Staff Sgt. Rochelle Patterson, A Battery, 1-56 Battalion, 6th Air Defense Artillery, pins down Sgt. Torrence Mack, A Company, 314th Military Intelligence Bn., during combatives training. Courtesy photo.
Bliss leads way for combatives
Maj. Deanna Bague, Fort Bliss Public Affairs
More than 2,500 Soldiers have been certified through the Army Combatives program here, said Lt. Col. Hector Morales-Negron, who works for the Department of Physical Education at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.
The Army Combatives program was started in the Ranger Regiment in 1995 and has since developed and spread as an Army-wide program, said Negron. He developed the course at Fort Bliss in 2003, when he belonged to the 6th Air Defense Artillery Brigade. Combatives is a hand-to-hand combat training that encompasses different martial arts techniques.
“I had an idea that it could become bigger,” said Negron. “We started working with just Soldiers in our own battalion, and within three or four classes we were certifying individuals from the entire installation.”
Spc. Daniel Locken, C Company, 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 5th Brigade, 1st Armored Division, takes down Pvt. Daniel Salazar, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery, during combatives training. Courtesy photo.
But things didn’t stop at the installation level, said Negron. Shortly after, individuals from the National Guard in different states and from throughout the Army, including intelligence officers from the CIA and FBI, also went through the program, said Negron.
During a recent visit here, Negron attended a combatives graduation ceremony. He said he was pleased to see the program had expanded. To see Soldiers graduate and know they will return to their units and impact more Soldiers is overwhelming, said Negron.
“The guys who remain here running the program do a superb job to keep it going and to make it professional and continue to prosper,” said Negron.
Sgt. Kevin Andrakowicz, combatives instructor, Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 3rd Battalion, 6th ADA, said individuals as far away as Alaska have come here to get certified. There is great interest in the program and units throughout the Army are enforcing it, he said. A memorandum states everyone in the Army will receive at least level-one training in Army Combatives.
“It’s important that each Soldier has at least a general knowledge of how to defend himself or herself and stop an enemy combative quickly and safely,” said Andrakowicz.
It is proven time and time again in combat situations that modern combatives does work in a combat situation in close quarters, said Andrakowicz.
The program is for every Soldier in the Army, regardless of gender, said Andrakowicz. He said he has instructed both males and females, and either one can gain dominance over the enemy in a close-quarter combat situation.
A female instructor here, Staff Sgt. Andrea Garza, HHB, 3-6 ADA, has been a level-one and -two combatives instructor since August 2005. Garza recently participated in a combatives tournament at Fort Benning, Ga., where she grappled with two top-placing male winners.
“It’s all about technique, not strength,” said Andrakowicz.“It’s an excellent way to build Warrior Ethos and to build that confidence to gain dominance and close with the enemy quickly.”