Photo By Amy Christopherson | Spc. Lizzette Reyes, a support operations administrator for the 4th Sustainment...... read more read more
CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq – An important part of being a soldier is continuing to train throughout one’s career in the Army, and one aspect of that training is self-defense.
Soldiers with the 4th Sustainment Brigade, 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command are in charge of teaching the basic combatives course to service members at Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq. Students learn basic hand-to-hand combat moves for self-defense.
Soldiers attend the five-day course, which used to be called Combatives Level 1, for four hours each evening after work.
Spc. Andrew McAllister, an ammunition accounting specialist with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Special Troops Battalion, 4th Sustainment Brigade, 310th ESC, and an Atlanta, Ga., native, said he wanted to attend the class because he had only practiced combatives during basic training.
“Every soldier needs to know hand-to-hand fighting moves,” he said. “The class made for some long work days, but it was worth it. And it was a lot of fun.”
McAllister, who had a little boxing experience while growing up, said the class was great physical training. He learned 18 basic moves during the week-long training.
“I feel like I know the basic moves pretty well,” he said. “The instructors gave a really good step-by-step breakdown of each move.
Then there was a good combination of drilling it and practicing it.”
One of the instructors, Staff Sgt. Benjamin Zucker, the combatives noncommissioned officer-in-charge, a gun truck NCOIC for the 4th Sustainment Brigade, and an Olympia, Wash., native, has been teaching the course for seven years.
Zucker said he feels it is important for each soldier to take the course.
“Combatives is combat-oriented, hand-to-hand training,” he said. “It is not kung-fu or [mixed martial arts]; it is battled-tested training. This stuff actually works.”
Zucker said the class teaches soldiers how to defend themselves in situations that actually occur on the battlefield. They can accommodate up to 40 students per class and welcome all units and all branches on COB Adder.
“I love watching the soldiers learn the moves and learn why each move works,” he said.
| Date Taken: | 05.07.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 05.15.2011 04:57 |
| Story ID: | 70402 |
| Location: | CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, IQ |
| Web Views: | 42 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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