1st Armored Division Soldiers Race Drones at Fort Bliss Torch Week

U.S. Soldiers assigned to the 1st Armored Division staged a drone-racing event at Fort Bliss, Texas, during the division’s Torch Week activities on March 3, 2026. The Defense Visual Information Distribution Service published a 1 minute 57 second B-roll titled "Soldiers race drones during Torch Week 2026" and posted the asset the same day at 17:43, listing Video ID 998055, VIRIN 260303-A-VF492-1003 and filename DOD_111554926.

The DVIDS page credits the footage to Spc. Kendall Asher and Sgt. Michael Graf and reproduces the event description: "U.S. Soldiers assigned to 1st Armored Division compete for the fastest time during a drone race event, March 3, 2026, during Torch Week 2026, at Fort Bliss, Texas." A secondary upload on YouTube by Media Magik Entertainment on 3 Mar 2026 carries a variant title, "Drone Racing with Soldiers of the 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss," and shows 771 views, 35 likes and 3 comments on that platform; the YouTube channel metadata lists 317000 subscribers.

DVIDS metadata lists the asset as Category: B-Roll, Date Taken: 03.03.2026, Date Posted: 03.03.2026 17:43, Length: 00:01:57 and Location: FORT BLISS, TEXAS, US. On the DVIDS page analytics are recorded as Downloads: 1 and High-Res. Downloads: 1. The page displays "PUBLIC DOMAIN" and includes the verbatim, incomplete usage line: "This work, Soldiers race drones during Torch Week 2026, by SPC Kendall Asher and SGT Michael Graf, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on ."

The DVIDS copy captured in the asset also contains site elements and publishing artifacts present on the page, including the instructional line "Add the following CSS to the header block of your HTML document. Then add the mark-up below to the body block of the same document," navigation items such as DVIDS Control Center and Web Support, and logos listed verbatim including a "US Deptartment of Defense Logo" as shown on the page capture.

The video and its repost provide official context for Torch Week: "The 1st Armored Division’s Torch Week is an annual event commemorating the division’s role in the World War II invasion of North Africa in 1942, known as Operation Torch." The available materials do not name individual competitors, record finishing times, identify drone models, or indicate whether the race was organized as training, recreation, or a formal competition.

For attribution and archival reference, the DVIDS asset should be cited as Video ID 998055, VIRIN 260303-A-VF492-1003, filename DOD_111554926, with footage credit to Spc. Kendall Asher and Sgt. Michael Graf; Media Magik Entertainment’s YouTube repost provides platform engagement figures and a secondary title. The clip offers a concise visual record of Soldiers "compete for the fastest time" at Fort Bliss as part of the 1st Armored Division’s Torch Week commemoration of Operation Torch.