The discipline, concentration, physical fitness, and fearlessness required to succeed at Modern Army Combatives (MAC) helps to develop well-rounded Soldiers, according to Sgt. 1st Class Carl Fryday, a level four MAC instructor.

“We try to train the warrior spirit into Soldiers,” said Fryday, a native of Sterlington, La., and the fire support noncommissioned officer for the 1st Infantry Division. “With the right kind of stress, Soldiers are forced to face their trepidations.”

“The idea behind combatives is to teach how to engage the enemy, while your fellow Soldiers outflank them,” Fryday said. “Take them down as a team and achieve numerical superiority.”

“If every Soldier is confident in closing the distance with the enemy,” Fryday said. “We’re going to be more successful, that’s the overall goal.” Fryday said adding more striking into the training program emphasizes a combat focus, unlike preparing for a competition.

“Through this, we can train courage.”

“It’s a confidence builder,” said Chief Warrant Officer David Hemingway, a level two combatives instructor from Utica, N.Y.

“To give a junior Soldier the opportunity to face adversity and come beyond it,” Hemingway said. “It reflects back in their work environment.”

The goal of MAC, which incorporates techniques from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and other forms of martial arts, is to provide realistic training and develop programs made available for different size units.

It consists of four levels. Level one covers basic fighting skills and is the pedestal of the upper three levels. Levels two through four are instructor courses, which in turn provide training from company level to division, respectively.
“It gives me the opportunity to employ tactics that will help defend those under my care as an NCO,” Saucedo said. “It gives me a sense of being a Soldier first.”Sgt. 1st Class Jeneen Saucedo, a native of San Bernardino, Calif. and military police noncommissioned officer with the 1st Inf. Div. said combatives sharpens her instincts.

The individual skills and other attributes gained from combatives also enhances the Soldiers abilities in their battle rhythm.

“You see people change,” Fryday said. “They start developing a sense of personal wealth, which bleeds into their military occupational skills.”

While the work tempo can prove to be hectic at times, it is the responsibility for every Soldier to ensure their overall well-being meets or exceeds Army standards.

“We are Soldiers,” Fryday said. “Whether with combatives or not, find a way to enhance your capabilities, find a way to be that warrior.”

Seventeen Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, “Wolfhounds,” 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, participated in the Modern Army Combatives Program level one certification course from Oct. 31 to Nov. 4 here.

Sgt. Raul Doss, a mortarman with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1-27 Inf. Regt., said the course teaches Soldiers how to establish dominance in ground combat through a variety of grappling techniques.

“It teaches the basics of ground fighting and grappling,” Doss said. “Once the fight goes to the ground, it’s important to gain control of your opponent, gain dominant body positions and finish the fight.”

Doss, a level four-certified MACP instructor, said the skills taught in level one combatives courses also teach Soldiers a certain escalation of force. It can be beneficial to immobilize an enemy without the use of lethal force, and the course assists students in maintaining their composure during high-stress situations, he added.

“I think the benefits for Soldiers in this course are that they learn hand-to-hand combat,” Doss said. “It’s also an escalation of force. If a Soldier can take down an enemy without using his weapon, it’s better because the Soldier can actually detain him.”

Pvt. Cory Magallanez, a mortarman with HHC, 1-27 Inf. Regt. and a trainee in the level one course, agreed with Doss on the benefits of the course, and added that his experience with the current training has already surpassed what he learned in basic combat training.

“It’s a lot better than when I did it in basic training,” Magallanez said. “It’s more in-depth here. In basic, we did some sparring and a few drills whereas here, the instruction is a lot more detailed.”

Doss said the Army-wide combatives program has been moving away from its mixed martial arts roots and has begun integrating more applicable principles. An example of this, Doss said, can be found in the recent addition of the full-gear training segment in which Soldiers practice the level one techniques while wearing their body armor.

Spc. Anthony Esposito, a mortarman with C Company, 1-27 Inf. Regt. and a course trainee, said this addition to the training, though much more difficult, should prove to be more beneficial for Soldiers in units preparing to deploy to combat. In a close-quarter combat situation, a Soldier would not remove his body armor to engage an enemy, he said. As such, the Soldier should have experience with hand-to-hand combat while wearing his or her body armor.

“We’re training with our body armor on, which helps for missions in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Esposito said. “It’s a lot harder, but it makes sense when you think about why we’re doing it.”

With the brigade in its post-deployment reset phase, Soldiers have begun preparing for training at the individual, team and squad levels. Doss said this combatives course fits into the reset phase as it returns Soldiers to the initial stage of combatives training, building their individual skills and establishing a solid foundation from which they can expand upon in future courses.

“It’s getting the Soldiers started back at the basics,” Doss said. “It strips the Soldiers down, builds them up and keeps them fit. I’ve even seen guys losing weight here already.”

Whether the expressions painted across all seventeen of the trainees’ faces were those of joy or pain, they were all expressions displayed by eager, motivated Soldiers partaking in training that they may one day need in a combat situation.

Master William Guy, master in several forms of martial arts including Hapkido and Taekwondo, came to Fort Stewart, Feb. 23 – 25 to teach and train the 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Soldiers a more “in-depth” aspect of combatives at Caro Gym.

Guy’s training partner, Brad Fowler, also a professional combatives instructor, assisted him with training and teaching the Soldiers as well. During combatives training, Soldiers usually battle at ground level, sometimes wrestling on the knees but rarely ever going to the standing position to fight.

Guy, however, instructed the Soldiers from the standing position, showing Soldiers the importance of not just being able to defend yourself while tussling on the ground but of understanding how balance and the body’s movements could be key factors during a battle.

The master instructor said that one thing his experience in martial arts taught him was that understanding the human anatomy could really play an important role in defending one’s self.

Guy has been practicing martial arts since 1974, and he said that he and his wife have owned a martial arts school since 1983. ”

I’m teaching the Soldiers how to use their body as well as their mind,” Guy said. “Once they understand how and why the body itself moves the way it does in contact, then it will be easier for them to predict and prevent their opponents attack.” Fowler added that though military combatives has no set martial arts style, the arts still appear from time to time.

“You see Hapkido and even some Taekwondo during Army combatives,” said Fowler. “They show their faces every once in a while, so instead of trying to teach the Soldiers one specific type of martial arts, we train and instruct them in understanding the body, just like in martial arts teachings.”

Guy said that 3/7 Cav. Commander, Lt. Col. William C. Lindner was one of his students years ago.

“The colonel learned some of the same strategies I’m teaching the Soldiers today back in Omaha when I trained him,” Guy said. Lindner, who was in attendance for a great deal of the training, helped to instruct the Soldiers.

“Master Guy and I met by accident when I was stationed in Omaha,” Linder said. “I studied with him for about two and a half years. He’s been to several military installations to teach his techniques but this is his first time at Fort Stewart.”

Lindner said that while some instructors in martial arts are just in it for the money, Guy is serious about his teachings as well as passing on his knowledge to servicemembers.

“Guy is a retired (chief warrant officer 3),” Lidner said. “He has a son-in-law in the Army, and his daughter also serves in the Reserves, so training Soldiers is something he’s really about.”

The lieutenant colonel said the Army’s combatives program is undoubtedly great, but that it focuses mostly on ground fighting.

“I think that being able to avoid getting tangled with your opponent or falling to the ground while wearing 65 pounds of gear is better than being able to wrestle your opponent,”

Lindner said. “These instructors are training my whole squadron in three days to understand their oppositions’ movements and body mechanics; this is something they can use anywhere, anytime.” Lindner said that it felt good watching his old instructor pass some of the same training that he once received down to his Soldiers.

“It’s been a great experience,” he said. “To me, this is just a great example of the Warrior Ethos, and it is personally rewarding to see my instructor, after all these years, training my Soldiers, just as he did me.”

Captain Andrew Brown, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 3/7 Cav., said the Soldiers definitely enjoyed the instructors’ new spin on combatives. “We’ve been doing combatives for a couple of weeks now, in the mornings so the Soldiers thought this (training) was going to be similar to that,” said Brown. ” When they saw that we would be standing while we fight, they were excited.” Brown said the instructors were very informative and the Soldiers truly enjoyed the training.

“Just listening to him talk about how important footwork is in a fight let me know that the instructor was really taking it back to the basics,” Brown said. “He also touched on how important understanding balance is.” “The whole experience has really been incredible, and I know the Soldiers definitely got a lot out of it,” he added.

He’ll tell you that he’s just doing his job, trying to make sure that soldiers attending his Warrior Leader’s Course (WLC) know what right looks like.

“So often, we as NCOs just take people’s word for what ‘right’ really is,” he said. “WLC tells the sergeants that come through here what the Army expects from them in their position as a leader. We give them the tools to be successful at it, and give them the opportunity to observe what right looks like.”

With 11 years of service and one Operation Iraqi Freedom deployment under his belt, Massey’s current position is perhaps his most important yet. As a Small Group Leader for the WLC taught at the 7th U.S. Army’s Noncommissioned Officer Academy, located at the Joint Multinational Training Command in Grafenwoehr, Germany, Massey knows his position as a mentor is important to the careers of many young troops.

“Knowing that Soldiers react to situations the way they are trained motivates me to give soldiers the best training I can,” he said. “I understand that soldiers will die in combat, and sometimes there is nothing we can do about it, but I would not be able to live with myself if I ever thought a Soldier died because I failed to train them properly.”

He used his own experiences on the battlefield to lead troops in classroom discussions and a realistic 96-hour scenario driven training exercise that mirrors the contemporary operation environment that soldiers face in support of Contingency Operations world-wide.

“My SGL, during PLDC, appeared to be very lazy. She spent no more time than was absolutely required with us, and was very blatant about not caring about making us into better leaders,” he said. “NCOs teach and lead by experience. My trip to Iraq during 2004-2005 is one of the many experiences that get’s talked about when giving examples of combat stressors, different types of leadership, or the importance of discipline.”

In addition to his own experiences, Massey said it is important for other soldiers to share their experiences, too.

“Soldiers in small groups are encouraged to share their own experiences, and how they relate to the topic we are learning about,” he said, emphasizing that he never stops learning. “My personal goal is to ensure that every soldier coming through my class understands the material to the best of his ability, observes his or her habits as a soldier and a leader; and I give him or her tough realistic criticism (positive and negative) that can be used to become better NCOs,” he said – noting that it’s all in a day’s work.

But, Massey doesn’t just stop there. Outside of his duty hours, Massey took it upon himself to learn and become proficient in Army Combatives. Until recently, he was the only Modern Army Combatives, level four, instructor within the Grafenwoehr footprint.

He resourced and constructed a combative facility that is envied by instructors throughout Europe. He has trained and certified more than 1,000 U.S. and European soldiers on level one technique, and more than 400 on level two.

“I believe the biggest gain from the combatives program, as a whole, is the confidence it gives an individual to close the distance with an enemy. This confidence extends well beyond just hand-to-hand confidence,” he said, recommending that all soldiers should seek out their local level three-and -four instructors to provide scenario-based training, and not just certification.

At work, Massey will tell you, he’s just doing his job. But he sacrifices his personal time for the sake of training soldiers, whether it’s putting in extra hours for study groups, or teaching combative courses – what he’s too modest to admit is that he epitomizes what a leader is – he is what right looks like.

Warriors from a variety of units and career fields — scouts, military police and medical support — worked to improve their hand-to-hand combat skills and increase their confidence and resiliency for future deployments.

The Soldiers trained in a variety of techniques including takedowns, room clearing, weapon retention and ground fighting. These techniques were constantly tested as Soldiers sparred against each other and then eventually against their trainers in the dreaded “clinch drill,” where a Soldier has to close the distance through a trainer’s punches and put himself in a position for a takedown.

Sgt. Joshua C. Miller, 110th Military Police Company, 759th MP Battalion, said clinch drill was his favorite part of the training.

“Soldiers build confidence in themselves and in their teammates as they all learn that they can defeat an enemy in close personal combat, giving them the confidence they need to close with (the) enemy,” he said.

Realistic and relevant training is the key to success in teaching combatives, and Soldiers are constantly exposed to real-world training situations. One example is building clearing, where Soldiers enter an en-closed space and are attacked by an opponent at close range. The Soldiers found themselves in a simulated combat situation, fighting for their lives as they struggled to maintain control of their weapon while acting to subdue their opponent.

Staff Sgt. David Sansolis, Fight House tactical instructor, said this simulated life-and-death struggle is valuable training. “(It) strengthens the Warrior Ethos as it trains the Soldier to never accept defeat and to never quit.”

Despite all of the sweat, pain and fatigue, Spc. Lewis Crump, Troop B, 3rd Sqdn., 61st Cav. Reg., said he felt the training was beneficial.

“I feel every Soldier should … go through combatives because they’ll learn how to fight with their hands instead of always having to rely on a machine, which may breakdown and fail you,” he said. “Your body will never fail you.”

Staff Sgt. Benjamin Westrich, Fight House master trainer, said that the facility is available to all units for training, from unit-level training down to individual tasks such as weapons transition training and detainee handling. He noted all the combatives trainers have deployed and have recently been engaged in relevant tactical environments.

• 1-01 Definition of Combatives
• 1-02 Purposes of Combatives Training
• 1-03 Basic Principles
• 1-04 Safety

2 – Training

• 2-01 Responsibilities of Trainers
• 2-02 Safety Precautions
• 2-03 Basic or One Station Unit Training
• 2-04 Unit Sustainment Training Program
• 2-05 Training Formations
• 2-06 Matted Room
• 2-07 Pit Construction
• 2-08 Bayonet Assault Course
• 2-09 Warm Ups and Stretches
• 2-10 Crawl, Walk and Run
• 2-11 Demostrations
• 2-12 Execution by the Numbers
• 2-13 Execution at Combat Speed
• 2-14 Drills
• 2-15 Training Pads and Other Protective Equipment

3 – Basic Ground Fighting Techniques

• 3-01 Back Mount
• 3-02 Front Mount
• 3-03 Guard
• 3-04 Side Control
• 3-05 Body Positioning Moves
• 3-06 Finishing Moves
• 3-07 Drills
• 3-08 Defense Against Headlocks

4 – Advanced Ground Fighting Techniques

• 4-01 Advanced Body Positions
• 4-02 Pass the Guard
• 4-03 Attacks from the Mount
• 4-04 Attacks from the Back Mount
• 4-05 Attacks from the Guard
• 4-06 Knee Mount
• 4-07 Leg Attacks
• 4-08 Pass the Guard with Strikes
• 4-09 Striking from the Side Control

5 – Takedowns and Throws

• 5-01 Breakfalls
• 5-02 Closing the Distance and Achieving the Clinch
• 5-03 Throws and Takedowns
• 5-04 Defending Against Headlocks
• 5-05 Takedowns from Against a Wall
• 5-06 Double Leg Attacks
• 5-07 Single Leg Attacks
• 5-08 Attack from the Rear

6 – Strikes

• 6-01 Arm Strikes
• 6-02 Punching Combinations
• 6-03 Kicks
• 6-04 Transition Between Ranges

7 – Handleld Weapons

• 7-01 Angles of Attack
• 7-02 Rifle with Fixed Bayonet
• 7-03 Bayonet/Knife
• 7-04 Knife Against Knife Sequence
• 7-05 Advanced Weapons Techniques and Training
• 7-06 Entrenching Tools
• 7-07 Three Foot Stick
• 7-08 Six Foot Pole

8 – Standing Defense

• 8-01 Defense Against Chokes
• 8-02 Defense Against Bear Hugs
• 8-03 Defense Against an Armed Opponent
• 8-04 Defense Against a Knife
• 8-05 Unarmed Defense Against a Rifle with Fixed Bayonet

9 – Group Tactics

• 9-01 Range
• 9-02 Control
• 9-03 Finishing
• 9-04 Two Against One
• 9-05 Three Against Two
• 9-06 Parity
• 9-07 One Against Two
• 9-08 Two Against Three

Appendix & Other Information

• Appendix A – Situational Training
• Appendix B – Competitions
• Glossary
• US Army Combatives
• About Combatives
• About Hand-to-Hand Combat
• The Father of Modern Combatives