Strike Combatives champs wrestle for repeat win

FORT CAMPBELL, KY, UNITED STATES

12.08.2015

Story by Staff Sgt. Sierra A. Melendez 

2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs

“Very few people have ever been killed with the bayonet or saber, but the fear of having their guts explored with cold steel in the hands of battle-maddened men has won many a fight.” General George S. Patton

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - Three Soldiers from 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), will be competing for the championship title in their respective weight classes during the All-Armed Forces Combatives Tournament slated for Dec. 9-12 in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Staff Sgt. Colter C. Brown, Spc. Joshua M. Bareiszis and Spc. Christian L. Nielsen, all with Strike, will be representing the 101st Airborne Division during the tournament, which is open to all service branches in the U.S.

Formally known as the All-Army Combatives Tournament, the competition was opened to all services last year – toughening the competition and giving opponents an additional incentive to want to win – bragging rights of having the best branch in combatives.

According to their website, The Modern Army Combatives Program started in 1995 with the 2nd Ranger Battalion and has spread at the grass-roots level around the Army. Combatives is described as hand-to-hand combat between two or more persons in an empty-handed struggle or with hand-held weapons such as knives, sticks, or projectile weapons that cannot be fired.

Proficiency in hand-to-hand combat is one of the fundamental building blocks for training the modern Soldier.

“Combatives is way more than just [mixed-martial arts] style fighting like a lot of people think,” said Brown. “It’s about the Soldier’s ability to think about his or her next move, all while being aware of their surroundings and taking into consideration the leverage they could use against their opponent.”

According to Army Training Circular 3-25.150, the two main effects of the combatives program is the culmination of a successful physical fitness program, enhancing individual and unit strength, flexibility, balance, and cardiorespiratory fitness; and building personal courage, self-confidence, self-discipline, and esprit de corps.

“The confidence increase I witness from Soldiers when they first start Combatives level 1 to when they graduate the course is amazing,” said Nielsen. “A lot of them go from not thinking they could do a specific take-down or grapple, to performing it without thought. It really is a confidence booster for a lot of guys.”

Brown, a Yates Center, Kansas, native and Nielsen, a Wood River, Nebraska, native, competed in the tournament last year and took home 1st place in their respective weight classes. They intend to have the same results this year and display how tenacious Strike Soldiers really are.

“I think we have a really good chance of winning again,” said Brown. “We all have deep backgrounds in wrestling, and as long as we don’t get cocky, I don’t believe this year will be any different.”

Brown, with the assistance of Bareiszis and Nielsen, run the 2nd Brigade Combat Team Combatives School. Starting January 2016, the school house will run monthly training certifying Strike Soldiers in combatives level I. Brown and Nielsen are qualified to train Soldiers on level II upon graduation of level I.

“We are here to support Strike,” said Nielsen. “Whether it’s to certify their Soldiers or squad level training. If there is a demand for us, we will supply it.”

The 2nd BCT Combatives School is located at Building 7044, Toccoa Rd. and can be reached at [phone].

• Date Taken: 12.08.2015
• Date Posted: 12.15.2015 13:57
• Story ID: 184594
• Location: FORT CAMPBELL, KY, US
• Hometown: CLARKSVILLE, TN, US
• Hometown: FORT CAMPBELL, KY, US
• Hometown: FORT LIBERTY, NC, US
• Hometown: FORT MEADE, MD, US
• Hometown: PHILADELPHIA, PA, US
• Hometown: READING, PA, US
• Hometown: WOOD RIVER, NE, US
• Hometown: YATES CENTER, KS, US