Lone Spartan trains for All-Army Combatives Tournament

By SPC Crystal Bradley, 2HBCT Public AffairsJuly 7, 2011

Combat
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT STEWART, Ga. - His Army combat uniforms have no name tapes or patches " not even the U.S. Army strip or the American flag. Instead of being covered by tan boots laced tight, his feet are bare. He is in position, poised and ready to attack.

The mat is cool to his feet, and though he is focused, he is still a little nervous. After all, he is the one. He is the only. He is representing an entire brigade of Soldiers by himself. Defeat is not in his vocabulary. He is a Spartan, and Spartans never quit.

Sergeant Cory Addison, Battery G, 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, has been training during the week of June 27-July 1, along with the rest of the Third Infantry Division All-Army Combatives Team.

The sergeant, who is the only Spartan Soldier on the team, and his team members are preparing for the All-Army Combatives Competition which will be held at Fort Hood, Texas July 20 " 23.

Representing the Spartan brigade in the competition, according to Addison, may seem like an overwhelming task, but it is one he is definitely up to.

“Even though at times, it does make me feel a little pressured, I am more than proud to step up this challenge; I love what I am doing right now, and that’s competing. I love combatives,” he said.

The sergeant said he first became interested in the sport while deployed to Korea in 2007.

“I was in Korea, away from my Family. Doing combatives made the deployment more interesting and it kept my mind off the fact that I was truly missing my Family,” he said. “When I first started back then, I was at the bottom level. Now I’m at Level Two, but my goals are to advance to Level Four.”

Garth Spendiff, 3rd ID All-Army Combatives Team Coach, said even though Addison is an excellent athlete, he brings a little something extra to the team as well.

“I’ve been coaching here since 2007, and I could not ask for a better student or team leader,” the coach said. “He is indeed one of the finest individuals we have here. His attitude and discipline is impeccable. He’s always smiling and uplifting his team mates.”

Addison said even though the competition is in the very near future, he plans to continue to train so he can be at his very best.

“We still have about three weeks until we go out there. I’m going to take advantage of that and continue to train hard. That way, when I step onto the mat, I’ll know I did everything in my power to be the best I could be,” said Sgt. Addison.