Task Force Baghdad officer lifts away stress

Photo By Sgt. Matthew Wester | CAMP TAJI, Iraq - Maj. Craig P. Boston, commander of B Company, 125th Forward Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, lifts during the Taji Ironman Bench Press Competition at Camp Taji on Oct. 2. "People need to stay fit. It's part of the Army philosophy," Boston said. "If you're not fit on the battlefield, you're going to be a liability not only to yourself, but to your fellow Soldiers. (Weightlifting) only makes sense."  

TAJI, IRAQ

10.21.2005

Courtesy Story

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Sgt. Matthew Wester
3/1 AD PAO

CAMP TAJI, Iraq -- Sweat glistens on a Soldier's face as his powdered hands grip a silver bar.

A judge stationed behind a bench drops his hand and the lift begins. The Soldier brings the weight down slowly and explodes as the bar, which sags at its sides because of the tremendous weight, rises to the rack.

The official says, "The lift is a 'go.'"

This is power lifting, and this is how Maj. Craig P. Boston relieves the stress of his third deployment to Iraq. He competed at the Taji Ironman Bench Press Competition Oct. 2 and, earlier this year, won the Taji Ironman Squat Competition.

The 87th Corps Support Battalion sponsored both events.

Boston, commander of B Company, 125th Forward Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, loves the intensity of competitive weightlifting.

"It's a pretty wild thing," Boston said. "You can't hear the judge or the crowd. You've got like a storm raging in your head."

Boston did his best to quiet that storm and focus all his thoughts on bench-pressing as much weight as he could for one smooth repetition.

"That's a big part of the game, the mental part, knowing you can do the weight," he said. "If you don't think you can do the weight, you aren't going to put it up."

At the competition, spotters loaded 325 pounds on the bar. The announcer said, "The bar is loaded," and Boston walked confidently to the bench.

He waved off the optional spotter behind the bench and calmly pressed the weight. After several rounds of lifting, Boston achieved his "max" lift of 345 pounds. The amount was good enough to earn him sixth in a field of more than 50 competitors.

It took many hours of training to get to that level, but he has put in his time at the gym. He's been pumping iron for a long time"ever since he joined the Army.

His history with weights goes back even further than that.

"My father didn't have a regular squat rack, but he had this big piping for plumbing that he put together to make a squat rack. He and my brother would be squatting, lifting, and getting big. I was never really into it," he said. "I guess I was a late bloomer."

Boston took his father's ingenuity to heart and, in the absence of gym facilities during the liberation of Iraq in 2003, worked with his Soldiers to build his own makeshift gym equipment out of unserviceable vehicle parts.

The welder from the company's service and recovery section welded metal plates to bars to make dumbbells. Soldiers from the motor pool used scrap to construct benches and racks.

"Next thing you know, we had fabricated this little "gym" and we had everyone on our little camp going to it to work out," he said.

Boston got others involved in his passion for weightlifting at the beginning of this combat tour. A noncommissioned officer from B Company, Sgt. 1st Class Ivy L. Guido, started working out with Boston to improve his strength and for motivation.

"He said, 'I need help with my bench,' and I said, 'Well, I need help with my legs," Guido said. "So, we started off from there, and the more we went to the gym, the stronger we kept getting."

Guido said Boston's strong showing at Taji's squat contest motivated him to start training for the bench press competition.

Both men see weightlifting as a great way to relieve stress and keep in fighting shape in Iraq.

"Staying fit is the best way to relieve stress," Guido said. "If you aren't doing weightlifting in your training, you aren't getting the best level of fitness."

"People need to stay fit. It's part of the Army philosophy," Boston said. "If you're not fit on the battlefield, you're going to be a liability not only to yourself, but to your fellow Soldiers. (Weightlifting) only makes sense."

Boston said he wants to compete in one more weightlifting contest before his tour here is over " maybe a combination of different events or another squat competition.

Guido said he has similar goals: "We plan on getting in on the next one, and stopping the show for that one, too."

• Date Taken: 10.21.2005
• Date Posted: 10.21.2005 13:14
• Story ID: 3429
• Location: TAJI, IQ