Regarding the question of how realistic the notion of "snapping necks"
and "slitting throats" by soldiers is I would point out to you the views
of Peter Ratcliffe; the ex-RSM of the British 22nd SAS Regiment. This
Special Forces soldier is massively experienced - having been on active
service in, among other places, Oman, the Radfan, Northern Ireland, the
Falklands and the 1st Gulf War. In his autobiography "Eye of the storm",
while discussing critically some of the distortions and exaggerations
commonly written or said about Special Forces, he says:
"...weilding a knife in combat, rather than a firearm, is likely to get
you killed... and for clandestine operations, or those requiring a high
degree of stealth, members of the Regiment are issued with silenced weapons
...if you have to kill someone ...in combat or otherwise while on active
service, then you use your rifle or pistol. There is no unit of the...Army
that uses knives - other than bayonets - garrottes or crossbows to dispose
of the enemy. Any soldier who asks you to believe differently is either
lying, or has himself been taken in by some of the nonsense written about
the Special Forces."
I would also add my own comment that unarmed combat training is usually
given for the purpose of building aggressiveness and confidence rather
than for the intention of actual application in battle. Even armies
(eg. the Russian VDV and Spetznatz) who train intensively in hand to
hand combat freely acknowledge this. I myself have trained British Soldiers
in basic unarmed combat and at no time was this ever regarded as anything
much other than an interesting variation on PT.
-- Jimpy
Topic: cinematic close combat combo system (Read 3837 times)