FORT HOOD, Tex — Spc. Larry Jackson, assigned to the 4th Sustainment Brigade, has become the 502nd Human Resource Company’s newest combatives instructor.
Earlier this month, he began teaching his fellow comrades basic level one army combatives self-defense moves during physical training to enhance their knowledge on Modern Army Combatives.
“Combatives are important to the overall wellness of a unit because it promotes personal courage and prepares Soldiers to defeat the enemy in hand to hand combat,” said Capt. Candace Cook, the 502nd HRC company commander.
Jackson is a 2005 graduate of North Rowan High School, where he began his competitive wrestling career. While in high school, he held state titles for both wrestling and track. For the past two years, Jackson has been training and competing for the United States Army at Fort Hood. He made the All Army Combatives Team in 2010 and recently placed second in the Flyweight division during the 2012 Fort Hood installation-wide Combatives tournament held in February.
“The Army and Phantom Combatives have helped tremendously with my progression in the fighting profession by integrating my wrestling skills with a stronger Modern Army Combatives fighting style,” Jackson said.
The Army has broadened his fighting skills overall, allowing Jackson to compete in various types of competitions, including wrestling, combatives and mixed martial arts.
Jackson trains six days a week, with weekdays spent at Fort Hood’s Kieshnick Physical Fitness Center assisting with Level One and Two combative certification classes, and Saturdays spending time in Seguin, Tex., training and competing with professional fighters on Cage Quest, featured on local television station KCWX every Saturday night.
“I constantly train and fight because it’s always a challenge and I love a great challenge,” he said.
Jackson said his future goals are to compete in the Olympics through the Army World Class Athlete Program in wrestling and track and field, become an athlete at the United States Military Academy at West Point and ultimately retire in the Army as an officer.
This summer, Jackson will represent Fort Hood’s Phantom Combatives, who are the previous two year’s reigning champions at the All Army Combatives Tournament scheduled for July 23-27 at Abram’s Gym, competing for the overall Combatives Championship.
“If it wasn’t for my family’s overwhelming support and my faith in God, I would not be where I am today,” Jackson said.