Navy SEALs’ switch to MMA training spurs fight over new commander

[Geee]

Washington Times:

A battle has begun over the choice for the next leader of naval special warfare, with the debate tied to how the command trains SEALs in basic hand-to-hand combat.

The Washington Times has obtained a copy of the Navy’s 2010 internal investigation into allegations of favoritism among SEALs looking to cash in on privately operated gyms.

At the time Naval Special Warfare Command was beginning the process of discarding a decades-old technique called Close Quarters Defense (CQD) in favor of currently in-vogue mixed martial arts (MMA).

The contract switch — to martial arts firms who train the special warfare trainers, who then teach combatants — has been engulfed in charges from CQD’s founder that a small group of SEALs went around the leadership to make MMA the way to punch, choke and subdue the enemy.

 

The internal Navy document obtained by The Times shows there was, in fact, wrongdoing by SEALs, including illegal fraternization in ownership of a private MMA gym. The probe found enough violations to prompt a new round of ethnics training for SEALs. But the Naval Special Warfare Command investigation concluded the violations did not influence the contract award process for CQD.