The US Military’s top enlisted man said it himself:
“If they choose not surrender, then we will kill them… Whether that be through…dropping bombs on them, shooting them in the face, or beating them to death with our entrenching tools.” [emphasis added]
He was talking about ISIS fighters.
And as brutal as it sounds, Command Sgt. Maj. John Troxell – the military’s top enlisted soldier – was just saying something our military has ALWAYS known when it comes to fighting, and here’s…
The Military’s “No B.S.” Fighting Secret For Close-Quarters Combat
“ISIS fighters must surrender or die via shovels,” read the headline when the news covered it.
And you can probably imagine what happened when CSM Troxell posted this comment to Facebook and Twitter…
People freaked!
A lot of people on social media thought Troxell was out of control for saying something so brutal.
The thing is, he wasn’t being “brutal” at all.
He was referring to a secret, something most people don’t know:
In life-or-death combat, the true warrior will use whatever weapon he or she has available to defeat their enemy!
That means the humble “e-tool,” or “entrenching tool” – something every soldier carries – is as much a weapon of war as his rifle.
“That’s ridiculous, Jeff,” you might be thinking. “A shovel, especially a tiny shovel like that, isn’t an effective weapon when every soldier on both sides has a rifle!”
Well, it’s not as far fetched as it sounds.
In fact, the shovel HAS been seen as a weapon in the military for years… and even USED to kill the enemy by some of its biggest heroes.
Ben Wilson, Military Hero
(And Owner of BRASS BALLS)
Do you know the story of Ben Wilson?
Wilson earned a Medal of Honor, a Purple Heart, and the Distinguished Service Cross during his time in the military.
He served in WWII and the Korean War, rising to the rank of First Sergeant.
At “Hell Hill” near Hwacheon Dam in Korea, he continued fighting while his men retreated from North Korean counterattack.
Losing his rifle in the fighting, he took out his entrenching tool…
…and killed 4 MEN with the sharpened edge of the shovel!
The military has long recognized just how effective this weapon can be, but not as a shovel by itself.
Instead, in their combatives manuals through the years, they’ve just listed it as one of many objects you an use to fight with the SAME WAY.
In other words, it’s not that the military ever saw the e-tool as a “primary close quarters weapon.”
But they DID understand that guns jam… break… and run out of bullets.
When that happens, you NEED a backup weapon that will keep you alive while destroying the enemy.
The military also understood that soldiers need TRAINING to use weapons.
That could be your “body weapons” (a.k.a. “close-quarters combatives”)… your bayonet knife… or even your frickin’ SHOVEL.
Now, for me, what I always considered a much more formidable backup weapon than ALL of these was…
…my machete!
And just like the military did, I developed a system that works universally with nearly ALL melee weapons, the machete included.
Look familiar (like, you know, that picture from the combatives manual)?
Just like our troops do, though, you need training to wield a machete (or a shovel, or a frigging stick) most effectively.
I feel so strongly about this that I spent 3.5 years training in the legendary “Gatka” sword-fighting system of the legendary Sikh warriors…
…then another 2 years fine-tuning our own “Combat Machete” system, integrating elements of African and Central American machete arts (where real-world machete fighting is extremely common!).
The result?
It’s the ultimate fighting system – that anyone can master in as little as 7 days!
If you’re serious about bladed weapons for self-defense – especially the machete – but if you ALSO want training that you can use with anything you pick up and use as a weapon (like Ben Wilson did) – you might want to check out this “extreme” survival weapons blueprint you can download for free.
I think you’ll be surprised just how much it can help you prepare for any threat.
