Battlefield Combatives Course Unique To Fort Bliss

By Staff Sgt. Jes Smith, 16th MPAD Army.mil Website

Imagine you are a Soldier deployed to a combat zone and it’s your job to move into buildings, as part of a fire team, not knowing what you will find inside.

To better prepare Soldiers for that situation, Fort Bliss is offering the Battlefield Combatives Course, training that goes beyond normal Army Combatives, by getting Soldiers out of the gym and into simulated tactical situations. Offered only at Fort Bliss, the course incorporates battlefield scenarios like reacting to unruly civilians in open areas and clearing rooms of possible threats.

“I have been through levels one, two and three of the Modern Army Combatives Program and this one is my favorite,” said U.S. Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Marcus E. Steineke, Task Force Stallion, 5th Armored Brigade. “It’s more realistic and more battlefield-based than other courses. I think every Soldier should go through this course. It’s the best combatives course that I have ever attended.”

Eric J. Howard, the Fort Bliss Combatives Director, said when the instructors designed the course, they chose skills from all levels of the MACP to develop the most well-rounded course possible. The course has continued to change and improve as Soldiers bring back lessons learned from deployed environments.

The five-day course begins with training on indoor mats and culminates with the Soldiers conducting scenario-based security patrols and building searches in a simulated town. The course also focuses on the Rules of Engagement, or the strict guidelines which govern a Soldier’s ability to engage a potentially hostile individual.

Steineke, a Sioux Falls, S.D., native, said Soldiers who go through this training will develop the confidence to know when to use nonlethal force, which reduces the chance of unnecessary deaths.

Many Soldiers go through house-clearing operations prior to deploying, but the focus is usually on firing weapons, while the Battlefield Combatives Course adds situations where lethal force is not needed.

“We prepare the Soldiers to enter a building, not knowing what to expect, but ready to react to anything,” said Howard, who has been teaching combatives at Fort Bliss since 2008.