Courtesy Photo | Marine 1st Lt. Mark Cowett, a Chicago native and a martial arts instructor-trainer...... read more read more
UMM QASR, Iraq – More than 25 Iraqi marines from Umm Qasr recently began training on a wide variety of combat-oriented fighting techniques as part of a training package from the U.S. Marines.
The U.S. Marine martial arts instructor-trainers will teach the U.S. Marine Corps Martial Arts Program for the next several months as part of a training agreement between the U.S. and Iraqi governments.
“MCMAP is the Marine Corps' own unique fighting program which encompasses a wide variety of fighting techniques ranging from hand-to-hand combat to the use of weapons such as pistols, knives and bayonets,” said Marine 1st Lt. Mark Cowett, a Chicago native and a martial arts instructor-trainer with Iraqi Marine Corps Training Team 03.
Cowett highlighted that MCMAP improves the Iraqi marines’ ability to combine mental, physical and character discipline to create the ultimate "ethical warrior" who is, among other things, well-versed in the responsible and effective use of force.
“MCMAP will help Iraqi marines by building up confidence in their physical abilities and assisting them in combating enemy fighters. It provides them with a number of techniques that will help them use escalation-of-force procedures without always resorting to lethal force,” he said.
“There is also a great deal of ground fighting and weapons disarmament, which enables an Iraqi marine to gain and maintain control over aggressors without necessarily killing them,” said Cowett.
On the first day of training Cowett and his fellow martial arts instructor-trainer, Marine Cpl. George Zavala a native of San Antonio, demonstrated several techniques for the Iraqi Marines.
“During the first day, Cpl. Zavala and I demonstrated some of the highlights of MCMAP to the Iraqi marines, and invited the most enthusiastic volunteers to execute some of the MCMAP techniques,” said Cowett.
“While the Iraqi marines observed some of their peers learning and executing MCMAP techniques, they got an idea on how they will be trained in future training sessions,” he added.
“We demonstrated with as much intensity as we can,” said Cowett. “Our biggest goal is that we have them attempt the techniques themselves. That way, they can see that while MCMAP appears to be a very complex system, its fighting techniques can in fact be learned by anyone,” he said.
Cowett praised the Iraqi marines for their willingness to learn regardless of the language barriers they experienced.
“Teaching MCMAP to a foreign military is a little tricky when using an interpreter,” said Cowett. “However, the Iraqi marines showed a great deal of patience when learning the techniques.”
Over the next several months, the Iraqi marines are scheduled to complete their training and be able to train those who didn’t get a chance to attend; which is the ultimate goal for the training program.
“The rise in Iraqi marines' fighting-confidence, as well as their ability to use escalation-of-force procedures, is the ultimate goal of MCMAP training,” said Cowett.
| Date Taken: | 09.11.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 09.12.2011 06:27 |
| Story ID: | 76868 |
| Location: | UMM QASR, IQ |
| Web Views: | 308 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, U.S. Marines teach martial arts to Iraqi marines, by MSG Edward Daileg, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
