Photo By 1st Sgt. James Wagner | Spc. Marcos Barragan, an infantryman with 3rd Squadron, 108th Cavalry Regiment,...... read more read more
CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kovoso - Soldiers from Multinational Battle Group East took their recently-earned combatives skills to the next level, participating in the tactical combatives course at Camp Bondsteel, Kovoso, Aug. 6-17, 2012.
The course is the second tier of instruction in the U.S. Army's Modern Army Combatives Program which is designed to "instill the Warrior Ethos and prepare soldiers to close with and defeat the enemy in hand-to-hand combat," according the school's web site.
Several basic combatives courses - the first level of training - have been conducted at the MNBG E headquarters for the deployed soldiers from 13 states in the Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserves this deployment. BCC focuses on basic combatives moves to include grappling techniques like pummeling, strikes, clinching and scissor sweeps.
TCC takes the lessons learned from the basic course and incorporates them into more advanced situations that soldiers may find themselves, whether in the field or back at home. Students learned skills such as subduing and handcuffing a potential assailant, and entering and clearing a room with one or more teams.
That tactical training is something that is fairly new for combatives instruction, according to U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jair Cranmore, combatives instructor. Cranmore, who has been teaching combatives since 2008, said recent changes to the program took the advanced course from just hand-to-hand instruction to more tactical-based scenarios appropriate for today's soldier.
"A lot of the instruction in the past was advanced jiu-jitsu," he said. "Instead of teaching all that stuff you see on TV with [mixed martial arts], they're learning things they can use in the field or at home."
That's not to say they didn't also learn more advanced hand-to-hand combatives techniques. The course still features hand-to-hand maneuvers such as combo punches, leg sweeps, defense against headlocks or guillotines, and rolling with punches or slaps.
Added is instruction on clearing a room with one or more teams, and what to do when an adversary closes with a soldier and they can't rely on their primary (M4) or secondary (pistol, knife) weapons to resolve the situation.
First Lt. Morio Riley, a patient administrative officer and medical regulating officer for the Balkans region at Task Force MED, said that as someone who has been a wrestler for more than 25 years, the course was physically demanding and worth the effort.
"It was very physical, and very tactical; it took me out of my comfort zone," he said. "As an officer and someone who works in the medical field, I don't get many opportunities to do Army training like this, so I take every opportunity I can get."
With both the BCC and TCC under their belts, the recent graduates have the chance to progress in the combatives track of instruction. The next two levels of instruction focus on refining their skills and becoming instructors for the next generation of combatives students, helping those soldiers reach that next level of combatives experience, and to pass it along.
"Take the knowledge you've received here and bring it home with you," said Sgt. 1st Class Danny Belisle, a brigade training non-commissioned offcer and one of the combatives instructors during the course, to students at the graduation ceremony following the course. "Don't keep it with you, you're now the experts and can provide this training to your units back home."
| Date Taken: | 08.17.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 08.22.2012 05:21 |
| Story ID: | 93608 |
| Location: | CAMP BONDSTEEL, ZZ |
| Web Views: | 214 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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