COMBATIVES MANUAL OF THE U.S. ARMY: FM 3-25.150

If we are to quickly and effectively teach new soldiers how to fight hand-to-hand in close quarters, the techniques should be simple and the number of techniques small. Tactics should be the ones used in the likeliest scenarios.

Combatives Field Manual

Curious what the U.S. Army teaches its troops in hand-to- hand combatives? No more! Download the entire current field manual for free right here (you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it). It's a fairly large file, so I've also broken it out into separate smaller files:

• Combatives FM 3-25.150 (Complete Manual) (15.3 MB)


• Cover Page, Table of Contents, Preface (0.3 MB)
• Chapter 1. Introduction (0.2 MB)
• Chapter 2. Training (1.3 MB)
• Chapter 3. Basic Ground-Fighting Techniques (2.8 MB)
• Chapter 4. Advanced Ground-Fighting Techniques (4.3 MB)
• Chapter 5. Takedowns and Throws (1.8 MB)
• Chapter 6. Strikes (0.6 MB)
• Chapter 7. Handheld Weapons (3.0 MB)
• Chapter 8. Standing Defense (2.2 MB)
• Chapter 9. Group Tactics (0.2 MB)
• Appendices, Glossary, References, Index (0.5 MB)

The current version (2002) of the U.S. Army Field Manual FM 3-25.150 was drafted by Matt Larsen, Director of the Modern Army Combatives Program (MACP) and the Commandant of the U.S. Army Combatives School (USACS) at Ft. Benning Georgia.

At 264 pages, it's quite a volume.

Ground Fighting Emphasis

What do people think of this 2002 revision? Mixed. Grappling is prominently and heavily covered, compared to stand-up fighting. After some preliminaries on training and teaching, 3 lengthy chapters are devoted to ground-fighting, takedowns, and throws.

Only then are we given cursory treatment on stand up techniques, handheld weapons, and group tactics. The order should have been reversed - start with stand up fighting and end with ground fighting.

With ground fighting, you're more likely to be injured by debris and shrapnel when you're rolling around on the ground, With ground fighting you can only deal with one opponent at a time. The enemy's friends can suddenly appear, making the situation a multiple-attacker scenario. With ground fighting, you're using complicated fine motor skills rather than simple gross motor movements.

Other Criticisms

Chapter 9 on Group Tactics starts off with "Most hand-to- hand situations on the battlefield will involve several people." Yet this chapter is only 3 pages. Three! If most situations will involve several people, you'd think they would want to give our troops more than just 3 pages of instruction.

The photo additions are sometimes unclear, as both models demonstrating techniques are in army fatigues. You can tell what is preserved from the previous version (1992) as those illustrations are hand-drawn.

Conclusion

The U.S. Army revised Combatives FM 3-25.150 in 2002 and added a significant amount of Gracie Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Only time will tell if these techniques will more effective in the field. Download and read FM 3-25.150 for free and let us know what you think.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

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