For the first time since 2012, the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley Combatives Team is competing at an Armed Forces tournament.
The yearly all-Army competition was halted in 2012, and since, the team's Soldiers have only gotten to compete at the U.S. National Pankration Championships in May 2014 in California. And compete they did. The team brought home the title, topping fighters from 29 Palms, California; the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York; and others from civilian teams across the country.
The "Big Red One" competitors are hungry for more. Fourteen will represent the division and post in seven weight classes at the 2015 Fort Bragg Combatives Tournament -- which is open to all U.S. Armed Forces -- this week. Weigh-ins were are Dec. 9, preliminary and semi-final rounds are Dec. 10-11 and finals are set for 7-10 p.m. Dec. 12.
The Soldiers are ready, said Staff Sgt. Ryan Hunt, 1st Inf. Div. and Fort Riley combatives noncommissioned officer in charge.
"As a team, we're super excited to be able to get there and represent Fort Riley at what is considered the national-level tournament for the Army now," he said.
Training for the event has been intense, with gut-busting cardiovascular, technique and fighting sessions early each morning.
Hunt is familiar with this level of competition, having participated in the 2011 All-Army competition at for Fort Hood, Texas.
"It's a great experience," he said. "A lot of Soldiers that get to that level get really nervous, and it's a real eye-opener to compete at that level and to see the level of competition that is out there Army wide. It's been said by many actual pro (mixed martial arts) fighters that have been there to witness that tournament that it's one of the hardest tournaments that they've ever seen."
Maj. Carl Johnson, 1st Inf. Div. and Fort Riley combatives officer in charge, isn't intimidated. A seasoned competitor, Johnson said the team is looking good. He took first place in his weight class -- 220 pounds -- in the pankration championships.
"This team is deeper, talent wise, than that team," he said of his fellow pankration teammates. "It's not to say that we're going to go and winning's automatic. The tournament we're going to this time is deeper, as well, so we've had to adjust accordingly.
"We're going to compete very well against other installations who are larger, maybe have more numbers of Soldiers competing for spots on their team, but we like to think that our training is what sets us apart from other competitive teams that go there, and we'll show that when we go there and do well."
This is Capt. Jonathan Jordan's first big tournament, though he has competed while stationed at other installations. The Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment, 1st Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Inf. Div., officer has never been on a structured team with a professional-level coaching staff and organized training.
"Here, everyone is progressing," Jordan said. "Coaches are more focused on building our strengths, focusing on how we're going to win -- mental toughness, physical conditioning. Everyone works together to make everyone better.
"Training is usually as hard as we can go without injuring each other. That's the goal: to push each other to the limit, make each other better, but, we can't break each other or we can't compete."
Jordan is trained in jiu jitsu, and the Soldiers have used their own styles and strengths to help prepare their teammates. Learning how to best fighters of differing styles, whether they have martial arts or wrestling backgrounds, has helped prepare each member.
"When they train with me, they know I'm a jiu jitsu guy," Jordan said of his teammates. "They know they're going to want to fight my guard and look out for sweeps. When I'm rolling with wrestlers, I'm looking to push my wrestling against them and to benefit as much as I can from them."
Training for the tournament has been a hard regimen, he said.
"You kind of have to come to a realization that if you want to win, you're facing a professional-level mixed martial arts fight," Jordan said, "so you need to train accordingly. Some people are going to be training all day, every day -- pushing it. You need to not just be training, but increasing your level of technique every day.
There won't be any easy fights, Jordan said, adding no one will just scrape through, luck out and win the tournament.
"Either you're going to be at a very high level and compete well or you will not make it far," he said.
Johnson said being part of the team, being around the "right cut" of Soldier was something special.
"We try to breed a Warrior Ethos here -- maintain the Warrior Ethos here at the combatives fight house," Johnson said. "It's certainly a joy. It's very rewarding. … The benefit I get out of it is being around troops that are training for all the right reasons."
The training and competition is fierce, but Hunt said it wasn't about hurting the other fighters.
"Even when we get to the tournament, we realize that we're still part of the bigger Army team when we're competing against those guys," he said. "It's more just to show that our program here at Fort Riley rivals any program in the Army, but at the end of the day, we still know those Soldiers from other installations, (we) still have a job to go downrange and be warfighters."
The target is simple: compete against the best fighters throughout all the service branches and bring another trophy back to Fort Riley.
"That's our goal," Johnson said. "You would be amazed when you see how much effort is put forth when you get all of these types of Soldiers who are cut from the same cloth training their butts off every single day … simply for the sake of winning and representing the Big Red One."
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