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736th SFS Airmen hone combat skills

  • Published
  • By Airman Whitney Amstutz
  • 36th Wing Public Affairs
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam - --  Ten Members of the 736th Security Forces Squadron recently participated in an Army Modern Combatives class hosted by the Guam Army National Guard at Fort Juan Muna in order to increase mission readiness and improve hand-to-hand combat tactics.
The MAC program is derived from Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and affords students the opportunity to progress through four different levels of instruction.

Staff Sgt. Josh St. Louis, 36th SFS NCO in-charge of police services, believes the MAC program enhances the ability of security forces Airmen to perform in their profession.
"In our line of work, there is always a possibility that we will need to use physical force," Sergeant St. Louis said. "It helps to gain as much knowledge about self defense as you can before you find yourself in a situation you aren't prepared to handle."

Army Master Sgt. Allen Blend, MAC senior instructor for Guam, has been training Air Force, Army and Navy members for more than six years. Sergeant Blend praises the MAC program for its ability to familiarize servicemembers with elements of combat.

"During the level one course," Sergeant Blend said, "the Airmen were taught ground fighting and close-quarter tactics. We focus mainly on how to submit an aggressor when they have the upper hand. It is important to prepare servicemembers for every situation they may encounter. The things these Airmen are learning have relevancy in today and tomorrow's fight."

One of the drills students are shown is an exercise called "achieving the clinch." Many participants find this portion of training to be the most grueling. They are challenged with gaining a dominant position over their instructors who throw continual punches with padded gloves. The aim of the lesson is to desensitize MAC participants to the sensation of being hit by an aggressor and to learn how to close the distance in a stand-up fight.

"The training definitely taught me what to do in case an enemy were to separate me from my weapon," said Senior Airman Isaac Ulloa, 736th SFS. "If that happened, I would know how to fight them. Most people would just default to the universal fight method which is just to struggle with the person until one guy gives up. What they taught us here was how to actually end the fight."