Ohio National Guard News
Second Ohio Army National Guard Combatives Tournament
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This year, 57 Soldiers from across the state competed in the 2015 Ohio Army National Guard Combatives Tournament, an event that tested the ability of each Soldier to close with and engage an opponent in hand-to-hand combat. READ STORY
Spc. Zachery A. McCall (standing) of the 211th Maintenance Company grapples Sgt. David Z. Jackson of the 1486th Transportation Company.
Staff Sgt. Kyle J. Walter (right) presents retired Lt. Col. Howard Pearce an award of recognition for being the guest of honor at the second annual Ohio Army National Guard Combatives Tournament.
Staff Sgt. Roger Richie (standing) of the 437th Military Police Battalion referees a match.
Staff Sgt. Andrew Komaromy (bottom) of the 174th Air Defense Artillery Brigade grapples Spc. Mathew Zaller of Company A, 1st Battalion, 145th Armored Regiment.
Staff Sgt. Andrew Komaromy (right) of the 174th Air Defense Artillery Brigade prepares to grapple his opponent.
Spc. Kaitlin B. Torgerson (right) of the 1487th Transportation Company prepares to battle Sgt. Trevor Hale of the 737th Support Company.
Cadet Valerie Stearns (right) of the 323rd Military Police Company tightens her chokehold on Spc. Madeline E. Herman of the 135th Military Police Company.
Pfc. Seth J. Parker (left) of Company B, 1st Battalion, 148th Infantry Regiment collides with Spc. Jamaal Stanton of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1-148th Infantry.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (03-07-2015) — The fighting skills of Ohio’s Soldiers were on display at the second annual Ohio Army National Guard Combatives Tournament, held March 7, 2015, at the 147th Regiment (Regional Training Institute), located on Defense Supply Center Columbus.
This year, 57 Soldiers from throughout the state competed in seven weight classes in the` tournament, which was moved this year from Camp Ravenna Joint Military Training Center, in northeastern Ohio, to Central Ohio this year to take advantage of the Regional Training Institute’s newer facilities at DSCC.
The skills at the heart of the tournament are the combatives skills taught and practiced by Soldiers as part of the Modern Army Combatives Program (MACP). The goal of the MACP is to train Soldiers in close-quarters combatives techniques, in order to instill the Warrior Ethos and prepare them to close with and defeat the enemy in hand-to-hand combat.
“The Army was trying to find a standardized way of training Soldiers, which incorporates the experiences that we’ve had in Iraq, Afghanistan and other places,” said retired Lt. Col. Howard Pearce, the guest of honor for this year’s tournament. “And it incorporates the need for us to be able to build this into the culture of our force.”
Pearce, a former Ohio Army National Guard Special Forces officer, was tasked with developing a MACP within the Ohio National Guard in 2012 and has a unique understanding of the value of this program, and especially the state tournament, for Ohio’s Soldiers.
“Maj. Gen. John Harris, Ohio assistant adjutant general for Army, wanted something that would drive MACP down to every unit and provide a forum to bring some of the best Soldiers and some of the best fighters together to challenge one another,” Pearce said.
The top three combatants in each weight class were recognized. And many of the senior leaders in attendance said they noticed a significant increase in skills displayed by the combatants in this year’s tournament, which had several standout competitors.
“I started wrestling when I was 4 and wrestled all the way up through college where I wrestled at Muskingum University,” said Staff Sgt. Andrew Komaromy, a training NCO with Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 174th Air Defense Artillery Brigade.
Komaromy is no stranger to this type of competition, being 4-0 in amateur cage fighting and having won two middleweight championships and an overall all-weight class title in Modern Army Combatives Program tournaments held at Fort Bliss, Texas. In this year’s Ohio Army National Guard competition, Komaromy finished first in the light heavyweight class and proved to be one of the most dynamic fighters on the mats the day of the tournament.
But even this experienced fighter was challenged by the strong field of competitors. Komaromy said it was his ability to rely on his training, when challenged, which allowed him to prevail at the tournament, rather than getting pumped up at the last minute to overcome his opponent.
“I’m already going to be what I’m going to be. You can’t change what you are,” he said. “If I’m waiting till the last second to change what I am, like boost my energy, I’m too late in the game. It’s got to be your time put in the gym and your time put into practice. When it comes to being here, you can leave all those mind games at home, because it’s only going to be a game and that’s not going to win the fight.”
But while the tournament is a display of fighting skills in a competitive, sporting environment, the essential tasks of MACP have a deadly serious side as well.
“We have to try and remind ourselves that we are training Soldiers to go into combat, we’re training Soldiers to be within arm’s distance of their enemy,” Pearce said. “You need to be prepared for when you’re not going to be using your weapons. Because in truth there are a lot of times when you end up being arm’s distance from a person that you don’t know is a combatant, and you have to, for your own safety and that of your unit, control that person.”
The event featured some great fights, great displays of sportsmanship and ultimately was a tangible expression of the Army’s Warrior Ethos for its competitors and spectators. But more importantly, this year’s tournament provided proof of how MACP and the state combatives tournament are proving to be excellent tools in the development of the Soldiers serving in the Ohio National Guard.
2015 OHARNG Combatives Tournament FINAL RESULTS
