Raiders Train Hand-to-Hand

Photo By Staff Sgt. Daniel Guerrero | Lt. Col. Alexis “Pancho” Perez (in blue), former battalion commander from the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, demonstrates a Modern Army Combatives technique known as “passing the Guard” with Lt. Kekuaokalani Marumoto (in green), at the Fort Stewart. Ga. Combatives Schoolhouse on Sept, 8, 2021. The Modern Army Combatives Program (MACP) started in 1995 with the 2nd Ranger Battalion and has spread at the grass roots around the Army. It has been incorporated into the new TC 3-25.150 and Basic Combatives is one of the Forty Warrior Core Tasks of the Warrior Ethos initiative.  

GA, UNITED STATES

09.08.2021

Story by Sgt. Daniel Guerrero 

1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division

The mission of the U.S. Army Combatives Course is to train Leaders and Soldiers in close quarters combat, further cement the Warrior Ethos, and prepare Soldiers to defeat the enemy in hand to hand combat.
Sgt. 1st Class David Huerta, a senior combatives master trainer, assigned to the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, conducted a Modern Army Combatives training session at the Fort Stewart, Ga. Combatives School House on Sept. 8, 2021.
The Modern Army Combatives Program (MACP) started in 1995 with the 2nd Ranger Battalion and has spread at the grass roots around the Army. It has been incorporated into the new TC 3-25.150 and Basic Combatives is one of the Forty Warrior Core Tasks of the Warrior Ethos initiative.
“Combatives training is important for Soldiers to help instill warrior ethos and Army values,” said Huerta. “ The only way to face fear is to face it directly. Many Soldiers have never been in a hand to hand situation so we like to put them in the situation to see how they react. It is just like any other combat training we as an army conduct.”

This type of training entails many lessons and techniques from multiple disciplines involving hand to hand combat. Huerta says a typical training session involves teaching, learning, and sharing about 5 or 6 techniques. He adds that the techniques can come from brazilian jiu jitsu, boxing, muay thai, judo, and many other styles that the instructors have studied throughout their combined years of training.. Each session usually culminates with a full-speed, practical application of lessons learned known as “rolling”.

Mixed martial arts training can be extremely physically demanding, however it is just as much of a mental workout as it is a physical one.
“It may be difficult and uncomfortable, especially so when you first start, but you learn a lot about yourself,” said 1st Lt. Austin Drago, a Level 1 Combatives Instructor with 1ABCT, 3ID. “Army combatives, as well as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, is an active, physically demanding puzzle. Every time I learn something new, it’s like adding another piece to figure out and apply; it can be both the most brutal and rewarding thing you’ll ever do.”


There are many instances of Soldiers ending up in hand-to-hand combat throughout history. Drago adds that it is one of the most physically and mentally demanding things Soldiers can do, and there are many lessons to be learned with this type of training.

• Date Taken: 09.08.2021
• Date Posted: 09.13.2021 10:47
• Story ID: 405076
• Location: GA, US