‘Thunder Brigade’ dominates 2ID Saturday Night Fights

Photo By Sgt. Gun Woo Song | Combatives teams from 1st Battalion, 38th Field Artillery Regiment and from 70th Brigade Support Battalion, 210th Field Artillery Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, celebrate their victory with their brigade and battalion leadership following the championship bout March 28, 2015 during Saturday Night Fights at Hansen Field House at Camp Casey, South Korea. The team from 1st Bn., 38th FA Regt., won the division’s 10-week combatives tournament, which began in January.  

CAMP CASEY, SOUTH KOREA

03.28.2015

Story by Sgt. Gun Woo Song 

210th Field Artillery Brigade

CAMP CASEY, South Korea - Soldiers from the 210th Field Artillery Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, went head to head March 28 during the championship match of the division’s Saturday Night Fights at Hansen Field House at Camp Casey, South Korea.

The division combatives tournament kicked off in January and went through a 10-week journey to single out the best battalion-level combatives team.

The fight nights began as a way of providing entertainment to Soldiers while offering fighters the opportunity to showcase their skills against other competitors. The event also inspired esprit de corps among individual units, with hundreds of supporters attending every week to cheer for their team.

For the final match, the 70th Brigade Support Battalion and 1st Battalion, 38th Field Artillery Regiment, both units from the 210th FA Brigade, clashed on the mat to for the title crown.

“Our teams competed against other teams from the division, but ultimately, 1st Battalion, 38th Field Artillery and 70th BSB were in the finals after each defeating three teams along the way,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Mark L. Brinton, the senior enlisted leader of 210th FA Brigade.

A martial arts demonstration from the Republic of Korea Army 1st Special Forces Brigade served as the pre-fight entertainment. Following the demonstrations, seven highly motivated Soldiers from each team’s weight classes came out to show off their skills.

After seven arduous fights, the “Steel Behind the Rock” team from 1st Battalion, 38th FA Regiment, came out as the winner in a very close 5-to-4 match, with the final fight ending on submission from an arm bar.

The battalion’s victory displayed evidence of the team’s winning mentality, said Capt. Scott Clark, the team’s coach.

“We can’t have second place in war, and these guys demonstrate that every time they come out to the mat,” said Clark, a native of Casnovia, Michigan. “They demonstrate that winning mentality which is a critical component of a Soldier.”

“These fighters are the ones that won the match, not me,” continued Clark. “I am very humbled and privileged to be a part of the team.”

According to Brinton, the Army’s combatives program is an essential fight skill that helps Soldiers in tight situations on the battlefield.

“Modern Army Combatives Program teaches Soldiers how to finish the fight if they have to get in close combat, hand-to-hand fighting,” he said. “Just as we are ready to “Fight Tonight” on the combatives match, our Soldiers are also ready to “Fight Tonight” doing whatever mission they have - whether it’s firing rockets from rocket launchers, artillery rounds out of the paladins or supporting those units with logistics.”

“This is just a small way we can prove it,” said Brinton.

• Date Taken: 03.28.2015
• Date Posted: 04.01.2015 22:40
• Story ID: 158885
• Location: CAMP CASEY, KR
• Hometown: CASNOVIA, MI, US