Photo By Staff Sgt. Jody Metzger | Staff Sgt. Michael Bennett shows Sgt. Brian Brokling how to perform a round house kick...... read more read more
By Staff Sgt. Jody Metzger
Multi-National Division - Baghdad
CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq – The arm of the coach came up and slapped him across the face. Tired and disoriented, Staff Sgt. Michael Bennett fought the sting of the coach's slap as the crowd looked on. Humiliation and disbelief ran though all of his 6-feet, 3-inches, unleashing the focus and determination to go back in the ring and fight one more fight.
"I fought 'Mamook the Whale,' tall and fast, a good fighter, but I knew I was better," said Bennett. "We went pound for pound, but we couldn't get an edge, and then it was down to 15 seconds. He became arrogant, he dropped his guard and I closed in and clocked him upside the head with a round house."
The All-Army Taekwondo Team claimed the gold and walked out victorious, proclaiming Bennett a champion.
It was one of the most memorable events in Bennett's life, a moment in time where Soldier and fighter became one.
"The All-Army training called to me and told me to keep fighting," said Bennett. "That is the strength of the Army – a desire and love to fight for our country."
Perceived as a big man with a voice to go with his size, Bennett has a larger-than-life handle on being a Soldier and on his assigned position as a non-commissioned officer and assistant commandant, Division Special Troops Battalion, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad.
Those working with him literally and figuratively have much to look up to.
"He is always a voice of reason and always has a joke to make you laugh," said Capt. Zachary Keller, who serves as the commandant's section officer in charge with Company A, DSTB.
Keller smiled while thinking of Bennett because he says that Bennett always takes on more than he is originally given. The happy and joking NCO has been a mentor and helper to his section and Keller acknowledges that with confidence.
"He is what you would call a 'go-to guy.' If there is anything I need, I can ask Staff Sgt. Bennett."
Bennett found his martial arts passion and talent early on. Tucked against his mother's side, a 12-year-old Bennett looked on for the first time at a Kung Fu class and appreciated the discipline and brutality of the sport. The youngest of seven brothers and one sister growing up in Shreveport, La., Bennett's mother pushed her son to learn a martial art for defense.
He was attracted to the art of Taekwondo by a good friend from school and because of growing up during the Bruce Lee era.
"I wanted to learn all the fighting art and an opportunity came. It was what Bruce Lee said on the movie screen, 'The art of fighting without fighting.'"
While walking into the classroom, elated for the chance to participate in the sport, for Bennett it was the philosophies that captured his heart.
In the 1980s, racial segregation still ran rampant in Louisiana; yet, in the hands of the instructors of Taekwondo, he learned that the only colors in the class were that of the belts.
"It humbled me and made me very patient with people and gave me a better perspective on understanding diversities because it was a mixed class, a multi-cultured concept – everybody was friends," he said.
"I enjoyed the martial arts because we were not just a color but we were a family. We fought together, had a good time together. It was never that we couldn't hang out together because you were black or Asian. It was always a fun time."
Just as the belts represent reward and responsibility, the military has taken hold of Bennett in much the same way.
Bennett first enlisted in the Army as an infantryman after being approached at the United States National Taekwondo Team trials in Dayton, Ohio, in 1988. Although Bennett had already achieved a bachelor's degree at Southern University A & M College in Baton Rouge and was working at a good job, he was still anxious to pursue his dream of becoming a U.S. National Taekwondo champion and a U.S. Olympic athlete. But training for such an event would take eight grueling hours of training per day, time he did not have as a full-time employee.
The All-Army Taekwondo military athletic program shot Bennett to stardom as he was able to focus his attention on his passion – fighting. Within five years, Bennett had won his first national championship. A year later, Master Sgt. Bruce Harris, the All-Army Taekwondo coach, called him up and wanted him on the All-Army Taekwondo Team and to try out and make the U.S. Taekwondo Olympic Team. Six years later he would fight "Mamook the Whale" and claim the gold for the All-Army Taekwondo Team and go on to become a two-time U.S. Olympic athlete in 1992 and 1996.
Iraq and the Army has seen the many faces of Bennett, decorated with experience as an infantryman, airborne qualifier and tanker – a Soldier using his love of fighting to better his country.
"We have a desire and love for fighting for our country," said Bennett, as he talked of fighting in the ring and as a Soldier, as if they were one. "That is what keeps our hearts alive."
With almost 20 years in the Army, Bennett finds comfort in his accolades and commitment to the team but looks forward to a coming retirement.
Family, he admits, is calling him, and just as his family has been intertwined with his military brethren, he looks forward to the reunion with his daughters.
Bennett holds three United States Open Taekwondo gold medals, three United States National Taekwondo Championship gold medals, three World Taekwondo Championships, two 8th Army Championships, and is a three-time World Conseil International du Sports Militaire Taekwondo champion.
| Date Taken: | 11.05.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 11.05.2008 05:43 |
| Story ID: | 25937 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 1,001 |
| Downloads: | 267 |
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