Marines Sharpen Their Skills In Hand-to-Hand Combat
by Harold Kennedy
Moving in formation at a double-time pace, the Marines of the Basic School’s Echo Company—sweating in the early morning sun—formed a circle on helicopter Landing Zone 6, a training field at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va. They stacked their M16 rifles and turned their attention to the instructors in the center of the field.
The Basic School is where recently minted second lieutenants learn the finer points of being Marine officers, and the men and women of Echo Company were here to begin their training as part of the new Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, known as MCMAP.
MCMAP is an effort to put a sharper edge on the Marines’ ability to fight hand-to-hand. The program is a new form of martial arts, a blend of many Asian systems, including kung fu, tae kwon do, karate, Thai boxing, jujitsu and judo, plus bayonet and knife-fighting techniques.
As part of MCMAP, the Marines are acquiring a new bayonet that is more useful for knife fighting than the current version. (related story p. 70)
According to Gen. James L. Jones, the former Marine commandant who established the program in 2000, MCMAP is “a natural extension” of the Corps credo, “Every Marine a rifleman.” Like marksmanship training, he said, “this program provides our Marines with additional tools that they can use on the battlefield.”
Everybody Trains
All 173,000 active-duty Marines and 58,000 reservists—everybody from the commandant down to the newest recruit, male and female alike—are required to receive the MCMAP training. Like many Asian disciplines, the MCMAP training enables Marines to earn the right to wear a progression of different-colored belts, including tan, gray, green, brown and six degrees of black.
By October 1, all Marines were supposed to complete at least the lowest level of instruction, qualifying them to wear a tan belt, said Maj. John M. Bourgault, deputy director of the Martial Arts Center of Excellence, a division of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command at Quantico. MACE, which conducts martial arts classes at the Basic School, also coordinates the spread of the program throughout the service.
“We’re almost there,” he told National Defense. “There are a few cats and dogs in remote locations who don’t have access to instructors. But not many.”
The training now is part of the curriculum at the Marine boot camps at Parris Island, S.C., and San Diego, as well as the Basic School. Classes also are being conducted at Marine garrisons across the United States and around the world.
In addition, instructors are being dispatched to isolated units in places like Camp Babylon, Iraq, and the Marine security detachment at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan. Classes are being conducted even aboard ships such as the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Readiness Group, which this summer participated in U.S. peacekeeping efforts in Liberia.
Classes for the tan belt involve 27.5 hours of training, usually spread over two weeks. In this introductory course, Marines learn fundamental physical, mental and character disciplines.
In the physical arena, they study hand-to-hand techniques, including punches, kicks, throws, use of the rifle-mounted bayonet and knife fighting. They learn how to fight under battlefield conditions, such as moving on rough ground, approaching, closing with and engaging an opponent and fighting while fatigued.
Extensive use is made of obstacle, confidence and stamina courses, Bourgault said. Rough-terrain movement and combat swimming often precede fighting drills. Supplemental combat conditioning involves rope climbing, bodyweight squats, wind sprints and buddy carries.
Many of the exercises are organized around teams, Bourgault said. “That way, they all have to pitch in together. If one guy fails, he lets down his squad. He lets down his buddies.”
Mental studies focus on the development of the combat mindset, said Master Gunnery Sgt. Ricardo Sanders, the senior staff noncommissioned officer at MACE. “Our program teaches more than the ability to kill people,” said Sanders, who is just back from Afghanistan. “It teaches the mental characteristics necessary to succeed in combat. We want people out there who can think, who can make sound decisions under combat conditions, not just killing machines.”
To help prepare student mindsets, they discuss warrior cultures of the past. Recommended reading is Steven Pressfield’s novel, “Gates of Fire,” the story of the Spartans, who in 480 BC fought to the death at Thermopylae to block a Persian invasion of Greece.
Students also study the Zulus, who stood off the British Army in South Africa, and the Apaches, who fought the U.S. cavalry for decades. Another focus is on the Marine Raiders, who conducted commando-style hit-and-run missions behind Japanese lines during World War II.
The program emphasizes the importance of strong personal character. The cornerstones of character are the Marine Corps’ core values—honor, courage and commitment—Bourgault said. Classes discuss conflict resolution, seeking and accepting responsibility, and team-based approaches to all aspects of Marine Corps life.
The training discusses Marines who—throughout the service’s 228-year history—
won the Congressional Medal of Honor. “We make the point that these are average guys,” said Bourgault. “Yet, they did extraordinary things. You can see the goose bumps pop up.”
Typically, the core values are discussed immediately after physical training. “We’ve found that the message sticks better after the students have been exercising and their senses are still heightened,” he said.
After receiving their tan belts, Marines are required to continue training, earning higher levels of belts. By this time next year, all current personnel will be expected to qualify for their gray belts, which requires 46 additional hours of training. Eventually, all infantrymen will complete a 65-hour program to wear the brown belt. Other Marines in combat-arms job specialties will train to the green belt, with its own 55-hour regimen.
Sergeants and above, who can complete 71.5 hours of training, can qualify for a first-degree black belt. Promotion to the second through the sixth black-belt levels is based upon maturity, involvement in unit training, advanced skills, martial arts studies and participation in civilian martial arts programs.
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