FORT BENNING, Ga. (Army News Service, Oct. 16, 2008) - More than 280 Soldiers from around the Army competed in the fourth annual U.S. Army Combatives Championship Oct. 4-5 at Fort Benning, with 28 making the finals in seven weight classes.
The growth of the competition - there were twice as many competitors this year as last - reflects the fact that more and more Soldiers are recognizing the relevance of combatives training, said retired Sgt. 1st Class Matt Larsen, director of the Combatives School at Fort Benning and author of the Army combatives manual. This year's competition drew competitors from Guam, Korea, Alaska and Iraq.
Soldiers from the 1st Infantry Division and from Fort Riley, Kan., took first place in the team category. A Fort Benning Soldier, Staff Sgt. Brandon Sayles, of 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, took first in the heavyweight category.
Fort Bragg, N.C., claimed three winners, and Fort Sill, Okla., Fort Lewis Wash., and Fort Stewart, Ga., each took home a first place.
Sayles, 27, won first place in 2006 but missed last year's competition, which took place during his unit's deployment in Iraq. The combatives competition is a hit with the crowd, he said, but the "close combat," or hand-to-hand training serves a greater purpose in the Global War on Terrorism.
"People don't realize - sure, we compete because it's fun and great morale and it's a great competition - but it saves lives in combat," he said. "There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of documented cases of people using combatives to fight off somebody until they can get help - that's what it's about."
Master Sgt. John Long, first-place winner in the light heavyweight class, served with Larsen in the 75th Ranger Regiment more than a decade ago when combatives training was in its infancy. Long said he knew then that Larsen "was onto something," but he never imagined the training would have such a great impact on Soldiers Armywide - not just Infantry Soldiers.
Combatives training is just as important as weaponry training, Long said, because Soldiers in combat today are often confronting the enemy in "close quarters" during urban operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today's Soldiers are entering houses, he said, where the enemy may be hiding behind a couch.
"You never know what'll happen. The (Soldier) has all his equipment on, and someone jumps on his back - he has to be able to play that game too," Long said. "You want a Soldier who is educated and skilled in his primary weapons, but one who can also defend himself in hand-to-hand combat."
(Rachel L. Watkins writes for the Fort Benning Bayonet newspaper.)
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