Army Soldiers train Holloman Airmen on combative techniques

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Heather Stanton
  • 49th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (ACCNS) --  Soldiers of the 3-36th Infantry Spartans from Fort Bliss, Texas, traveled to Holloman March 21 to train members of the 49th Civil Engineer Squadron on Army combat techniques. 

"The training is vital to preparing our Airmen for deployments in today's combat environment," said 2nd Lt. Paul Julian, 49 CES readiness. "Our Airmen are starting to be tasked with convoy duties as well as continuing to construct projects outside the wire. We want our Airmen to deploy well versed in combat skills." 

The Army Combative School has four levels of training, said the lieutenant. Holloman Airmen received training on the three basic foundation maneuvers of level one that are used to control fights, progress to choke holds and some submission techniques used in hand-to-hand combat encounters. The Army requires its Soldiers to complete 40 hours of training for level one certification, 80 hours for level two and 160 hours for levels three and four certification. 

"We split the Airmen into small groups and showed them the four dominant body positions and basic submissions," said Army Staff Sgt. James Ward, 3-36th Infantry Spartans. "The Airmen got to practice what they learned the last hour. We saw a female beat a male and smaller individuals subdue the larger." 

The Fort Bliss Soldiers enjoyed working with the Holloman Airmen for this training. 

"The Airmen are intelligent," said Staff Sgt. Ward. "They learned real quick, knew what was going on and showed interest." 

Now that the 49 CES has begun training, continual training is necessary for the skills to become second nature. 

"We are planning on implementing the training once a month within the squadron in order for the Airmen to achieve a skill level where they efficiently execute maneuvers," said Lieutenant Julian. 

There is a three-week train the trainer course at Fort Bliss Airmen may attend, said Staff Sgt. Ward. The course will train the Airmen to become the trainers for the squadron and others. 

"The Soldier's professional dedication was evident throughout the training session and they demonstrated personal diligence and initiative that was directly responsible for successfully achieving our combat engineering requirements," said Lieutenant Julian. "We are glad to have started a working relationship with the 3-36th Infantry and look forward to conducting future training with one another."