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Combatives Program wrestles toward permanency

Soldiers who have graduated from Levels 3 or 4 of the Modern Army Combatives Program can now list that accomplishment as a Project Development Skill Identifier.

A PDSI is an interim identifier that’s put in place until something more permanent, such as an Additional Skill Identifier, is established.

The move is one more step toward permanency for the combatives program, said Matt Larsen, director and founder of the program.

“The biggest challenge of getting combatives training around the Army [is] people treat combatives training as not doctrine,” he said. “This is a step toward validating what we’re doing and all the work we’ve done … to create this.”

The announcement also is an administrative tool for the Army to put the right people with the right skills in the right jobs, because Levels 3 and 4 graduates are trained to train soldiers in their home units, Larsen said.

“To have that additional duty you need the [skill identifier],” he said.

According to an Army message, soldiers who have completed Level 3 of the combatives program can add H3B to their primary military occupational specialty. For example, infantrymen who have completed Level 3 combatives training would be 11BH3B.

The code for soldiers who have completed Level 4, the most advanced level of training offered, is H4B.

The names of qualified soldiers can be submitted for the PDSI by the commandant of the Army Infantry Center and School or commanders who are lieutenant colonels or higher for soldiers who were trained by a mobile training team.

Larsen said he and his staff will submit the names of all qualified soldiers for the PDSI.

As of April 30, 1,064 soldiers had completed Level 3 training; 220 had completed Level 4, Larsen said.