Airmen toe challenging L.I.N.E. Published April 6, 2007 By Jeff Nicolay Hickam Kukini Editor HICKAM AFB, HI -- After decades of dominating the battlefield from the skies, the Air Force is training some of its members to exercise the same kind of dominance somewhat closer to the ground. In many cases, up close and personal with the ground. Starting at oh-dark-thirty this past Monday, some 40 military personnel from Team Hickam, the Hawaii Air National Guard and Pacific Air Force -- plus one participant from the U.S. Army -- spent the week getting down and dirty with L.I.N.E. System close-combat instructors Mr. Ron Donvito, president and CEO of Honor Technologies, Inc., and Senior Master Sgt. John Knipe, 25th Air Support Operations Squadron, to learn the L.I.N.E. System self-defense techniques in an intensive, two-week course held at the baseball field next to Honeymoon Beach."L.I.N.E. stands for "Linear Infighting Neural-Override Engagement,'" said Sergeant Knipe, 25 ASOS Squadron superintendent. "Neural-Override is the key word in L.I.N.E., which is based on the principle of central nervous system override or CNO. As he explains it, the L.I.N.E. system trains Airmen to use pain to their advantage in overcoming an opponent in a close-combat scenario. "If I do damage to your elbow, your mind is going to force you to try to protect that elbow," he said. "Then, while you're protecting your elbow, I can focus on another part of your anatomy. If I can keep that up, I'll be able to attack your center of gravity, take you to the ground and neutralize you." Mr. Donvito says that L.I.N.E. System of close-combat training he invented in 1977 prior to his enlistment in the United States Marines. For over twelve years, he says attempted to convince the USMC to look at the program. Finally, in 1989, at a course content review board held at Quantico, VA, the system was adopted as the USMC's first standardized close combat training system for both officer and enlisted ranks. In adopting the system for Airmen, Sergeant Knipe says the Air Force is recognizing the changing nature of modern warfare. "You've got a lot of Air Force personnel working 'outside the wire' in Iraq and Afghanistan," he said. "Face it, they're very much in harm's way. So in a scenario like that, if a bad guy comes along, he's not going to care whether you're a Navy SEAL or a civil engineer -- he's just going to want to take you out. So you have to be prepared. (The L.I.N.E. system) is great training for that kind of an environment." Sergeant Knipe noted that course techniques are rigorous and designed to replicate the intensity of actual close combat. "The system is designed so people can engage each other at full speed without creating serious injuries," he said. That being said, Sergeant Knipe also points out that most students will endure 'micro injuries' during training -- bruises, scrapes, some slight sprains -- but that the course is designed to accommodate them. "When warriors train, warriors get hurt," he said. "At this point, I think everyone has at least a few aches and pains from being thrown to the ground over and over again. So we take these injuries seriously. The last thing we want to do is ostracize somebody taking the course for getting injured. Somebody gets hurt, we send them off to get some medical attention before resuming their training. Given the circumstances, we're fairly flexible in letting people miss some time and still pass the course." On that note, Sergeant Knipe added that the two-week basic course also includes training in non-lethal techniques, among them cuffing techniques, gun disarming, knife disarming, how to use an edged weapon and how to defend against an opponent armed with an edged weapon. "Sure, there's a lot of joint manipulation taught for the lethal end of the training," he said. "But there are also situations when you're trying to subdue a person in a crowd -- situations where going beyond a certain level of force or violence might turn the crowd against you." However, perhaps the most critical part of L.I.N.E. training is what the course manual refers to as the "Warrior ethos." "It goes back to what I was saying about our guys in the Middle East," Sergeant Knipe said. "Among other things, the Warrior Ethos is an awareness that there are individuals out there who couldn't care less how much or how little close-combat training you've had. There are bad guys out there who wouldn't think twice about killing you if they had the chance. So you have to make sure you have the training to prevail. The L.I.N.E. System prepares you for the interpersonal violence you will encounter on the battlefield. It gives people the tools and the confidence to prevail if they are separated from their weapon ... the tools to be successful fighting with their bare hands in real-world situations." The two-week Basic L.I.N.E. course, which concludes next Friday, Apr. 13, will be followed by a one-week Advanced course, also taught by Mr. Donvito and Sergeant Knipe.