Soldiers from the 75th Ranger Regiment have won the U.S. Army’s Best Ranger Competition, once again.
The winners were announced in a ceremony at the Maneuver Center of Excellent at Fort Benning Sunday night. Team 44, comprising U.S. Army soldiers 1st Lt. Kevin Moore and 1st Lt. Griffin Hokanson came out on top. In fact, the Ranger duo was consistently at the top across the competition.
The three-day-challenge, held at the Maneuver Center of Excellent at Fort Benning in Georgia, pitted 52 teams from units across the Army (including the Army National Guard) against each other in several competitions. Starting Friday, April 11 and wrapping up Sunday morning, the teams of two were put through the ringer in challenges ranging from marksmanship skills to tests of mental fortitude and cunning.
The competition cut teams day after day. Challenges included an obstacle course, an “urban assault course” that had them maneuver through a simulated environment and several other physical challenges, including a “run-swim-run” challenge testing their endurance. Weapons handling and marksmanship with a variety of weapons — muskets were involved at one point — also played into how standings were determined.
After a late night land navigation course, 16 teams made the cut to compete on Sunday. The two lieutenants also managed one last win today before the final results. In the concluding event, a buddy run, Moore and Hokanson crossed the finish line first, arm in arm and raising their firearms in celebration.
This year marked the fourth straight year that soldiers from the regiment came out on top in the competition. It was the 41st edition of the event, first held in 1982 (the competition was canceled in 2003 and 2020 due to the invasion of Iraq and the COVID-19 pandemic, respectively).
The Best Ranger Competition was part of a series of events held at the Maneuver Center of Excellence as part of Infantry Week, and soldiers from the 75th Ranger Regiment did well at many. A mortar team from the regiment emerged from four days of trials having defeated several other American military units as well as teams from Denmark, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. In the 2025 Lacerda Cup Combatives Competition, more than 150 troops slugged it out in hand to hand combat, but Rangers from the 75th Ranger Regiment left with the trophy. This year’s Infantry Week was held as part of the wider events celebrating the U.S. Army’s 250th birthday.
Hokanson and Moore will officially receive the trophy for winning the 41st Best Ranger Competition on Monday.
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