34th CAB Combatives Training

Soldiers from the 34th Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) enjoyed their 2007 holiday season and New Year, however, next year they will be far far from the comforts of home.

No sooner than they put away their holiday decorations, members of the 34th CAB packed their things for a four day drill and pre-deployment training at Camp Ripley, Minn. This year, the brigade will be deploying in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

One of the many training sets the Soldier were required to attend during drill was a four hour block of combatives training. Approximately fifty Solders, of all different ranks and skill levels, spent time learning holds and moves to give them the ‘upper hand’ in hand to hand combat.

“I learned there are many, many vast and different moves and holds you can take down your enemy with,” said Staff Sgt. Jeffery Dexter, Chaplin’s Assistant.

“I really learned a lot, especially once I got the hang of it,” said Pvt. Audrey Devries, Administrative Specialist.

The Soldiers were encouraged to partner with other members of different gender, sizes and rank to practice the drills. This helped everyone to see the wide range of combatants they may encounter in any situation, particularly in theater.

“The hands on with each other was good,” said Staff Sgt. Dexter. “It made you respect each others size, differences and strengths.

“Overall, it was a great day and there were a lot of smiles,” said Spc. Zachary Gardner, Signal Support Specialist. “It seemed like people were learning a lot, especially as they were training, catching on and getting faster with the moves.”

The instructors saw the Soldiers as enthusiastic about the training and those who had higher skill levels were able to help out those who did not have a sufficient amount of training.

“The Soldiers were very motivated, got great responses and everyone participated,” said Sgt. Adam Van Sklyke, who is apart of the Pre Mobilization Training and Assessment Evaluation Team which trained the Soldiers of the 34th CAB on combatives.

Sgt. Van Slyke is a trained level one combatives instructor; there are about 50 combatives instructors in the state of Minnesota and only two on the team. Both of the instructors are combat veterans and realize the importance of teaching Soldiers the combative moves.

“It is a motivational builder, a lot like land navigation, it is the can-do attitude,” said Sgt. Van Slyke. “Once the Soldier has the ability to subdue their enemy, which builds that confidence that we are trying to instill within the Army.”