Offutt holds its first Combatives certification course

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Carly A. Costello
  • 55 Wing Public Affairs
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. --  Twenty-eight active duty military, reservists and civilians took to the mats at the Offutt Field House for a two day Air Force Combatives Program Level I certification course Feb. 28-March 1.

The course consisted of 10 hours of hands-on learning of basic movements for different submission poses and self-defense in close hand-to-hand combat situations.

"[The AFCP level one certification is] a user's course designed to expose people to combatives and give a very basic understanding," said Maj. Aaron Cerrone, U.S. Strategic Command, lead instructor and officer in charge of the Offutt Combatives program.

The completion of the course allows those certified to continue onto levels two through four, which are longer courses designed to develop skills and train combatives instructors.

"The ultimate goal of AFCP is to provide a foundation by which airman can defend themselves in hand-to-hand encounters; to mitigate and defeat an adversary if necessary," Cerrone said.

All service branches use various styles of hand-to-hand combat training, with the Army and Air Force mainly employing the combatives style. Currently only certain jobs require combatives training, but several of the course participants feel that it's something all military personnel should learn.

"I think this is definitely something that would help Offutt overall, not just for security forces," said course participant Master Sgt. Dave LeClaire, STRATCOM. "For the Marines, for the Army, for all the Air Force, too, this is going to be something a lot of us are going to see down range. You never know what kind of close combat situations you're going to be in wherever we're going. And just day to day life, going to a bar and someone tries to throw down on you just to defend yourself knowing these basic skills will definitely help."

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Mike Poss, STRATCOM, took part in the certification course, something he encouraged his soldiers to do. He has been involved with combatives for three years, completing Army Combatives Level I and II, and says that both programs are similar, "which is good for continuity purposes."

"Anybody, no matter what service they are in, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, can find themselves in a situation on battle fields across the ocean or locally as well, so no matter what service we're in, to have that base level of warrior ethos, I think, is core to what we do," Poss said.

Cerrone agrees stating that combatives can help boost warrior ethos, especially in airmen. It is becoming a reality for anyone deployed to find themselves on the front lines and combatives is a skill that could help better prepare those in harm's way.

"I encourage all the commanders at Offutt to have their units or organizations take part in the combatives training even if it is currently not a requirement," Cerrone said. "Don't wait until something happens to decide your people need to be prepared."

Currently the Offutt Combatives program is at a club status, meaning it is run by volunteers, often military volunteers who come and go due to permanent changes of stations or temporary duty station assignments. Cerrone hopes to hold more certification courses in the future, with a goal of turning the current program into a funded joint combatives program with funded instructors. If this does happen, it would be the first of its kind for an operational Air Force base and a model for other bases.