On a recent trip to Ft. Bragg I had a chance to grab coffee with S.O.C.P founder Greg Thompson. After exchanging some wrestling stories from the past, we got down to business and he gave me the run down on the direction he's going his S.O.C.P program and some other initiatives.
I've personally been through Deiter's CQD course a few times and am a better operator for it. The course blends weapons and fighting and has some excellent stress scenarios that has left more than a few humbled---including myself (e.g. the hooded box). I asked Greg what the major difference in philosophy between his system and Dieter's. He answered right away. "Dieter's system doesn't account for blindside attacks, all his stuff is from the 12". This made sense to me right away, and I honestly couldn't remember ever doing blindside training at Dieter (unless he's doing something different these days).
Blindside Attack Demo. You don't always have the luxury of squaring off from the 12 o'clock position.
I can tell you that this made an impression on me. I've been in a few tight shipboard spaces where getting at guys is tough and you're exposed to multiple threats.
This was apparently the case when a friend and former platoon mate of mine killed a guy at close quarters with his knife (off the coast of Somalia). A skinny had jumped an assault team member and he couldn't get a clear shot without risk. Solution? Move in close with a combat blade (we'll cover Greg's new knife later) and take care of business.
S.O.C.P's up close and personal work. "You want to stay on your feet but sometimes the fight goes to the ground and you better be prepared"-Brandon
Greg is doing a lot of training with the Army at Bragg, LE units and although he denied it, I suspect he's working behind the wire with some tier one folks too.
Check out his site http://www.ussocp.com/
We'll do some follow up with Greg about his S.O.C fight suit made by London Bridge Trading Co. and his patent pending SOCP knife made by Benchmade.
The Dieter course has its place, but Greg's system is legit and covers down on some serious gaps in the CQD philosophy. Variety is good and S.O.C.P is solid in our opinion.
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More on S.O.C.P
SOCP was developed by Greg Thompson following the War on Terror. As operators returned from the field, they would discuss with Thompson the tactical problems they encountered, that over time tended to show a predictable pattern: a surprise attack on an operator by an individual which takes place in the residence of a high value target (HVT). These characteristics, as they were identified, were combined to form the SOCP Core Concepts:
- Fighting in kit with weaponry
- Weapon transition and retention, standing or on the ground
- 360 ambush attacks into and over objects
- Fighting multiple assailants solo or as a team
- Compliant and non-complaint cuffing and vehicle extraction
- Force continuum (Lethal/less-than-lethal options)
- Technique "linkage"
