MMA fighter wins battle to stay in Army
 

Kennedy gets his wish~

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/0...nnedy_081709w/

By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Aug 17, 2009 9:18:37 EDT
In a fortuitous turn of events, Staff Sgt. Tim Kennedy will now be able to stay in the Army while he pursues a professional career in mixed martial arts.

Kennedy, a Special Forces soldier who has turned down invitations to fight in top MMA circuits in order to deploy, tried for two years to secure permission from his commanders to stay in uniform and fight professionally.

Each time, the answer was no.

So he decided to pursue MMA, going on terminal leave July 10.

But on July 30, he received a call from a warrant officer who was calling on behalf of Lt. Col. Douglas O’Connell, the G-3 for the Texas Army National Guard.

The officer wanted to know what he could do to get Kennedy to Texas.

Officials from the New Jersey Guard also called.

On Aug. 4, the same day his active Army enlistment was to end, Kennedy signed papers to become a member of the Texas Guard and 19th Special Forces Group, which has a company in Texas.

“I’m excited to be a part of the Texas Army National Guard,” said Kennedy, who spent his active Army career with 7th Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg, N.C. “My whole objective was to fight and stay, serving in Special Forces. They exactly gave that to me.”

Texas edged out New Jersey because its Special Forces unit, C Company, 5th Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group, allowed Kennedy to stay in his 18B military occupational specialty, he said.

Kennedy is not the only soldier heavily involved in combatives, or MMA, but by all accounts, he is among the best and toughest MMA fighters in the Army.

Soldiers who train in MMA have sometimes struggled for acceptance in certain parts of the Army because the sport is perceived as brutal, almost-no-holds-barred fighting. However, MMA has in recent years moved into the mainstream, largely because of the popularity of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the world’s leading MMA organization.

The Texas Guard “aggressively” recruits Special Forces-qualified soldiers, said O’Connell, who himself wears a Green Beret.

“For us to get a guy who’s already Special Forces qualified, whether it’s a Tim Kennedy guy or somebody else, that’s a huge win for us,” he said. “Each one of those guys is tremendously valuable because of the training and experience they have.”

O’Connell, who also is commander of 1st Battalion, 143rd Infantry Regiment, the Guard’s only airborne infantry battalion, said he read about Kennedy’s decision to leave the Army and asked soldiers in the Texas-based Special Forces unit to reach out to Kennedy.

“Before I ever talked to him, our full-time Special Forces [noncommissioned officers] already figured out who he was, they figured out which unit he was assigned to and they knew his reputation,” O’Connell said about Kennedy. “So before I ever talked to him, I knew that he had the reputation and the background of being an outstanding soldier … and I knew he was just the kind of guy we’d want to have in the Texas Guard.”

In his new capacity, Kennedy said he will be a spokesman for the Texas Guard and his new unit, help with recruiting, and work with some of the state’s units to develop combat marksmanship and combatives courses.

“The things I’m going to be doing when I’m not training [for a MMA fight] is shooting and showing other people how to shoot, and fighting and showing other people how to fight,” Kennedy said. “What better job is there?”

On Sept. 25, Kennedy will fight Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos in the second of three contracted fights with Strikeforce. In the first fight, on June 19, Kennedy beat Nick “The Goat” Thompson. It was Kennedy’s first professional MMA fight in 18 months.

After the September fight, Kennedy will move to Texas, where he will be based in Austin but live in the Dallas area.

“I’m sure you can imagine how stoked I am,” Kennedy said. “Two dang years I’ve been trying to do this and a lieutenant colonel picks up the phone and says, ‘Let’s make this happen,’ and it happens. I’m just so excited that this is going to work out and I get to stay in Special Forces, which is a dream come true.”

Welcome to Texas!

Who says common sense is dead? It's certainly not in Texas. ;)

Richard's $.02 :munchin

Figures Texas would grab him. :mad:

Well, Richard, common sense is at least forbidden in the Colorado guard. With HQ/5/19 and B/5/19 in CO, you'd have thought maybe the Ground Forces Commander and/or State CSM (both former 5/19th guys) would have made a play for him before TX did. "Recruiting? Bah!"

I spent most of my time in C/5/19 when it was in Ft. Collins so I guess I'm little bit proud of the acquisition of their high-profile recruit. But still........Texas, U SUCK! Nyah! :p

Texas is indeed fortunate in that they are getting, by all acounts, a dedicated soldier and a damn good fighter. I have seen several of his fights on the tube and he always comes to the cage prepared. He is also very articulate and conducts himself as a professional. It is refreshing to see a young fighter with a very promising and lucrative future within MMA put service to his country and SF brethren up there with his career as a fighter. A true class act.

For lack of a better response, :D.

Well, they haven't found a body...yet.

Glad everything worked out for this Soldier!

Kennedy went through the graduation ceremony with my son. I had the opportunity to meet his dad who is I believe a retired leo from California. The whole family was a pleasure to talk to.

I've watched several of Kennedy's fights and he is truly a humble fighter without all the trash talking etc. I wish him best of luck in the future.

I've met Tim a number of times and we have a few mutual friends. I just can't understand why the Army couldn't see what an awesome recruiting tool he could be. He is, as has been noted, a very humble guy but get him in the octagon he is a natural killer. That's just the kind of thing that appeals to just the kind of people we would like to recruit. I guess I shouldn't be surprised though. This is the Army that thought that "Army of One" was a good recruiting idea.

SFC W

In all fairness to the Army, the no professional fighting policy is a USSOCOM thing. In the Guard, they can not restrict your choice of professions as long as it is legal.

x/S

Typical Colorado response eh? ;)

Tim is indeed a smart soldier, person, fighter and will be an asset to TX!

Good Deal for AFN-Kennedy
 

Sorry can't include the text.....fucking overseas with bad connection!!!!!

Army Times

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/0...nnedy_092409w/

Here's another with text:

http://www.411mania.com/MMA/news/117...es-Network.htm


Strikeforce To Air On The Armed Forces Network
Posted by Larry Csonka on 09.24.2009

Starting with Friday night’s Strikeforce Challengers event…



Strikeforce announced today that starting with Friday night's Strikeforce Challengers event, that their events will air on the American Forces Network. The deal calls for all STRIKEFORCE events for the remainder of 2009 to be distributed on AFN including the Nov. 7 M-1 Global co-promotion of Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers, airing live on CBS Television Network. The debut offering, this Friday's Strikeforce Challengers event on SHOWTIME, features American military hero Tim Kennedy, the 29-year-old Special Forces soldier who has served tours of duty in Middle East, versus undefeated middleweight Zak Cummings in the main event from Tulsa, Okla. Strikeforce's Scott Coker had the following to say on the deal…

"We are proud to be able to bring live Strikeforce events to the men and women of The United States Armed Forces. These are people that have dedicated their lives to protecting our country so it's great to be able to give something back to them. And the timing couldn't be better. Having Army Ranger Tim Kennedy headline a terrific Challengers event is the perfect start."

A thrilled Tim Kennedy commented…

"This is freaking fantastic news. Right now, the Special Forces group that I recently left are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan . Every single friend of mine is over there and I was planning on emailing every one of them the results of my fight right after it finished on Friday, but instead they get to watch it. I'll be emailing everyone tonight and telling them and letting them know.

"It [MMA] attracts the same kind of people: Intense, excited, aggressive, athletic type people. Also, the skills that guys use in MMA are skills that guys use to stay alive in combat. Boxing, wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu, that's stuff that soldiers use to survive. Some of the Special Forces guys train in that stuff everyday. And for them to get to watch some of the guys that are the best in the world at it is exciting."

We saw how well signing a professional football player (that needed a waiver for assault) because he'd make an 'awesome recruiting tool", went.
I'm not sure we really want" Natural Killers". Wasn't there a movie by that title?
IMO If he wants to Soldier, great. If he wants to use the Military as pony ride for his civilian career, he doesn't belong here. "Service" should be prefaced with "selfless".
Maybe we can slap a Go Army sticker on his tights. (There is that whole 'men in tights" thing . . . EU!)

Finally, "A thrilled Tim Kennedy commented…
"This is freaking fantastic news. Right now, the Special Forces group that I recently left are deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan . Every single friend of mine is over there and I was planning on emailing every one of them the results of my fight right after it finished on Friday, but instead they get to watch it. I'll be emailing everyone tonight and telling them and letting them know.
Aside from the fact that I'm an old, cynical, out-of-touch, hate-filled, grouch with no friends (except RL -- and look where that's gotten me) does this sound a little "It's All About Me".
OBTW IMHO Hand to Hand Combat starts at the maximum effective range of an M-4.

Now that the ARNG has this guy, we'll need an AD Army guy, too - this is becoming like the Armed Forces recruiting campaign in NASCAR. ;)

Richard's $.02 :munchin

Not true Dozer,RL isn't the only guy that loves you,I do too................:lifter:lifter:lifter

Big Teddy :munchin