The 40-hour course was a combination of hands-on instruction and skills demonstrations that included written tests. It is designed to create Level I-qualified instructors who can then teach basic combative drills and tasks to their fellow Soldiers.

After completing the course, certificates were presented to the Soldiers by 229th MI Bn. Commander Lt. Col. Frank Smith. Those certificates will be entered into the Soldiers' military records and reported to the Army Combatives Academy at Fort Benning, Ga.

The class was taught by two Oregon National Guardsmen, Level III Combatives instructor Sgt. 1st Class Chris Elliott and Level II Combatives instructor Sgt. 1st Class Jeremy Carver. Additional instruction was also provided by Maj. Brian Horvath, a certified level IV instructor currently at the nearby Naval Postgraduate School.

"What we are teaching is a fundamental set of ground skills and an introduction to striking skills--27 basic techniques in all," said Horvath. "We are not creating UFC fighters, we are not allowing someone to go into the cage, but it is an executable set of Soldier skills ... they can acquire and take downrange with them. It also creates a cadre of instructors [who] can now teach these skills to other Soldiers or platoons."

According to Capt. Ryan Wempe, 229th MI Bn. Company B commander, the recent graduates play an important role in now being able to assist and support the Army's introductory combatives program at the Presidio that happens during their phase four training. Wempe said that they could not have offered the course without the outside help.

"The instructors coming all the way from Oregon and having the necessary certifications are an amazing help. Basically, we don't have all the resources locally to support this," said Wempe. "They've run it really well for us over the last four days."

Wempe said that ideally, the course could be offered at the Presidio every four to six months.

"The course worked well this time, so hopefully it will gain some traction," said Wempe. "All the Soldiers here taking the course are volunteers. Basically, if they have time on either end of their language training and want to do it, if they can come here and knock this out, it will serve them well later on in their careers and from a self-defense standpoint. They are getting some great knowledge."

For Spc. Colburn Sheppard, who volunteered to take the Basic Combatives Course, it was time well spent.

"The class was awesome. It was easy to learn, competitive and made sense. Everybody worked together really well, [the instructors] knew their stuff, and each had different ways of looking at each situation," said Sheppard, an admitted martial arts fan. "I think they should require it and I think it would be a good thing for everybody to learn." 

For the first time during its 16-year history, a military corrections specialists was a member of a three-Soldier team that took home the top prize at the Military Police Warfighter Challenge held here Sept. 15 through 19. 

 

The 525th Military Police Battalion team from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a multicomponent team of active-duty and Reserve Soldiers won one of the Army's oldest competitions.

Competitors rarely slept and overcame difficult obstacles to include multiple double-digit forced road marches, a physical endurance challenge, mounted-route reconnaissance, Army combatives tournament and other grueling events that pushed competitors to their physical and mental limits. 

 

In all, 32 teams from around the world competed in the annual challenge,  which brought the best military police to the home of the military police corps and the United States Army Military Police School.

On the final day, Army Sgt. Brandan L. Walker and Army Reserve's Spc. Danny Aoun and Pfc. Roman Gutierrez of the 341st Military Police Company had the right winning formula.  

 

Walker, the team's leader, said, "Winning the challenge was the most amazing feeling ever, and nothing compared to it."

Just how grueling was this 79-hour competition?  

 

The competitors walked more than 30 miles while carrying a 60-pound rucksack and were tested during a rigorous five-event Physical Endurance Test, which included flipping a 220-pound heavy vehicle tire for nearly 100 feet.

If the long hours enduring cold rain wasn't enough, the events were kept a secret from the competitors. 

 

Walker said the combined knowledge of Aoun and Gutierrez as military policemen and his experience and leadership as a correction specialist was one of the reasons for the team's success.

The day after Labor Day, Soldiers from 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, began their validation exercise that involves the installation, configuration, integration and validation of thousands of pieces of equipment, much of it new technology that is networked into hundreds of vehicles.

All of the equipment must be validated before it is cleared to deploy to the field for the upcoming Network Integration Evaluation, or NIE, 13.1 exercise, where Soldiers will use it in an operational tactical environment.

Lt. Col. Don Willadsen, the sensors and applications branch chief within the Network Integration Division of the Brigade Modernization Command, or BMC, said the validation is to make sure that the entire path through the network is functioning. It's integration on the next level of all the different devices that have to talk in that particular tactical type of scenario, he added. 

 

"That is complicated," said Willadsen. "Some of it has not been done before except in a laboratory, and of course a laboratory environment can never completely and accurately replicate the complexities of a field environment with real Soldiers and real Army vehicles and real Army communications systems." 

 

The devices support mission command, intelligence, logistics and other systems to give warfighters the information they need, when they need it, in a format that they can use, on whichever device they have. It all has to interoperate, said Willadsen. 

 

Soldiers said they are working through the different challenges the evolution of technology brings. Staff Sgt. Calvin Arendt, a tank commander with C Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, said there is a lot of motivation and enthusiasm among the Soldiers, who are excited to use the technology.

"Now the excitement starts to go away once these bugs and these issues start to appear while we're out training," Arendt said. "We want things to flow smoothly and the timelines to meet up, but some of the issues come up and we can't meet these timelines, that's when we're not as excited. But to be a part of this new technology and to help the Army save money or introduce a new piece of equipment that can save a Soldier's life, that's really exciting for all of us." 

Richard D. Downie, director of the CHDS, presented the award in the institutional category to the Regional Security System, Barbados, and the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation in a ceremony celebrating the 15th anniversary of the center Sept. 20.

Perry was the Secretary of Defense who established CHDS in 1997. Created in 2007, the award is given each year to individuals and institutions that have made significant contributions in promoting education, research, outreach and knowledge-sharing. Perry continues to participate in the selection of awardees.

The Dr. William J. Perry Award in the institutional category recognizes contributions that promote education, research, outreach and knowledge-sharing in defense and security issues in the Western Hemisphere which lead to enhancing professional security and defense capacity, advancing a cooperative international security environment, fostering effective civil-military relations and adhering to CHDS's core values.

In a letter to Col. Glenn Huber, WHINSEC commandant, Downie wrote, "Since the activation of the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation in January 2001, the institute has consistently made significant contributions in the fields of defense and security education that reflect the values embodied by the Perry Award. Additionally, WHINSEC's faculty and staff have worked tirelessly to develop a cooperative environment to share best practices in pursuit of improved security cooperation among all nations of the Western Hemisphere."

WHINSEC will host more than 2,200 students in residence this year, its highest number since it opened. When combined with the international student population at the MCOE, Fort Benning has the largest international student training population in DOD. This prestigious recognition is a direct reflection of the Institute's reputation, quality and professionalism and its mutually beneficial security cooperation contributions throughout the hemisphere.

Visitors are welcome at the institute at any time.

Almost 70 cadets participated in the senior cadet-led training, which pushed students to their limits in Soldier skills, such as night land navigation, physical training, squad patrol exercises and leadership development.

"This is a chance for the younger students to get exposed to the Army, to get the flavor, to see if this is what they want to commit to," said Lt. Col. Dave Zaccheus, CU Department of Military Science commander. "For our juniors, it is preparation for the Leadership Development and Assessment Course, and for the seniors, it is a way for us to evaluate their leadership abilities and how they are managing the battalion."

The 10-member ROTC cadre spent 54 continuous hours with the three platoons of cadets during the FTX, said Zaccheus. During the entire semester the staff only sees the 103 cadets for about 45 hours.

"The FTX began with a 2.2-mile morning foot march Sept. 21 outside Camp Eagle," said Brandon
Marcoux, Operations and Training senior cadet. "Then came a five-hour day land navigation, where cadets had to find at least five of eight points on the course. That afternoon cadets participated in six classes in field survival, i.e., tent set up, field hygiene and squad attacks." 

"The freshmen and sophomore cadets were being trained during the FTX, while the juniors were being tested on the training," Marcoux said.

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Designed to "load" the network throughout the brigade and set the stage for developers and brigade staff to validate its functionality, each week-long portion of the network validation exercise, known VALEX, incorporates an increased number of systems and Soldiers from the previous week, and greater evaluation intensity.

"During VALEX, we stand up every node and every vehicle in order to do a connectivity check," said Col. Gail Washington, Project Manager Current, System of Systems Integration Directorate, or SoSI. "We're doing a lot of integration work, along with shooting satellite signals to Aberdeen Proving Ground and Fort Gordon, which is the regional hub. We're also running validation threads, which will allow us to pass position location information, calls for fire, send an email and various other communication tasks."

Three hundred sixty-one vehicles, including mine-resistant, ambush-protected all-terrain vehicle, or M-ATV, variants, Bradleys, Strykers, Abrams Tanks, Scout vehicles, Humvees and Light Weight Tactical Vehicles have been integrated for NIE 13.1. "We have touched every type of vehicle that's in the Army inventory for this iteration," said Washington.

During the Planning Phase of VALEX, network requirements were defined and designed using Information Exchange Requirements prioritized by Department of the Army objectives, TRADOC capability gaps and system objectives. During the Preparation Phase known as LOADEX, or loading exercise, the systems underwent various hardware and software integration.

"The whole intent of VALEX is to make sure the pieces are communicating," said Alex Gonzales, 1st Battalion, 35th Armored Regiment trail boss. "The end state for us is to hand off a 100 percent integrated network to the brigade combat team so that every piece of equipment is communicating with platoon, company and battalion, all the way up to the brigade level. We're testing radios at the platoon level to ensure everyone at the platoon level is talking and knows each other's position location at the dismount level through the use of handheld radios and up so the people in the vehicles are able to see where all their Soldiers are on the battlefield."

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