Sir,

In regards to the Controlled F.O.R.C.E. training received from 07 Apr. 08 to 09 Apr. 08, to say it was an eye opening experience is an understatement. The training received by the eight corrections instructors and myself and Mr. Petrotta from the MA side was phenomenal.

We covered Body Positioning drills, the five MACH holds, takedowns and cuffing, team control techniques as well as corrections specific cell extraction, hand to hand disruption, knife defense and ground fighting defense. All great stuff in themselves, but the most important things the Controlled FORCE instructors, Tony Grano and Don Roberts, brought us was everything that goes on in between.

Let me elaborate. I've been in Navy training since 1992 and never experienced the type of training I received last week. Controlled FORCE brings in all the what ifs that are so common in our training environment and answers all those what ifs with an action, something that has become rare in our training scenarios. Their training is dynamic and fluid. They just don't talk about being aware in your environment, they make you aware by giving you active training situations. In doing this they make the trainer better. You are no longer just giving a lesson, you are and active participant in a situation that requires everyone to be aware of their surroundings.

I can honestly say this is the training we need to give our young Sailors going out into the fleet. Everything Controlled FORCE does is designed to make the end user a thinker, to be aware of their environment and prepared to do what it takes to win any confrontation they may come across. In the ever changing world we send our Sailors out into, we need them to be ready. Looking through the prism of time and experience, I'd want this training for myself if I was going into the MA rating. As an instructor it is definitely what I want to give to our Sailors.

I want to thank everyone responsible for bringing this training to NTTC and especially to Tony Grano and Don Roberts for their time and dedication.


Very Respectfully,

David Yatczak