Top notch Martial Arts instructors with Marine Aviation Support Training Group 53 (MATSG-53) finished up a Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP) period of instruction for five Navy personnel here last week.

As part of required training, all Marines are trained in martial arts during MCMAP and must qualify at the gray belt level. What’s unique about this training class is that the students were Naval Hospital Oak Harbor Sailors, not Marines.

The class included Ensign Clint Ludlow, Hospitalman Daniel Caballero, Hospitalman Tyler Holst, Hospitalman Apprentice Lewis Lasauskas and Hospitalman Apprentice Devon McEnnan.

None of them had prior experience in the martial arts but each of them was looking to their future as a Navy Hospital Corpsman and deploying with the Marines and earning the Fleet Marine Force (FMF) warfare designation. Without a doubt they now understand what it take to deploy with Marines. 

“They’ve earned this. Staff Sgt. Goodson has worked them hard,” said Col. Jim Cutright, MATSG Commanding Officer, during the graduation ceremony Friday. “I know because I’ve been watching them train in the mud outside my window.”

Cutright told the assembled group that Gen. James Jones, former U.S. Marine Corps Commandant, initiated the MCMAP in 1999 because he felt so strongly that Marines needed to be trained in martial arts.

The MCMAP instructors, Staff Sgt. Albert Goodson and Cpl. Sandra Ortiz from MATSG-53 and Sgt. Laura Martinez who is assigned to the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit, are all graduates of the Martial Arts Instructor Course held at the School of Infantry West in Camp Pendleton, Calif. Goodson and Martinez graduated as back-to-back “honor grads” at the top of their respective classes.

“Based on what they experience right here today, the people we train have the potential to save lives,” said MATSG 53 Assistant Training Officer Capt. W. Reid Houck. “Our Marines and Sailors out perform their peers. (I think) that shows MATSG-53 is putting out a great product.”

Houck explained that learning different techniques from various martial arts and incorporating the moves into what works for the individual is the key to mastering the program. Safety also plays an integral part in learning the techniques used in MCMAP. With a watchful eye, the instructor makes sure every move is orchestrated properly and executed carefully.

“Every day since boot camp as Marines, we are taught to lead,” said Goodson, MATSG-53’s Training NCO and instructor. “In this institution, the Marine Corps, it’s one where that high degree of motivation will carry you to that highest extent.”

The gray belt signifies an intermediate understanding of the basic disciplines in character, mental attitude, and physical strength. Before earning a gray belt, individuals go through seven hours of instruction in the tan belt course and seven hours in the gray belt course with additional instructional and sustainment hours. The course lasts three weeks and requires dedicated training several hours a day.

“Everybody wants to do it, but not everybody is able or willing to do it,” said Goodson, talking about his experience in becoming one of the qualified martial arts instructors for MATSG-53. “It’s awesome to know that you are able to lead Marines and Sailors to show them something they can keep with them throughout their careers and outside of the military.”

Houck summed up the value of the training his highly motivated instructors bring to the table.

“If these guys are in combat, helping to secure a bad guy,” said Houck. “Our Sailors and Marines who have the gray belt can secure that situation.”