FORT BENNING, Ga. (July 1, 2015) -- Students of the Maneuver Captains Career Course took their combatives skills to the old Martin Army Community Hospital June 26 as part of increased intensity training.
"Any time an officer or any Soldier has the opportunity to engage in realistic training, it motivates them," said Capt. Lazaro Oliva, MCCC instructor. "It allows them to appreciate the value in the training when they see themselves in a real-world setting as opposed to some of the other training environments."
The MCCC Combatives Program and the U.S. Army Combatives Course worked together to provide junior captains the opportunity to attend the Tactical Combatives Course - the second of three combatives courses in the Modern Army Combatives Program. Oliva said the abandoned hospital provided a perfect venue for students to put all they have learned into a realistic scenario.
The objective for the MCCC Soldiers breaching the hospital was to enter and clear a room - clear, adhere, blitz - maintain the distance, then close the distance and perform single- or double-leg takedowns of enemy combatants. After achieving dominant body position, Soldiers gained submission by using arm bars, chokes or strikes. Last was to search and cuff the detainee.
"Going into this kind of environment - you never know what to expect in a room, so you're immediately confronted with complexity," said Capt. David Sprague, MCCC student. "That requires you to be fast and lethal - to rapidly employ the skills you've learned against your opponent."
A key factor was for the Soldiers to clear the areas of domination, and if there was an enemy present, to close with the enemy and live long enough for a fellow Soldier to assist them, said Sgt. 1st Class Derrick Haynes, senior advisor for MCCC.
In learning combatives, the students began with strikes, basic boxing, kicks and takedowns.
Once takedowns were completed, the students were taught advanced grappling techniques, Oliva said. They finished with detainee operations.
"This is just one of the ways we try to enhance our officers' agility, lethality and speed," Oliva said.
Combatives are used when it would be better to detain an individual in a counterinsurgency fight, Haynes said. Combatives is the answer to how-to-take-out-an-enemy-alive question.
"If you can detain somebody, he can lead you to intelligence that you might not be able to gain otherwise if you had to kill him," Oliva said.
Senior advisors were on hand to offer advice to MCCC Soldiers immediately following the event.
Haynes said they would collaborate with the students if they saw any type of safety violations or make corrections as they saw better ways for the students to subdue the enemy.
"Combatives is a complimentary part of all training," Haynes said.
Additionally, MCCC students currently training on the basic level combatives acted as opposing forces.
"It was very motivating to us that are going to be able to participate in that program over the next three months," said Capt. Padraic McKenzie, a class executive officer MCCC. "It gives us a pretty up-close and personal view of everything that we'll be learning and how effective you can be within a closed room environment."
The intent is for the captains to incorporate combatives into their training programs when they lead Soldiers.
"It is imperative that every time we react to something, we react as fast as possible - smart, fast, lethal - that's what we preach here," Haynes said.
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