Federal Police learn Army hand-to-hand

By Guest Column —— Bio and Archives October 24, 2009

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BAGHDAD — U.S. Soldiers recently introduced their Iraqi partners to hand-to-hand combative training at JSS Istiqlal, to better prepare the force for any situation it may face.

Soldiers from B Troop, 1st Sqdrn, 7th Cav Regt, 1st BCT, 1st Cav Div, and a plt of IFP assembled around a combatives pit, Oct. 14, 1st Lt. Juan "Mike" Olvera, drew on his past experience in a variety of martial arts, a 2-year professional boxing career, and the Army's combatives program to lead the instruction. The intent of the training was not to turn the Iraqis into professional hand fighters. Instead it focused on training the IFP to deal with situations where a weapon is not available or not necessary. "You want to keep space between yourself and a potential opponent," Olvera told the class as he demonstrated how to approach a person displaying hostile intent. After several weeks of proficiency training, this Iraqi plt knows how to effectively use their weapons. Now they're learning techniques without weapons. Olvera shows them how to gain and maintain the advantage, with policemen working in pairs, and practicing techniques for pushing an opponent away when an assailant attempts to grab or strike them. As they push their opponents away, the policemen take additional steps backward which gives them time to raise a firearm. "Most of these guys had never done anything like this before, but they were really motivated. They learned fast," Olvera said after the class. Several Soldiers from B Troop assisted in the instruction, demonstrating and holding sparring pads to develop the Iraqis' punching techniques. Additional instruction focused on fending off knife attacks, taking an opponent down to the ground, and regaining control in the event that an opponent managed to take them down. "This was by far the most fun we've had training with them," said Spc. David Croft.