Kosovo: Wisconsin Guard members get close-combat training

By Army National Guard Sgt. 1st Class Jim Wagner and Spc. Joshua Barnett
Multinational Battle Group-East

Soldiers assigned to Multinational Battle Group East participate in the basic combatives course at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo May 11, 2012. The course, which began May 7 and was part of Modern Army Combatives, is the entry level program to prepare Soldiers to defeat the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Jim Wagner)
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CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo (5/31/12) – Eight Wisconsin Army National Guard Soldiers currently serving in Kosovo as part of Multinational Battle Group East recently got hands-on lessons about dealing with threats that are close enough for them to touch.

The Soldiers took part in a combatives course May 7-11, designed prepare them to "close with and defeat the enemy in hand to hand combat," according to the Modern Army Combatives website.

Army Staff Sgt. Jeff Peets, a scout with the Georgia Army National Guard's Bravo Company, 3rd Squadron, 108th Cavalry Regiment, the course provided instruction that can be used anywhere, not just on the battlefield.

"This is what we joined the Army for," Peets Said. "This isn't just another Power Point classroom. These are good tools to have in your back pocket that you can bring anywhere – back home, wherever."

"This is definitely not your 'death by Power Point' class," agreed Army Pfc. Brandon Graske, a military policeman with the 157th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade's 32nd Military Police Company. "If I'm in a garrison environment and get into a tussle, most times it ends up on the ground. This course will help me in those situations."

The course taught Soldiers the fundamental elements of the "third option," or what to do when closing with the enemy and unable to use either one's primary or secondary weapon. Instruction focused on ground-fighting techniques such as strikes, takedowns and throws, standing defense and group attacks.

Students were taught to both attack and defend themselves in a variety of positions, whether on their back with the enemy on top of them or against two or more attackers. The moves incorporated a variety of methods, such as closing and achieving a clinch to deliver arm or leg strikes, defending against headlocks or using an improvised weapon to incapacitate the attacker.

"The class was exhausting," Peets said. "When you get tired, you have to dig deep and fall back on the techniques you've learned."

According to Army Sgt. 1st Class Danny Belisle, the course's senior instructor from the 108th Cavalry, combatives is something all Soldiers should know because the scope of the battlefield has evolved so dramatically over the past 10 years.

"In an urban environment you have to be able to switch from your primary and secondary weapons to the third option," Belisle said.

Members of the 32nd MP Company also trained in how to respond to an active shooter situation. That training, conducted May 14-16, was part of a Department of Defense-wide program implemented in the wake of the 2009 shooting incident at Fort Hood, Texas.

"The Department of Defense and Department of the Army have mandated that all MP forces throughout [the military] conduct active shooter training," said Army Maj. David Mazi, the Area Support Team-Balkans director of security, plans and operations. "There is a specific training support package provided, and we have provided aspects of that the last three days to various sections of the MPs."

The Soldiers were given classroom and hands-on training before moving on to the practical portion, which included exercises at the room-clearing training facility here as well as scenarios in actual buildings around the post.

The goal of the "shoot house" was to give the Soldiers a better idea of how an actual situation might unfold.

"It just reinforced the fact that it's very chaotic in there," said Army Sgt. Alexander Henninger of the training. "Sometimes you have to – as quickly as you can – take a deep breath and remain under control, calm and in control of the situation and think everything through."

Mazi said the course taught Soldiers engaged in self-defense how to react when the MPs arrive at the scene.

"That's what this training is all about," he said. "Give them an idea of the mindset that they need to present themselves in, some of the tactics, and prepare them as best we can with the resources we have for this type of circumstance.

"The problem with this is [that it's] a perishable skill," Mazi said. "It needs to be practiced on a quarterly, if not monthly, basis. It's more than just simple infantry tactics."

Henninger agreed.

"The first time we did a run through ... everything kind of fell apart a little bit," he said.

"It stresses the importance that you fall back on your training and rely on what you've been taught and you continue to practice."

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