Is inquisitive about the tank and soldiers (8)
I believe the answer is:
privates
'soldiers' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'is inquisitive about the tank' is the wordplay.
'is inquisitive' becomes 'pries' (to pry is to be inquisitive).
'about' is an insertion indicator.
'the tank' becomes 'vat' (type of container).
'pries' going around 'vat' is 'PRIVATES'.
'and' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for privates that I've seen before include "It would be unseemly to expose these" , "soldiers" .)