Photo By Master Sgt. Jerry Saslav | Sgt. Dwan West, a native of St. Louis, Mo., who serves as a operations...... read more read more
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By Sgt. Jerry Saslav
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Public Affairs Office
FORWARD OPERATING BASE WAR EAGLE, Iraq – "It only hurts for the first couple days ... but after a while you get used to it," the instructor told his fellow Soldiers as they gathered Dec. 8 in an Iraqi army dining facility at Forward Operating Base War Eagle in Baghdad's Adhamiyah district.
Sgt. Dwan West, a native of St. Louis, was training the troops in the Army Combative style of fighting; back in the United States, he is ranked as the number-one mixed martial arts amateur fighter for his weight class in Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico.
On this evening, West and Staff Sgt. Keith Reiss, his co-instructor, who serves as the supply non-commissioned officer for 3rd Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, were teaching members of the Striker Brigades Command Security Detachment and Soldiers from the Military Police Platoon, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd STB, 3rd BCT, 4th Inf. Div., how to throw a kick to different parts of an opponents body, how to subdue a person and how to escape after being grabbed.
These are useful skills for Soldiers to have, especially those who go outside the wire.
"A lot of times, we walk down the sidewalk with the locals," said Reiss. "I know it gives them confidence that if something happens, where someone grabs a hold of them ... they have to be able to defend themselves,"
West and Reiss teach the students techniques not only to help them physically defeat an enemy but to be mentally stronger as well.
"Fighting is not only physical ... it's mental. Fighting is just like chess; I'm teaching these guys a chess game," said West, who serves as an operations NCO in HHC, 3rd STB. "I'm trying to teach Soldiers that no matter what you do, you have to think one or two steps ahead of your opponent."
West and Reiss, a native of Colorado Springs, Colo., host the two-hour class six nights a week at the Iraqi army dining facility.
Most of the students show up every night, but an ongoing mission is usually the reason for an absence.
"They listen, everybody listens. When you have a group of fresh people ... they're green ... they're new to the sport," said West.
Because the students pay such close attention, it makes it a little easier for West and Reiss to instill the valuable knowledge.
"They're going to listen to you. They don't have their own way of doing it. They don't think they're better than anyone else," said West. "They're there to learn and they're eager."
Sgt. Crystal Jimenez, a native of Pueblo, Colo., who serves as a military policeman with the Military Police Platoon, HHC, 3rd STB, has been taking the class for three weeks.
"It definitely helps a lot. We go over the same moves every night. We definitely see all of us getting better every night," said Jimenez.
Jimenez stands nearly a head shorter than most of the other students in the combatives class.
"It doesn't matter what size we are," she said. "Sgt. West pairs us up with small people, with big people. We're all here for the same learning experience, and we're never going to get any better if we don't go up against anybody that's bigger than us or better than us."
Spc. Matthew Vitug is not a small guy; he power lifts weights multiple times a week. This was his first combatives class.
"It's more fatiguing than power lifting. It gets you more into shape as far as [physical training] goes. You're using multiple muscles at multiple times: flexing, stretching, pushing, pulling, every movement you can think of, you're using in a matter of seconds, " said Vitug, a native of Crofton, Md., who serves as a military policeman with the Military Police Platoon, HHC, 3rd STB.
The fatigue is hard-earned and well thought of for these Soldiers, who encounter various stresses being deployed more than 5,000 miles from friends and family.
"Every day it's stressful, getting closer to home and [we] want to pass time. It helps relieve a lot of the stress that we go through every day," said Jimenez.
The training will continue until the Striker Brigade redeploys. Some of the Soldiers intend to attend the same school where West and Reiss train. It also has drawn them closer together.
"We watch fights together; we hang out," said West. "We're starting to become a small family."
| Date Taken: | 12.12.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 12.12.2008 03:24 |
| Story ID: | 27565 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 203 |
| Downloads: | 152 |
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