Altus Air Force Base News

 

Altus Airmen participate in deployed combatives class

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Ciara Wymbs
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar --  According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations, there were 39 people killed due to active shooter incidents in 2013. To help address this issue within the Air Force, Check Six, a program created to combat these incidents, is offering combatives training at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, in an effort to dwindle those numbers.

The class offers beginners a basic knowledge of dominant and non-dominant positions and how to escape from them, while offering some fundamentals in self-defense.

"This training is awesome because it gives people a way to better defend themselves until help arrives instead of being a sitting duck," said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Xavier Drake, 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Force Protection Check Six instructor. "Everyone benefits from the training, the students walk away with new skills, increased situational awareness and a stronger knowledge of what they are capable of."

All Check Six instructors have been trained and certified by the Air Force Security Forces Center as combatives instructors.

The class's goal is to leave students to leave with skills they didn't have before. The program highlights a variety of self-defense movements, such as evasion, neutralizing the threat, proper body positioning using leverage and how to accomplish moves with momentum. Combatives teaches Airmen they don't have to be the strongest person to subdue an attacker.

"Combatives is important because it gives Airmen the tools to defend themselves if they are placed in a bad situation," said Drake. "As cops, we often see cases where if the victim had some type of self-defense class they would have been better prepared."