of Semper Paratus, “Always Ready.”
On Nov. 21, 1990, the final chapter in Panzer Bowl history played out. On a chilly day under gray clouds, infantry blue and armor gold clashed one last time. No major newspaper covered the game or reported the score. The president did not attend. The ongoing situation in the Persian Gulf remained unchanged. But the fabric of our Army was strengthened by it happening.
As the final Panzer Bowl game concluded, the senior commander present hurriedly gathered the officers of both battalions for a quick warning order. The unit, amid drawing down, had been alerted to join the building coalition forces of Operation Desert Shield. Many of those assembled deployed soon afterward and made a significant contribution in helping marshal the might and power of Operation Desert Storm for the liberation of Kuwait. Their readiness for what lay ahead, on other fields on other days, was tested and proven true.
Faithful Service
Then-Lt. Col. Gordon Sullivan could not have foreseen this ending when, in 1975, he first thought a contest between his unit, then the 4th Battalion, 73rd Armor Regiment, and the 1st Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, would be a good way to kick off the long Thanksgiving weekend. The idea of a football game was agreed to, and the first pages of the Panzer Bowl story were written.
In the years since, Gen. Sullivan, a Panzer Bowl veteran of the highest order, served the Army faithfully and well, concluding his active-duty career as its 32nd chief of staff.
In retirement, he contributed to the Army and the nation as president and CEO of the Association of the U.S. Army; as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Norwich University, Vermont, the Army Historical Foundation and the Marshall Legacy Institute; and as an enduring leader of character.
Col. Charles “Chip” Sniffin, U.S. Army retired, served over 28 years in the Army, retiring in 2006 as deputy commander and chief of staff of the U.S. Army Community and Family Support Center, Alexandria, Virginia. He then served 11 years as a DoD civilian as chief of the Actions Division, Joint Secretariat, Joint Staff, the Pentagon.