Jonesin' for a fight

JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. - I will always place the mission first ... "Go in for the win, fight to win above all else," said Pfc. Marcus Jones, a lightweight contender and victor at the 2015 Joint Base Lewis-McChord Modern Army Combative Tournament.

I will never accept defeat ... "Pass out before you tap out," said Spc. Robbie Perkins, a light heavyweight contender and victor at the 2015 JBLM MACT.

I will never quit ... "Just because you lose a round doesn't mean that you need to quit and feel like its all over," said Jones. "You should always keep going and try to do as best you can even with a loss on your belt."

I will never leave a fallen comrade ... "When you take your opponent out, show good sportsmanlike conduct by picking them up at the end, and shaking their hand," said Perkins. "Especially because in this situation, in the end of it all, we are all one team, American Soldiers."

From Sept. 8 - 11, the atmosphere at the Soldiers Field house on JBLM, Washington, had a change in energy as the sounds of weights clinging and barbells banging was in competition with thuds from bodies being thrown against the gym mats and the roar of onlookers cheering for their favorite fighter during the 2015 JBLM Modern Army Combative Tournament.

The 2015 Modern Army combatives tournament, which was hosted by the 593rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command with the help and collaboration of 7th Infantry Division, gave service members throughout JBLM a chance to register as a team, a minimum of seven fighters with a maximum of 16, or as an individual competing in one of the eight identified weight classes, and a chance to be recognized for their hand-to-hand combat skills.

"It has been intense!" said Pfc. Nicholas Root, 47th Combat Support Hospital, 593rd ESC, a middleweight contender during the JBLM MACT. "We escalated from normal grappling, to open-hand slaps onto UFC [Ultimate Fighting Championship] style of fighting."

As the tournament progressed, many of the fighters were eliminated, leaving the best of the best to compete against one another and make a name for themselves, and of those select fighters, Marcus Jones of the 62nd Medical Brigade, 593rd ESC, was one of them.

"I imagine him [Jones] going into the fight pretty ruthless," said Root. "He's got one objective and it's winning, and he's going to accomplish that."

Weighing in at 140 pounds, Jones fought his way through the class of lightweights earning the title as the 2015 JBLM Modern Army Combative Lightweight Champion.

"I did a tournament like a month ago," said Jones. "I did that and then I did this, but I haven't done any combative training like level one or level two or anything like that."

Having little to no formal combative training, Jones was the only competitor to defeat his opponent due to submission in the finals, thus making his very own words to live by during combatives, "I will go for submission or the tap out above all else and before everything," come true.

Many people associate combatives as just a "fight" between two people, but it has come to be much more than that in today's military, thus instilling some of the core beliefs and values of the military way into the participants.

"To me, it really helps with team building and camaraderie with the people you are with," said Jones. "I was with a few of my buddies and an NCO [noncommissioned officer], and we all had a good time. We had some wins - some loses, and it was just a good experience as far as camaraderie goes and building a relationship with your team members."

The Soldiers Creed, the Warrior Ethos and the Army Values are just some of the beliefs that a fighter must come to term with before even shaking hands with his or her opponent.

"The hardest part is stepping on the mat, the easiest is the fight," said Jones.