Photo By Lt.j.g. Bryan Mitchell | First Lt. Joshua Pitcher grapples with mixed martial artist Matt Brown Jan. 20 during...... read more read more
CAMP MIKE SPANN, Afghanistan – Forty minutes prior to the arrival of a group of world-class mixed martial artists at the spare base gymnasium, about two dozen soldiers milled about nervously.
Could we hang with men renowned for their fighting prowess? Will I get hurt? Embarrassed? And is this really going to happen?
But when Kurt Shrout arrived with his crew of impossibly fit championship caliber fighters, he greeted the trepidatious troops with a familiar yet playful bark that left no doubt about their intentions.
“Football players aren’t going to play catch with you, basketball players aren’t going to shoot hoops with you and cheerleaders aren’t going to make pyramids with you,” he charged. “So let’s get out here and grapple.”
Ten minutes later about a dozen troops were short of breath and soaked in sweat as they rotated through an evolution of grappling exercises with fighters who entertain millions around the world, but have cultivated a unique passion in the one-on-one experience of sparring with service members.
First Lt. Joshua Pitcher, 25, of Rineyville, Ky., was one of the first to test his strength against the pros. And when his prosthetic leg came loose, he pushed back with a seemingly limitless reservoir of strength.
“I am not proficient in mixed martial arts or grappling whatsoever so it was everything I could do to avoid tapping out which proved to be a formidable task if not downright impossible,” he said.
The experience of grappling with a soldier who lost a limb in war yet maintains the courage and fortitude to return to combat proved a moving experience for the mixed martial artists.
“You see a guy like Pitcher and you just stop and go, ‘Whoa, that’s real. That’s inspiring’,” Shrout said.
Matthew B. Brown, a 33-year-old mixed martial artist from Columbus, Ohio, echoed the sentiment.
“You give us a once in a lifetime experience and we give you a once in a lifetime experience,” he said. “This is my livelihood. This is how I put food on my kid’s table. But here I put that to the side and share the experience in this wonderful environment.”
Wonderful may not be how most would describe Afghanistan.
Devastated by decades of war, plagued by endemic corruption, overcoming a dearth of educational opportunities that has left the majority of the population illiterate and still contending with a stubborn insurgency, Afghanistan remains one of the most perilous places on the planet.
But for Shrout, Brown and their colleagues, it’s a place where they can give back to the soldiers who sacrifice so far from home. It’s a place that humbles men who trade in bravado and educates their friends boasting a global business empire.
“People think I sacrifice, to train and fight and do the things I have to do,” said Thomas J. Lawlor, a 30-year-old mixed martial artist from Richmond, Va.
“But it’s nothing compared to what these troops are doing. You come here and you see it and you realize how difficult it would be to be so far from your family for so long. That’s real sacrifice.”
Daniel “Punk***” Caldwell, whose TapouT clothing label is synonymous with mixed martial arts, said the trip to Afghanistan has reaffirmed the honor of being an American.
“Back in the state we have a lot of propaganda and people don’t really know what we’re doing in Afghanistan,” he said. “And then you come over here and you see the professionalism and the sense of purpose in all of the troops. It gives you an amazing sense of pride in being an American again.”
TapouT may have taken Caldwell and his partner, Timothy A. Katz, around the world to cut deals and scout manufacturers, but it’s experiences like Mondays on an austere tracts of American military real estate that informs their view of risk and reward.
“In a lot of ways I’m just a normal guy who runs a cool clothing company,” Katz said. “And it’s allowed me to do a lot of incredible things. But coming here I realize that I couldn’t do what these guys do, especially being away from their families.
“It takes more of a man than I am to do what these troops do. And they do it without complaining.”
Celebrities on goodwill tours are a regular fixture on military bases. Their work in war zones is particularly memorable.
From the iconic images of Bob Hope telling jokes to olive drab clad GIs and his contemporary counterpart Steven Colbert hosting his show in Iraq and Afghanistan to the to country music stars and professional athletes signing autographs and mingling with the multi-cam masses, United Service Organizations and Armed Forces Entertainment tours are an enduring swath of the cultural fabric that is the American combat experience.
While every visit brightens the spirits of troops enduring long days in challenging conditions, few visitors resonate like the mixed martial artists who spent five days touring Regional Command North.
These are men who share the troops’ commitment to fitness and discipline. Their rigor returns dividends in the cage while the troops test their mettle on the battlefield.
And while their currency may be crushing blows and submission holds, they aren’t belligerents driven by anger or fury. Possibly in their youth, but as men with careers and families, they’ve evolved into focused professionals – respectful yet playful, dynamic in the cage but mindful of their fallibility.
“They are much like most warfighters,” said Sgt. Maj. Judson Gee. “They are only fighters when the situation calls for it other than that they are as normal as any other person you meet in a store or on the streets. I will always remember how professional and humble they all were.”
Still, Gee was a bit starstruck.
“The next time I watch a UFC fight and I see Matt Brown, Kyle Kingsbury, or Tom Lawlor I can tell my kids I rolled with that guy,” the 44-year-old Cairo, Ga., soldier said. “I will not tell them how bad I faired against any of them.”
When they stepped off the mat and reverted to their everyday attitude, the fighters were gracious and inquisitive.
During their time away from the gym, swapping stories with the troops over weapons demonstrations and queuing for an once-in-a-lifetime helicopter flight between the sorrel valleys and along the snow-capped Hindu Kush foothills, they find no need to front on their notoriety or demand special privilege.
They’re more likely to cast kindhearted aspersions on their friends and extend warm handshakes of appreciation to an eager fan.
And take some time to soak it all in.
Kyle L Kingsbury, a 31-year-old mixed martial artist from Cupertino, Calif., said he was pleasantly surprised to see so many different countries serving shoulder-to-shoulder here in Regional Command North.
Home to troops from 17 nations, from longtime stalwart NATO allies to burgeoning relationships with Mongolian and Armenian troops, this is a place where you can hear a half dozen languages on the walk to breakfast and realize America is not alone in fighting the scourge of terrorism.
“You see in the news all of the time how terrorism impacts so many countries but you don’t realize what they are doing about it,” Kingsbury said. “And then you come here and see everyone working together and realize how cool that really is.”
All of the visitors on the January tour were on at least their second tour, with some racking up serious frequent flier miles on military aircraft during multiple visits to bases around the world. Shrout organized the recent visit, his ninth.
Katz’s whimsical smile crowned by a singular afro style hairdo yields to an introspective pause when he reflects on his personal motivation for this Afghan journey.
“Our partner was killed by a drunk driver. And he was a Marine and we know what this would have meant to him,” he said. “This is personal and it means more than most people know.”
Shrout was a Marine who served four years in the early 1990s. He was in Somalia on the peacekeeping mission and served in the first Gulf War. Now he trains Brazilian jiu-jitsu from his Colorado facility.
“When we put the word out for the next trip, we had six volunteers in less than four hours,” he boasted. “This community is unrivaled when it comes to supporting the troops. And the troops give us as much as we give them. So it’s a great deal.”
You’ve been warned: keep your grappling skills sharp.
These guys are just getting warmed up. And they come to grapple.
| Date Taken: | 01.20.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 01.27.2014 02:34 |
| Story ID: | 119685 |
| Location: | AF |
| Hometown: | CAIRO, GEORGIA, US |
| Hometown: | COLUMBUS, OHIO, US |
| Hometown: | CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Hometown: | RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, US |
| Hometown: | RINEYVILLE, KENTUCKY, US |
| Web Views: | 835 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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