LINE (Marine Corps close combat system)
A close combat system used by the US Marine Corps from 1989 to 1998. Its six fixed technique sequences ended in a lethal finish and were replaced by Close Combat and MCMAP.
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About LINE (Marine Corps close combat system)
LINE (Linear In-Fighting Neural-override Engagement) is a close combat system that the US Marine Corps adopted in March 1989 as its first standardized close combat training and used until 1998. The sources differ slightly on how the acronym is expanded. Its creator is Ronald S. Donvito. An article in Marine Corps History (2026), citing Tank Todd, states that he developed the system in the seventies as a civilian and joined the Marine Corps later. James F. Blanton's thesis (2008) places its origin in 1977 or 1978.
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According to the work of Major Richard D. Hall (2002), the system was meant to be easy to learn and remember and usable when tired, in full gear and in poor visibility. The FMFM 0-7 manual of 1993 calls it the heart of close combat training. It divides it into six parts, from basic grappling techniques through strikes and kicks, knife defense and knife fighting to disabling enemy personnel and bayonet defense. According to the manual, the techniques are meant to cause such damage that the opponent's nervous system overrides conscious thought, and the sequences repeatedly end with a heel stomp on the opponent's head. According to Singleton's work (2012), the weakness of the system was its limited ability to respond to the full spectrum of combat and escalation of force, because all techniques ended in a lethal stomp. According to Blanton, the ALMAR 142-98 message gives the need for more non-lethal techniques as one of the main reasons for the change. In 1998 the Commandant, General Krulak, ended LINE training. Between LINE and the MCMAP program, the Marine Corps Close Combat Training Program operated from 1997 to 1999.
History
The system's creator is Ronald S. Donvito, whom the works of Major Richard D. Hall (2002) and Major James F. Blanton (2008) list with the rank of gunnery sergeant. An article in the journal Marine Corps History (2026), citing Tank Todd, writes that he developed the system in the seventies as a civilian and joined the Corps later. Blanton places its origin in 1978, and elsewhere in his work in 1977. In an interview for Fight Times (2007), Donvito states that he created the system before joining the Marine Corps in 1978.
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According to Hall, LINE was meant to bring more uniform close combat instruction, was introduced first on the East Coast and later taught to all members of the Corps. The article in Marine Corps History states that the Corps adopted the system in March 1989 and used it until 1998. The FMFM 0-7 Close Combat manual of July 9, 1993 describes LINE as part of the Marine Corps System of Close Combat. Donvito presented the system in the article Close Combat: The LINE System in Marine Corps Gazette in 1995. In spring 1996 the Commandant, General Krulak, convened the Close Combat Review Board, whose members included Jack Hoban and master gunnery sergeant Cardo Urso. According to Hall, the board invited roughly ten experts in karate, judo, jujitsu and aikido. The resulting Marine Corps Close Combat Training Program operated from 1997 to 1999, and the MCRP 3-02B manual of February 18, 1999 replaced FMFM 0-7. In 1998 Krulak ended LINE training. The sources differ on the dates. The 2011 MCRP 3-02B manual places the origin of LINE generally in the eighties, and a 2015 teaching presentation of the MCMAP instructor course gives the early eighties and the creation of the Close Combat program in 1998.
How it differs
According to Singleton (2012), the system differed from the MCMAP program, which replaced LINE after an interim program, in two weaknesses. It could not respond to the full spectrum of combat and escalation of force, because all techniques ended in a lethal stomp to the head, and it lacked a link to values education and leadership. MCMAP combines physical training with mental and character components. Blanton (2008) states that the Corps concluded that overriding the nervous system cannot be relied upon. LINE is performed as a fixed sequence, so when the attacker reacts differently or blocks the attack, the sequence is broken. MCMAP, by contrast, teaches individual techniques that allow the soldier to adapt to a changing situation. Blanton also writes that the six drills of the FMFM 0-7 manual represent a development of the techniques of Applegate and Fairbairn into an easily learnable system with a relatively small number of techniques. This is his interpretation, the manual itself does not name these authors.
Technique
The FMFM 0-7 manual (1993) divides the basic LINE system into six parts, each building on the previous one. LINE I contains basic offensive and defensive techniques and takedowns for the grappling phase and is the basis for LINE II to IV. LINE II concerns medium range, that is strikes and kicks. LINE III is unarmed defense against a knife attack, LINE IV knife fighting against an opponent with a knife, LINE V disabling enemy personnel as quickly and quietly as possible, and LINE VI unarmed defense against a bayonet attack.
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According to the manual, the techniques aim to damage the opponent's body so that his central nervous system overrides conscious thought. The opponent is thus immobilized and controlled and, once control is gained, disabled. The sequences in the manual repeatedly end with an instruction to quickly and forcefully stomp the opponent's head with the heel. Blanton (2008) describes LINE as a very rigidly structured system in which each technique is divided into a series of movements called ditties. According to him, it rests on gross motor skills practiced repeatedly so that the defender has a simple set of techniques. It does not focus on ground fighting but anticipates it. The FMFM 0-7 manual states, in its section on offensive skills, that close combat kicks must be simple and doable in combat gear, when tired and in the dark, and that kicks above the waist expose the groin and impair balance.
Training
The manual FMFM 0-7 requires LINE techniques to be repeated constantly so that they become instinctive conditioned reactions performed quickly and violently. For safe hard-contact training, the manual recommends different target areas and minor modifications of the techniques. According to Hall (2002), the system was meant to be usable even when fatigued, in full gear and in poor visibility. Major Hall states in the foreword to his work that he completed the LINE instructor course shortly after its introduction. In a 2007 interview, Donvito says that the basic instructor course lasted two weeks, roughly fifty hours, and that the techniques were assessed from a medical standpoint by a military medical examiner and a group of forensic pathologists. In unit training, LINE never caught on, according to Singleton (2012). Singleton quotes Lieutenant Colonel Bristol, director of the Corps' martial arts center: the system remained outside the mainstream, was practiced with enthusiasm in basic training and by a few loyal followers, but the Corps as a whole overlooked it.
Today
In the Marine Corps, LINE has not been trained since 1998. Blanton (2008) states that Air Force Chief of Staff General T. Michael Moseley reacted to an article in Air Force Times about airmen learning LINE. His inquiry led the Air Force training command to search for the best close combat system, and the resulting Air Force Combatives Program was based directly on the first level of Modern Army Combatives. According to English Wikipedia and Donvito's 2007 statement, the Army Special Forces qualification course took over LINE from 1998. Wikipedia states that it was replaced there by the Modern Army Combatives Program in October 2007. An article from 2007 gives a contact for LINE Combatives.
Did you know
In an interview for Fight Times (2007), Donvito says the name came from the movement of a fire team in a line. When the Corps wanted to rename the system MCSOCC and asked what LINE stood for, he proposed, in his own words, Linear Infighting Neural-override Engagement and chose the words afterwards to fit the letters. The 1993 manual FMFM 0-7 indeed uses the name Marine Corps System of Close Combat (MCSOCC). Sources differ on the expansion of the acronym. In the foreword to his 2002 work, Major Hall writes Linear Integrated Neural-Override Engagement.
Frequently asked questions
Who created the LINE system and when?
The creator is Ronald S. Donvito. An article in Marine Corps History (2026), citing Tank Todd, states that he developed the system in the seventies as a civilian, while Blanton (2008) gives 1977 or 1978. The Marine Corps adopted the system in March 1989.
Why did the Marine Corps abandon the LINE system?
Message ALMAR 142-98, according to Blanton (2008), gives the need for more non-lethal techniques as one of the main reasons. Singleton (2012) adds that all techniques ended in a lethal stomp to the head and that the system lacked education in values. General Krulak ended LINE training in 1998.
What parts did the LINE system consist of?
The manual FMFM 0-7 (1993) divides it into six parts. They include grappling, strikes and kicks, knife defense, knife-versus-knife fighting, disabling enemy personnel, and bayonet defense.
Similar styles
Selected by overlap in the style profile, not by historical lineage.