| Rivalries aside, most people agree the Marine Corp | | | | influenced by others during World War II, as the |
| trains some of Uncle Sam's toughest warriors. | | | | Marines fought in a brutal island hopping campaign in |
| Sadly, the Marines, like so many military organizations, | | | | the Pacific. |
| have fallen prey to political correctness in modern | | | | Marine John Styers who was a student of Biddle's |
| times. | | | | took what he learned and wrote Cold Steel. Originally, |
| In 2001, the Marines switched from their battle proven | | | | a series of articles in Leatherneck magazine Styers |
| close combat methods in favor of a system that is | | | | showed Marines how to fight with a knife and a rifle |
| designed to "subdue" rather then kill an attacker. Funny, | | | | with a bayonet. He showed that unarmed combat |
| I never thought the Marines had a problem with killing | | | | training could help Marines perform even better with |
| people before...And the scumbag terrorists sure don't | | | | their weapons. |
| seem to have a problem killing us. | | | | The Marines also learned from another student of |
| Since the Marines were first founded in 1775 at Tun | | | | Fairbairn, Army Colonel Rex Applegate. Though a |
| Tavern in Philadelphia, PA, Close Quarter Combat | | | | crack shot, Applegate made it clear that hand-to-hand |
| (CQC) training was heavily emphasized in their training. | | | | combat training was necessary part of CQC. |
| Although many people know about their skilled | | | | While the Marine Corp close combat system went |
| sharpshooters who fired from the rigging of ships, it is | | | | through a number of other changes and names, each |
| important to remember that the Marines also | | | | reincarnation of the system held on tightly to the |
| pioneered close combat techniques as they boarded | | | | lessons and methods of Biddle, Sykes, Fairbairn, & |
| enemy ships using rifles and swords. | | | | Applegate as the concept of battlefield survival was |
| For over a century Marines fought in every major | | | | always kept in mind. |
| conflict battling pirates, guerillas, and other enemies of | | | | In the 1980's the system began to fall. With the rise in |
| the United States. The Marines were tough fighters, | | | | popularity of various martial arts, many Marines began |
| but when the United States entered World War I, | | | | abandoning the authentic, documented, and proven |
| some new training would make them lethal. | | | | "simplistic" methods of combat in exchange for the |
| The First World War brought a number of changes to | | | | mysteries of modern martial arts and psuedo science |
| the Marines. The Corp grew rapidly in size and the | | | | (aka completely unproven crap). |
| Germans would give the Marines the nickname "Devil | | | | In 1996, the Marines began evaluating their close |
| Dogs." To meet the challenges of trench warfare, the | | | | combat training and determined that a new system |
| Marines also improved their close combat training. | | | | would be developed to deal with Missions Other Than |
| The man largely responsible for the new training was | | | | War (MOTW). |
| Anthony J. Drexel Biddle who joined the Marines as a | | | | Previously all training (even the junk in the 80's) was |
| captain at age 41. Though he was new to the military, | | | | designed with the concept of "kill or be killed". The new |
| the wealthy socialite was an experienced boxer and | | | | system is more concerned with peacekeeping |
| began to share what he knew with the Marines. He | | | | operations and non-lethal force...EXTREMELY stupid |
| taught bayonet and close combat techniques based | | | | for men trained to be our frontline. |
| upon fencing, boxing and wrestling. | | | | The new Marine Corps Martial Arts Program |
| During the inter-war years, other men joined Biddle to | | | | (MCMAP) is like a piss poor combined version of Tae |
| improve the training. Captains W.M. Greene and | | | | Kwon Do and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. |
| Samuel B. Griffith who had been stationed in Shanghai | | | | Not only is it nothing like the battle tested techniques |
| trained with British police officer William Fairbairn. | | | | the Marines have used successfully for over 200 |
| Fairbairn had been in over six-hundred street fights and | | | | years, but by mish-moshing together two martial sports |
| authored several books on close combat. He eagerly | | | | (neither of which have battlefield proven |
| shared what he knew with the American Marines. | | | | documentation) someone is going to get killed. |
| They also learned shooting techniques from Fairbairn's | | | | Listen, in Iraq and Afghanistan its all about close |
| best friend and firearms expert Eric Sykes. | | | | combat and engaging the enemy in tight quarters. The |
| The Marines learned well, and soon Fairbairn's | | | | Marines need a solid CQC system not a politically |
| techniques became part of the Marines' CQC training. | | | | correct way to play patty-cake with the enemy. |
| The Marines' close combat system would be further | | | | |