Sgt. Marcos Benitez (left), an M1 Abrams gunner with 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, lands a left jab while sparring with Sgt. 1st Class Joel Vallete, the battalion's signal section chief,...
Sgt. Marcos Benitez (right), an M1 Abrams gunner with 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, spars with Sgt. 1st Class Joel Vallete, the battalion's signal section chief, at a gymnasium at Mihail...
Sgt. Marcos Benitez (right), an M1 Abrams gunner, and Sgt. 1st Class Joel Vallete, signal section chief, both of 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, train at a gymnasium at Mihail Kogalniceanu...
Sgt. 1st Class Joel Vallete, section signal chief with 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, leads nightly circuit training exercises and sparring sessions at a gymnasium at Mihail Kogalniceanu ...
MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU, Romania -- Upon entering the gym at Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base, a group of Soldiers and Marines stand out as they spar together. Sweat flows profusely while grunting and smacking sounds reverberate throughout the crowded court that accommodates basketball, volleyball and various cardio and weightlifting equipment.
Boxing is an inspiration and an outlet for Sgt. Marcos Benitez, an armor crewman of Company C, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, who has taken his love for the sport 6,500 miles away from his normal training ground at Fort Carson, Colorado, to Romania, where he's serving as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve.
"I started boxing with my father when I was 6," said Benitez, who is currently an M1A2 Abrams tank gunner.
Although he trained casually as a child and as a teenager in high school, Benitez began intensive training after joining the Army.
During his first deployment with 1st Bn., 8th Inf. Regt., to Qatar in 2015, he found a coach and mentor in Sgt. 1st Class Joel Vallete, the battalion's signal section chief and a veteran boxer with 10 years of experience who took up coaching in 2013.
"The efforts that Benitez devotes to his training as a boxer is an extension of the professionalism he displays as a tank crewman," said Capt. Justin Bowen, commander of Company C. "He always has a positive attitude and a willingness to mentor his subordinates."
Benitez had his first recorded fight on Dec. 17, 2016, just a couple weeks before he deployed with 3/4 ABCT to Europe. The fight was a non-affiliated exhibition match to raise money for Toys-for-Tots and a winter coat drive at Triple Threat Gym in Colorado Springs.
Irene Benitez, his wife, and Vallete, his trainer, both watched his inaugural match. Benitez was nervous but he won by knockout in the third round. His win was the only knockout of the night.
Benitez and Vallete continue to train during the unit's deployment to Europe in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve. Initially this meant training in Poland, where the brigade conducted reception and integration activities prior to 1st Bn., 8th Inf. Regt., landing in Romania to train alongside NATO allies.
The pair's dedicated training and enthusiasm has attracted a growing group of fellow service members stationed at MK Air Base. They meet every night at the Romanian installation's gymnasium as a large group to spar and perform circuit training exercises.
"He's a fighter," said Vallete. "Benitez's fighting acumen during a recent sparring session, he's aggressive when he needs to be and defensive when he needs to be. He's working all the time; when they pause, he's working them."
Benitez plans to pursue more record fights in the near future. He hopes to qualify for a spot on the boxing team in World Class Athlete Program, the U.S. Army's Olympic team. He is hoping to find some available opportunities to further his successful record while in Romania, he said.
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