Combat Hunter
This is what Yours Truly had been up to the last couple of months. Great program with outstanding results. Feel free to ask me any questions; keeping in mind that there is only so much I can say. Either way, this is one of the best things to hit the Corps in my 12 years of Active duty.
Teaching Marines to be like hunters
Unorothodox war training emphasizes ‘primal skills’
By Rick Rogers
February 29, 2008
Trying to become predators instead of prey, Marines headed to Iraq will go through training built on advice from big-game hunters, soldiers of fortune and troops who grew up around firearms in the woods or the inner city.
Combat Hunter, a program begun at Camp Pendleton and now being rolled out nationwide, is designed to help Marines stalk and kill insurgents by using their senses and instincts. It emphasizes keen observation of Marines’ surroundings and meticulous knowledge of their foes’ habits.
“This is the most comprehensive training of its kind in our history,” said Col. Clarke Lethin, chief of staff for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton.
“These are primal skills that we all have but that we evolved out of,” he added. “We are going back in time. The Marines who go through this program will never be the same. They’ll never look at the world the same again.”
The Marine Corps had not paid much attention to this low-tech combat approach since the Vietnam War. Like the other service branches, the Corps has generally gone high-tech by creating increasingly advanced weapons and developing virtual reality training.
Combat Hunter grew out of a concept by Gen. James Mattis, who has spearheaded the formation of various training programs for the Marine Corps. He saw the need for greater focus on hunting-related skills while overseeing combat forces at Camp Pendleton in 2006.
At the time, the Marines had recently turned the corner on roadside bomb attacks that killed and maimed so many of them in Iraq. They became better at detecting improvised explosive devices and blunting their impact.
Then the insurgents changed tactics. Instead of blowing up Marines, the enemy increasingly turned to shooting them as they patrolled neighborhoods or drove by in convoys.
Mattis, known for out-of-the-box thinking, weighed his options. He considered adding Marine snipers to protect his units, but he rejected the idea because it would take too long to train and field them.
Then he hit upon the idea of Combat Hunter, a strategy that squared with the Marine Corps’ aggressive fighting style.
“One of the things that Gen. Mattis said is that he wanted a quick turnaround for this project. There was a sense of urgency,” said Maj. James Martin, the project officer for Combat Hunter.
Lethin recalled the reason for that urgency: Too many troops felt fear when they left their bases in Anbar province, the vast western region of Iraq where Marines hold the lead combat role for the U.S. military.
“Fear is a terrible thing. The Marines felt they were being hunted. They felt they were bait for the insurgents,” Lethin said.
“How do we teach our Marines to be the hunters? How do we bring the confidence back?” Lethin said. “Sometimes technology is not the answer. We think we have the answer in Combat Hunter.”
The unorthodox program draws on the expertise of an eclectic mix of consultants. There are the tracking abilities of David Scott-Donelan, a former officer in the South African Special Forces and a veteran of civil wars in Africa. Then there’s African guide Ivan Carter, as well as others who would rather not be identified by the Marine Corps.
Training drills also reflect the hunting skills of Marines from rural areas and, as an unclassified Marine briefing said, the life experiences of those “who have lived in disadvantaged areas of large cities.”
Some of the training was on display yesterday in an area of Camp Pendleton called the K-2 Combat Town.
Marines usually train among its prefabricated buildings and in its dirt-lined streets. But for Combat Hunter, they perch in the green hills and watch what goes on in the mock village.
From a distance of eight or more football fields away, teams of Marines learned what to look for downhill. As they peered through binoculars, the Marines tried to catalog hundreds of details to form a baseline of knowledge. Then they looked for telltale signs of insurgent behavior.
The scenario they watched yesterday involved a mock sniper shooting an Iraqi police officer. The Marines had to tease out clues to ascertain who did what and from where. The exercise was one of 15 scenes that they will scrutinize in the next two weeks.
One goal of the training is teaching troops to unleash deadly force only after they have determined that it’s warranted.
“Just because someone is a jerk does not mean we can kill them, do you got me?” said Greg Williams, a former police officer and big-game hunter as he debriefed 55 Marines from the 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division.
“Rrrr,” the Marines replied in agreement.
“We never do trigger time unless we do brain time, do you got me?” Williams emphasized.
“Rrrr,” the Marines responded.
After a lunch break, the trainees started analyzing more complex attacks.
Some of them praised Combat Hunter for teaching them to more effectively spot insurgents – as well as roadside bombs and weapons caches – while giving them confidence to patrol day in and day out.
“I think it is absolutely critical training,” said Cpl. Andrew Moul, 25, from Hart, Mich., who will deploy to Iraq in the fall. “In Iraq right now, it is more of a security situation, and we need this skill set to keep civilians and Marines alive by making better decisions.”
Unconventional thinking about an unconventional war might make a lot of sense, said Loren Thompson, chief operating officer for the Lexington Institute, a pro-defense think tank in Arlington, Va.
“What we are learning in Iraq is that the demands of warfare in the new century are so widely different from anything for which we were planning. We have to look in unexpected places for the skills that will serve us best” Thompson said.
“It may be that a combination of better hunting skills, language skills and cultural anthropology serves us better in Iraq than some gee-whiz wireless network,” Thompson said.
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This sounds like a shifting of greater emphasis to already existing specialties within the military. I was raised a plain old white suburbanite and then got put into the Infantry. Which I don’t mind I hated every minute. But, I did notice that those from more country upbringings were more comfortable in that type of environment. But, after getting out driving a taxi in the inner city for 18 years that would have been excellent training for me if I’d have grown up in that type of environment.
March 3rd, 2008 at 7:49 am[…] I should have stayed in the Marines. […]
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:13 amAn interesting approach. When will the USMC provide its Marines with an effective .30 caliber round and an improved rifle that will close the deal with a one round kill!!! New 7.62 proof helmets but, no 7.62 capable rifle, unacceptable.
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:27 amcool!! but not new. during my time in,as a squad leader,my men and I would go out on weekends and “stalk” and “hunt” russkies,in mock situations on our own time. I grew up in the midwest and was an avid outdoorsman and hunter. These skills that I had learned while growing up, certainly played a part in my infantry training experience. In my house we had numerous different firearms; large and small caliber rifles,shotguns (pump,semi-auto,double barrel),pistols from .22 to .44 magnum. We used iron sights,and learned to stalk and kill. The natural hunter instincts of man against beast was a challenge. Some have argued that “oh you had a gun, how unfair is that” And my response was that animals have far better hearing,eyesight,and sense of smell than I do;so they could either see,hear or smell me coming from very far away.Therefore the need to have stalking and other basic hunting skills,(such as learning about their strengths and weaknesses and getting within relatively close distance without being detected) was essential to a successful hunt.I simply translated those skills over to hunting men,during training exercises.I give a big OORAH!! to Gen. Mattis for implementing this training to the already most lethal combat fighting force the world has ever seen.
March 3rd, 2008 at 7:08 pmIggy, possibly the most inspiring post I’ve read on this site, no offense intended to anyone.
Through the U.S.M.C. the DOD might possibly get it’s act together for the long haul and not forget the lessons learned in Iraq, hopefully at least, this time around
Gen. James Mattis may be the “Patton” of our times, could he next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs… hell ya, so long as Macain or another Republican is Commander in Chief and not Hussein or the Bitch
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Iggy: 
Hey Iggy! Are the trackers from South Africa helping the Marines to track in the sand better?
March 3rd, 2008 at 10:09 pmAs a Hunter I can see the vast differences between Hunting and Conventional Warfare, utilizing Big game knowledge is extremely important as well, especially when Hunting something that can as easily become the Hunter (Bear and Big Cats, even Elk with a Bow fall into that category… minus the weaponry and a death wish for Allah), considering that Afghanistan and Pakistan may be receiving more attention soon, these will become increasingly utilized info/skills. The right tool for the job is the least that our Troops deserve! Whether it’s equipment or training, Benefits or the simple Thank You!
It’s my understanding that Woody honed his skills Hunting and was able to see important details that many others couldn’t, this has been a fairly common theme with the Audie Murphys of history and I firmly believe that this kind of training will provide invaluable skills to our Troops into the future.
3/3/08
Army Master Sgt. Woodrow “Woody” Keeble was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor Monday for his efforts during the Korean War.
“The Sioux have a saying: ‘The life of a man is a circle.’ Well today, we complete Woody’s circle from an example to his men to an example for the ages,” President Bush said. “And if we honor his life and take lessons from his good and noble service, then Master Sgt. Woody Keeble will serve his country once again.”
“One soldier remembered the time when he walked through a minefield leaving tracks for his men to follow. Another recalled the time when he was shot twice in the arm and kept fighting without seeming to notice,”
According to the Army, Keeble once said about his time in the military that there “were terrible moments that encompassed a lifetime, an endlessness, when terror was so strong in me, that I could feel idiocy replace reason. … I have never left my position, nor have I shirked hazardous duty. Fear did not make a coward out of me.”
CHEERS to Woody!
March 3rd, 2008 at 11:48 pmI’m a city kid, so my experince with hunting is limited. But I grew up white in a black neighborhood, so my survival instincts are pretty damned honed.
Walking down the street, I don’t stare at anyone, but I sure don’t keep my eyes down, either. As I walk past open doors, gates, or alleys, I keep an eye on them. I don’t judge threats based so much on race, age, gender, or even clothing, but on how people hold themselves. Someone who looks like he just stepped out of a 50 cent video, but is just standing still, minding his own business is probably not a threat (unless you do something stupid), while the guy dressed well but is twitching all over the place stays in my sight.
A gang of thugs on a corner can be bad. A gang of thugs with their girls with them should be avoided like the plague. Adolescent males are never more dangerous to be around than when girls are watching.
And I’ve always found a confident attitude and a weapon in your hand can get you out of most situations.
March 4th, 2008 at 10:21 amticticboom, believe it or not I have a quick to rise to anger issue. I only trust myself with pepper spray. Back in the seventies I carried CS gas while driving the cab, worked well with those three over a period of four years that came at me with knives. The pepper spray worked well against some commu..whoops, anti-war demonstrators in DC in Sep that tried to swarm me because we “disagreed”. I didn’t threaten, I just held it discreetly in my hand. We then continued the discussion. I’d have just as soon shot them, but, the fucking paper work.
March 4th, 2008 at 11:09 amSounds like you guys have taken on the role of Recon.
No questions here. Just envy.
Godspeed.
March 4th, 2008 at 11:23 pmimprovise adapt overcome
March 5th, 2008 at 10:39 amPattern recognition is maybe the #1 function of the human brain. Makes all the sense in the world to train and exploit it.
March 5th, 2008 at 4:11 pmThis is the shit I’ve always said. Ripped off yet again before I could market it.
March 5th, 2008 at 4:50 pmdamn they just went and asked us if anyone wanted to do this training all youhad to do was sign up, but because of certain things coming up i refused to go. shiet definetly wheni get back ill look into this. i heard this training was gonna be mandatory in SOI or predeployment
March 16th, 2008 at 5:31 pmthis is cool im a hunter and so its fun
whoo hoo!! 
March 25th, 2008 at 6:47 pmHi Pat, nice website, this is my first time to visit. I was searching online for a gear list for the combat hunter course. I was told last friday at 1630 to show up at the armory at 0600 and meet so-and-so with “all my gear.”
Well I would like to be more prepared than that. Could you possibly e-mail me a gear list? That would be a big help.
Thanks,
March 30th, 2008 at 10:56 amSgt Watts