---
title: "We salute the Army crew who named their tank ‘crippling depression’"
date: "2020-04-28"
modified: "2020-04-28"
authors:
  - name: "Jared Keller"
    job_title: "Former Managing Editor"
    link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/jaredkeller/"
url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-tank-named-crippling-depression/"
categories:
  - "Culture"
  - "Mandatory Fun"
  - "Tanks"
  - "Tech & Tactics"
  - "Vehicles"
tags:
  - "Covid-19"
---

# We salute the Army crew who named their tank ‘crippling depression’

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/tank-crippling-depression.jpg>)

There are few genres of military tomfoolery we're more obsessed with than the trend of [bestowing intimidating monikers on military hardware](<https://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-actual-process-us-troops-use-to-name-their-tanks-2019-3>), and this latest installment is no exception

While many Army tank crews tend to stay within the realm of both real ([Chuck Norris](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/chuck-norris-m1-abrams-tank/>) ) and fictional ([Baby Yoda](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/baby-yoda-army-m1-abrams-tank/>)) characters, [with a few colorful exceptions](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-tank-crew-name/>), nothing screams 'extreme lethality' like an [invisible enemy](<https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/04/09/trump-coronavirus-invisible-enemy-177894>).

No, [were not talking about the novel coronavirus](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/coronavirus-army-howitzer/>) (COVID-19) — we're talking crippling depression, the most nefarious of mankind's modern foes. Behold:

https://twitter.com/TheWTFNation/status/1255181494894637056

For those of you stuck inside due to stay-at-home orders or other preventative quarantines, you know exactly what we're talking about.

Thanks for this, [U.S. Army WTF! Moments](<https://twitter.com/TheWTFNation>). You really know how to punch right in the fucking gut, especially in the middle of a nationwide lockdown.

**Read more from 'We Salute':**

- [**We salute these mustachioed A-10s for making close air support classy AF**](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/a10-warthog-mustache-paint/>)
- [**We salute the Army crew who named their howitzer 'coronavirus'**](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/coronavirus-army-howitzer/>)
- [**We salute the USS America for rocking a Captain America flag at sea**](<https://taskandpurpose.com/news/uss-america-captain-america-flag/>)

## Author
Jared Keller is the former managing editor of Task & Purpose. His writing has appeared in Aeon, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the New Republic, Pacific Standard, Smithsonian, and The Washington Post, among other publications.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/jaredbkeller>)  
[Facebook](<https://www.facebook.com/jaredbkeller>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredbkeller/>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/jaredbkelller/>)