Chief’s combat power
Volume 11, No. 47, 13 July, 2006
By Cpl Mike McSweeney

No nonsense: CA Lt-Gen Peter Leahy tries out some unarmed combat moves he learned during a session presented by the Military Unarmed Combat Cell. Photo by Cpl Mike McSweeney

CA Lt-Gen Peter Leahy launched the Military Unarmed Combat (MUC) Cell at an MUC display in Canberra on June 30.

MUC Cell OC Maj Travis Faure said that over the next two years the seven-person cell would deliver the Military Self Defence (MSD) capability to Army before passing the responsibility to the PTI trade.

“This cell will train all PTIs as supervisors and at the same time we’re going to train RMC cadets,” Maj Faure said.

Flyaway teams will also be established to deliver the course to all corps within brigades so that within two years a perpetual cycle of training will be set up.

“At the same time we’re going to develop the TMP, the DVD of the techniques and the doctrine, so there’s quite a lot of work to be done,” Maj Faure said.

Lt-Gen Leahy said the training was important for soldiers and relevant to the current operational environment.

“You’ve only got to watch the guys on the streets in Timor and Honiara,” he said. “We can’t always use our weapons. It’s not always appropriate or the people are too close to us so we’ve got to have another means of controlling people, keeping ourselves safe and keeping them safe and I think this will allow us to do that,” he said.

CA and CDF CAM Angus Houston joined about a dozen ADF personnel at the demonstration in Canberra where MUC instructors displayed some disarming and restraining techniques. Most of the personnel, including Lt-Gen Leahy, then took part in a basic lesson, which lasted for about an hour.

“This course that we’re teaching today is Military Self Defence and it focuses on the non-lethal use of force,” Maj Faure said.

“It shows off all the techniques – communication, verbalisation, soft hand technique, control and capture, knock the person to the ground and cart them off. It’s got it all in there and it’s a very simple lesson to do.”
Maj Faure said that although some techniques came from martial arts, the course concentrated on simple and efficient concepts from policing agencies, other militaries and a lot of common sense.

“A lot of techniques in martial arts are not always applicable to the soldier who’s under fatigue, carrying kit, who just wants something quick and easy to deliver,” he said.

Maj Faure said the current MSD course had been injury-free and continued training did not have to be confined to PT sessions.

“It is a mindset that you carry with you – you can train at any time,” he said.