BLUF
- Doctrine: TC 3-25.150, Combatives, 31 Mar 2017. Still listed ACTIVE by the Army Publishing Directorate. No newer edition published as of Oct 7, 2026.
- Revision in work: the US Army Combatives School (USACS) at Fort Benning is rewriting TC 3-25.150 for large-scale combat operations (LSCO): knife, bayonet, rifle, and improvised weapons, plus trench and room clearing.
- Courses: Basic Combatives Course (BCC), Tactical Combatives Course (TCC), Combatives Master Trainer Course (CMTC). Old hands know them as Levels I–IV.
- Schoolhouse: Fort Benning, GA. The name was restored from Fort Moore on Mar 3, 2025 (ceremony Apr 16, 2025).
How it started: Larsen, the Rangers, and the Gracies
In 1995, LTC Stanley McChrystal, commanding 2nd Ranger Battalion at Fort Lewis, told squad leader Matt Larsen to build a combatives program that actually worked. Larsen’s group tested a pile of martial arts. Per SFC Michael Robinson: “It didn’t really work when we went to live training.”
On the advice of J. Robinson (Vietnam-era Ranger and Minnesota wrestling coach), Larsen went with Brazilian jiu-jitsu as taught by the Gracie family. Royce Gracie came in and beat about 30 Rangers in a row before showing them how. That class “started the combatives program for the Ranger battalion.”
Larsen moved to the Ranger Training Brigade at Fort Benning, opened the “fight house,” and in 2002 rewrote the manual as FM 3-25.150. That made it doctrine. With the 11th Infantry Regiment, he built a four-level train-the-trainer course (2005) that became the US Army Combatives School. Combatives became an IET requirement and part of the Warrior Tasks.
The design idea that matters: no “terminal training” (a handful of moves and done). Instead, drill-based, self-sustaining unit programs run by the unit’s own instructors.
Sources: army.mil, Jun 27, 2008; Wikipedia: USACS (secondary; it dates the school to 2000, army.mil dates the four-level course to 2005).
Doctrine lineage
| Publication | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| FM 21-150, Unarmed Defense for the American Soldier | 30 Jun 1942 | WWII manual. In the library (retyped transcription). |
| FM 21-150, Hand-to-Hand Combat | 1954 | Only commercial reprints found. Not hosted. |
| FM 21-150, Combatives | 30 Dec 1971 | Superseded by the 1992 edition. |
| FM 21-150, Combatives | 30 Sep 1992 | Public release. In the library. |
| FM 3-25.150, Combatives | 18 Jan 2002 | Larsen’s BJJ-based rewrite. Public release. In the library. |
| FM 3-25.150 / TC 3-25.150 | 2009 | Restricted (USACS-only further distribution). Not hosted. |
| TC 3-25.150, Combatives | 31 Mar 2017 | Current. 408 pages. Public release. Official link in the library. |
| TC 3-25.150 (LSCO revision) | in work, 2025– | Not published as of Oct 7, 2026. |
Levels then, courses now
The four-level system (as of 2008):
- Level I: 40 hours, one week, about 20 techniques. The gut check is the Achieve the Clinch drill: four rounds against a gloved instructor throwing at face and body, harder each round, until the student gets one of four clinches.
- Level II: two weeks, about 50 techniques. Tournament day (students run the bracket, score, and referee), a 2-on-1 team-control drill, and a first look at high-impact suits.
- Level III: one month. Kali sticks and other weapons. At Benning or by mobile training team.
- Level IV: one month, Fort Benning only.
Today (TC 3-25.150, 2017, ch. 2):
| Course | Purpose (TC wording, condensed) | What graduates do |
|---|---|---|
| BCC | “Produce fire team, squad, and platoon trainers who can teach the basic tasks and drills that all Soldiers must know.” | Enforce fighting habits; run fire team through platoon training and competitions. |
| TCC | “Provides explanations for the techniques addressed in BCC, teaches additional ground-fighting techniques, and introduces throws and clinches.” | Quality-control platoon trainers; assist with BCC; act as punchers in the Option 3 drill; run company competitions. |
| CMTC | “Addresses all ranges of the fight by training striking skills and introduces Soldiers to integrating combatives training into the rest of their Warrior tasks and drills.” | Teach BCC at battalion; run quarterly battalion competitions; judge and referee; primary safeties for sparring; teach regimental TCC. |
BCC and TCC certifications are signed by a CMTC instructor, validated by the first O-5 in the chain, and registered in ATRRS. CMTC certification comes only from Fort Benning. One unit guide calls BCC “previously known as Level 1 Combatives.” The exact Level II–IV crosswalk to TCC/CMTC isn’t officially published, and the 2017 TC doesn’t use “Level” at all.
Safety numbers (FY2024, Benning): 306 Soldiers trained across the three courses; 7 injured (2.2%), 4 medically dropped (1.3%). Source: “Producing Warriors,” Infantry, Winter 2025–2026 (figures from the indexed article text).
What’s in TC 3-25.150 (2017)
- Ch 1, Overview: combatives “bridges the gap between physical training and tactics.”
- Ch 2, Training: risk assessment, the three courses, unit sustainment, training live.
- Ch 3, Basic ground fighting: the fight strategy is range, angle, level. “The No. 1 element of a fight is range.” Phases: projectile → striking → clinching → grappling. Sequence: create space → maintain space → close the distance → gain dominant position → finish. Dominant positions: rear mount, mount, guard, side control. Finishes: rear naked choke, cross-collar choke, bent and straight armbars, guillotine. Range-control Options 1–3, with Option 3 being achieve the clinch.
- Ch 4, Intermediate: clinch takedowns, passing the guard with strikes, defending chokes and headlocks.
- Ch 5, Advanced: escapes, leg attacks, striking (movement, arm strikes, kicks), throws, pummeling, knees.
- Ch 6, Contact weapons: rifle and bayonet, knives (grips, defense, disarms), grappling with weapons and primary weapon retention.
- Appendices: A Competitions; B Drills and evaluation; C Training areas.
Drill One, for anyone who’s done it at 0600 on a wet mat: A mounted on B → B traps and rolls → A holds guard → B passes to side control → B mounts → switch.
Competition rule sets (TC 3-25.150, App. A)
A graduated ladder: “the best-trained fighters … advance from safer, more restrictive forms of competition to higher risk rule sets.”
| Level | Where it’s used | What’s allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Basic | Fire team through platoon; IMT/AIT | Grappling. Per the 2002 FM, starts from the knees, no leg locks. |
| Standard | Open tournaments, company/battalion, early rounds of bigger events | Starts standing; straight leg and foot locks; takedown and positional points. |
| Intermediate | Battalion/regimental finals, division semifinals | Adds open-hand strikes to the face, closed fist to the body, kicks, knees below the waist. CMTC graduate supervises. |
| Advanced | Division-and-higher finals | Closed-fist strikes, kicks, knees below the head. Effectively MMA rules. 4-oz gloves and wraps. |
| Scenario | Division-and-higher finals (team event) | Adds elbows and head butts, in full kit with a weapon. Helmet and vest required; OPFOR in an impact suit. |
Advanced and Scenario events need at least four CMTC graduates on staff.
Why grappling first: the data
A DTIC study of Army post-combat surveys (2004–2008, Iraq and Afghanistan) found 216 of 1,226 Soldiers (19.0%) used hand-to-hand skills at least once. Of those engagements: grappling 72.6%, weapons (rifle-butt strikes and the like) 21.9%, striking 5.5%. The study recommends continued training “with an emphasis on grappling skills.” (DTIC ADA612103, public release.)
The upcoming revision: where it’s headed
The clearest official statement is CPT Luke Hodsden’s “The Knife’s Edge” (Infantry, Fall 2025; army.mil Sep 3, 2025):
- MACP is “heavily influenced by Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu,” and its “strong focus on unarmed grappling may tend to overlook other important aspects of a fight.”
- Against near-peer threats and larger forces, “combatives can no longer be viewed as a one-on-one cage fight scenario.”
- Recommended: broaden the curriculum, prioritize weaponized fighting (shoot-to-grapple transitions, fighting while armed, defending during reloads, bring back bayonet), and reality-based training in trenches, bunkers, hallways, and stairwells, with smoke, noise, night, and fatigue.
- USACS’s stated focus: the TC 3-25.150 LSCO revision and adjustments to CMTC.
My read: the doctrine on the shelf is still the 2017 TC. Striking, weapons, and LSCO are the direction of travel, not a fielded manual. When the new TC hits APD, this page gets rewritten the same week.
Source: army.mil, Sep 3, 2025.
The Lacerda Cup (All-Army Championships)
- Held at Fort Benning during Infantry Week. 2026 finals: Apr 10, 21 teams, 8 weight classes, championship bouts three rounds in a cage.
- 2026 team champion: 101st Airborne Division (Fort Benning PAO via DVIDS). Army National Guard teams placed 3rd and 6th and took three individual belts, including Sgt. Jeremiah Slagle (Ohio ARNG), cruiserweight, his third straight title. He’s the second Soldier in Lacerda Cup history to win three in a row.
- The 2025 Cup added a tactical scenario event.
Sources: DVIDS; National Guard, Apr 13, 2026.
2026 Lacerda Cup National Guard bout results (spoilers)
- Spc. Isaiah Castellanos (DC ARNG), bantamweight, won by R1 TKO
- Sgt. Jeremiah Slagle (Ohio ARNG), cruiserweight, third straight title
- SSgt Alexander Myers (PA ARNG), heavyweight, won by submission
Access is growing
In June 2026, Fort Hood opened a centralized MACP facility at Warrior Way Fitness Center: PT-hour and after-duty sessions (Mon/Wed 5–6:30 PM), open to all DoW ID-card holders including dependents and civilians, with BCC/TCC certification support. (Fort Hood Sentinel, Jun 25, 2026)
No 2025–2026 Army-wide directive changing combatives requirements was found.