Photo By Daniel Nelson | Master Sgt. Pete Grey is declared the winner after his match during "Fight Night for...... read more read more
MOSUL, Iraq—Students watch intently as their instructor, disciplined and focused, displays a technique for fighting out of a non-dominant position during an Army Combatives training session.
For Pete Grey, a U.S. Army master sergeant, fighting is a passion most people don't understand. Currently in Iraq, Master Sgt. Grey is the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 130th Engineer Brigade's intelligence non-commissioned officer-in-charge.
At the gym six times a week, he trains anywhere from five to 12 Soldiers each night. Whether he's teaching Modern Army Combatives or Mixed Martial Arts techniques, Master Sgt. Grey firmly believes in the importance of self-defense and the Warrior Ethos. More than learning how to take down an opponent, it's a matter of discipline, sacrifice, respect and hard work.
"Training students is important to me. Young Soldiers often don't understand the concept of being a warrior, but they're interested in Combatives. This training gives them the opportunity to learn and to understand the Warrior concept," he said.
Growing up in Florida, Master Sgt. Grey joined the Army right after high school, saying he was "born to be a Soldier." His grandfather and father were both veterans. A tough disciplinarian, his father gave his children Army ranks.
"I was a private, my sister was a corporal. We understood the mentality of following orders, that's what I was taught as a kid," he said.
Life was tough, so he had to be tougher. Pushing his son to excel and be strong, his father enrolled him in Judo. By the time he was eight-years-old, Grey had earned a blue belt.
Placed in foster care when he was 10, Master Sgt. Grey said he bounced around from one place to another until he ran away and moved out on his own. With two years of high school left, he worked most nights until 1 or 2 a.m. to support himself. Getting up for school, he repeated the same exhausting schedule day after day.
"No one at school knew I was on my own. I remember falling asleep in class because I was so tired from working late. I got sent to the dean's office. He told me he was going to call my parents. I told him 'I don't have any. I live on my own,'" Master Sgt. Grey said.
With this insight, his teachers and dean's attitudes changed and they offered the support and encouragement the exhausted teenager needed for success.
A member of the high school wrestling team, and a Western Conference wrestling champion, he managed to keep his grades up and graduated "Titan of the Year," an honor bestowed to only two graduating students each year.
Learning how to overcome difficult experiences contributed greatly to his drive to excel and made moving on to a military career an easy transition.
"I realized very young I could push myself past my physical limits. That's one strength of mine. I've never been really good at anything, but I push myself. I have the tenacity and I don't give up very easily," Master Sgt. Grey said.
His interest in wrestling and Judo followed him into the military. He attended the Level 1 Combatives course in December 2004 and then the Level 2 and 3 Combatives instructor courses in 2006.
The Modern Army Combatives Program teaches Soldiers to defend themselves and quickly incapacitate an opponent in hand-to-hand combat. Realizing the Army's hand-to-hand combat techniques were outdated and ineffective, Army Ranger Sgt.1st Class Matt Larson developed the Combatives course, According to Grey.
"Soldiers must know how to defend themselves for so many reasons. We guard weapons, ammunition, traffic control points, detainees. You name it, we guard it.
"If we put our Soldiers in situations to protect something, then it is our responsibility to teach them how to protect themselves. This means hand-to-hand combat," Master Sgt. Grey explained.
Though self-defense training is critical for Soldiers, Combatives offers other mental and physical benefits that contribute to the overall Soldier concept.
"It not only gives our Soldiers a valuable skill, it's demanding and pushes Soldiers to the limit of their physical ability. It breeds the Warrior spirit, courage and will to win," he said.
While Master Sgt. Grey is passionate about Combatives, his enthusiasm for Mixed Martial Arts is just as strong. Breaking onto the MMA scene just three months after he began training at a fight gym in Lacey, Wash., Master Sgt. Grey recalls his first fight.
"I lost," he said.
Losing only made the fighter more determined. The derision of his subordinates and peers over his loss and an injury he suffered during the fight, both painful, did not deter him. Neither did his sergeant major's suggestion to "leave that kind of stuff to the younger guys." Nothing could sway the then 34-year-old fighter to change his mind. Continuing a grueling training regimen, five months later, he won his second match at the Tacoma Dome.
Since that match, Master Sgt. Grey placed third in the 2006 All-Army Combatives Tournament and first in the 2009 Hawaii Combatives Tournament. He also got an unexpected chance to put his MMA skills to use after deploying when the first ever Mixed Martial Arts tournament in Iraq, "Fight Night for Heroes," was held at Contingency Operating Site Marez in Sept. 5.
Master Sgt. Grey began an intense training routine in preparation for the fight, and before too long, others asked for his help. Night after night, four Soldiers and one civilian perfected jabs, arm bars, choke holds and numerous other techniques under his watchful eye. A testament to Master Sgt. Grey's instructor capabilities, all five fighters he trained won their fights that night.
Matched against an opponent 10 years younger and with 10 years grappling experience, 28 seconds and one arm bar later, Grey also won his fight.
Describing the courage and skill it took to get into the ring and the respect for the Soldiers and civilians who competed in the fight night, he said of his win, "I was very surprised. I didn't expect him to go down so quickly,"
Master Sgt. Grey plans to continue training and teach others while he is in Iraq, and with retirement around the corner, he plans to return to Washington and begin a professional career in MMA.
| Date Taken: | 11.06.2009 |
| Date Posted: | 11.06.2009 13:54 |
| Story ID: | 41201 |
| Location: | MOSUL, IQ |
| Web Views: | 666 |
| Downloads: | 547 |
This work, 130th Engineer Brigade Soldier's fighting passion, by SSG Melanie Trollinger, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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