Diggers defend killer Commando Sergeant Paul Cale
By Kristin Shorten
March 08, 2013 11:32AM
Commando who strangled Taliban commander defends his actions
"I fought alongside Muslims and we were great friends"
Paul Cale poached to train US Special Forces
Sergeant Paul Cale, an elite soldier from Sydney's 2 Commando Regiment, was forced to kill an enemy fighter with his bare hands when his platoon was ambushed while on a mission in the restive Chora region.
The Commando, known as "JJ" to his army mates, yesterday spoke out for the first time about the fated night-mission which motivated him to develop a world-leading close-quarter fighting course.
Interview with Sgt. Paul Cale
As readers expressed mixed responses to the story online, Sgt Cale and his fellow Commandos strongly defended his actions.
"I have to live with my actions every moment of every day," Sgt Cale told news.com.au today.
"It's my life. It's something that happened to me.
"These are the facts of war.
"When countries go to war this is what happens – there's nothing pretty about it."
After the incident, during his 2007 deployment, the 44-year-old martial artist dedicated himself to developing the Australian Commando Integrated Combat package, which is now being used to train US Special Forces.
News.com.au yesterday revealed that Sgt Cale, one of Australia's toughest men, had been poached by the US military after showing his program to US army chiefs at an international skills symposium.
One Special Forces operative, who fought alongside Sgt Cale throughout his 2007 deployment, today spoke out about losing a mate who was fatally shot in a similar ambush.
"JJ had already begun instructing CQC (close quarter combat) before his '07 deployment. I was on one of his first courses," he said.
"A real warrior who lives and breathes his art and one of the nicest blokes I've met.
"For all you bleeding hearts out there that think these Taliban are pleasant, gentle souls, in a very similar scenario on that same deployment JJ and Australia lost a warrior when he was shot and killed making entry into a compound."
Another Commando, who served alongside Sgt Cale in 2010, said he had been "instrumental" to his platoon's survival during the protracted battle of Zabat Kalay.
That mission saw two Commandos wounded and nine valuable Taliban targets killed. Five Commandos also received Gallantry awards for their actions.
Former Yankee Platoon Commander with Delta Company, Major Bram Connolly – who was awarded a Distinguished Service Medal before leaving the defence force – said Sgt Cale had taught his men "critical skills".
"He was instrumental in the platoon being able to use both lethal and less than lethal force while engaged in room combat," he said.
"The techniques taught by Paul to disarm enemy combatants and retain our own weapons was a critical skill that enhanced our strategy of working within the local population in support of the Afghan partner force.
"Paul was a great Platoon Sergeant and his guidance to the young soldiers kept them grounded during our deployment.
"He ran CQF training every second night for both our platoon and the American SF."
Sgt Cale said that while the response to his story was overwhelmingly positive, he said too many Australians misunderstood our country's role in the conflict.
"I fought alongside Muslims and we were great friends," he said.
"We were there supporting them in establishing the rule of law.
"The only thing we're fighting is extremism and people who believe they have the right to harm others for the sake of their beliefs.
"We're there protecting them and helping the Afghans who have stayed in their country and are fighting for the peace and security of their country."
Since its 2010 implementation, the course created by Sgt Cale at Sydney's Holsworthy Barracks has changed the way our top troops train for modern warfare.
"Out of that (2007) event I realised that what we're teaching is north compared to south ... so I reconstructed the entire CQF (close-quarter fighting) program," he said.
"They were basically looking at what we do and when one of their Navy Seals saw our program … he said it was 18 months ahead of anything they'd ever seen in the world.
"The US Special Forces guys sent their instructors over here to work with me through our entire package and went back to the States and introduced it into their package."
The father of two, who used his civilian martial arts training to develop the program, will soon split his time between the US and Australia as he delivers it to the Green Berets with business partner, former Western Australian police detective, Bleddyn 'Taff' Davies.
Email kristin.shorten@news.com.au or follow @itsKShort on Twitter
