1st Battalion 22nd Infantry Co E Trains in Hand to Hand

1st Battalion 22nd Infantry

Company E Trains in Hand-to-Hand

February 2008

1-22 Inf. Regt. Soldiers focus on Army Combatives, makes improvement on training

1-22 Infantry Regiment

1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div.

FORT HOOD, Texas – Soldiers from Company E, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team,
4th Infantry Division, engaged in hand-to-hand combatives training in February focusing on new combatives skills
to help better prepare for the unit’s upcoming mission in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sgt. Mike Peugh, a combat engineer assigned to Co. E, has focused the Army Combatives Training on simple,
tough and decisive moves designed to help Soldiers build confidence in themselves while honing techniques that could potentially save lives.

“The usual Army Combatives training program consists of Soldiers learning dominant positions
and a limited number of submission moves,” said Peugh, a certified combatives instructor
and recent graduate of the Confined Space Warfare Combatives Training Course.

FORT HOOD, Texas -- Soldiers of Company E, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment,
grapple during unit Army Combatives Training, Feb. 12, as the Soldiers train to build confidence
in their abilities to defend themselves while working to accomplish their mission
during the Regulars Battalion upcoming deployment to Iraq.

(U.S. Army photo courtesy of 1-22 Inf. Regt., 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div.)

A Soldier in a hand-to-hand fight in Iraq will not start off in a kneeling position, explained Peugh.

“This advanced program allows Soldiers to train in a more realistic setting,” he said.

The guidelines the Soldiers must adhere to during the training allows them to experience how a real hand-to-hand fight would occur,
but provides a controlled environment to mitigate risk, he said.

“Do not be mistaken, this is not street fighting 101,” said 1st Lt. Casey Staker, platoon leader, Co. E.

The training began with the standard grappling techniques that teach Soldiers how to gain dominant positions
and how to administer choking and submission holds, he said.

“The platoon then progressed to techniques for take-downs and closing the distance between the Soldier and the assailant,” he explained.

Using padded gloves and mouth pieces with approved combatives headgear, the Soldiers are learning how to unleash powerful strikes
and gain the confidence that they need to overcome like blows from an opponent, said Staker.

FORT HOOD, Texas -- Soldiers of Company E, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment,
conduct Army Combatives Training, Feb. 12, as they train to build confidence in their abilities to defend themselves
while working to accomplish their mission during their upcoming deployment to Iraq.

(U.S. Army photo courtesy of 1-22 Inf. Regt., 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div.)

“First Platoon is beginning to incorporate arm and leg strikes within a combatives sequence: engage, close distance,
take-down and grapple,” he said. “The high-intensity, carefully monitored combatives training is forging these Soldiers
into dangerous opponents from any range.”

The end state of this training program is to allow Soldiers to learn different fighting techniques in various situations
thus gaining the skills and confidence that will aid them during their deployment, said Staker.

**********************

BACK