Photo By Jorge Gomez | Staff Sgt. Richard Banks, a practical nursing specialist at Irwin Army Community...... read more read more
Four years ago, Staff Sgt. Richard Banks was 50 pounds heavier, broken by betrayal, and ready to end it all in South Korea. Today, he’s preparing for Ironman 70.3 in Little Elm, Texas, for March 2026.
In 2020, SSG Banks was stationed in Korea. 12 years into a marriage, he was confident his family was strong. But by early 2021, something felt off. His wife’s calls became shorter, distant. One morning, she told him she wanted a divorce. Isolated and helpless, 14 hours ahead in time zones, SSG Banks tried to hold his life together from halfway across the world.
He didn’t show up for duty. His Detachment Sergeant found him in his room.
“If I didn't have the support the Army gives us, I don't know if I'd be here today. I think the biggest part of that support is a resource that not a lot of people see. And that's our leadership,” said SSG Banks. “My Detachment Sergeant, it was the way that he had been through a divorce, and it was when he told me his story. He told me it’s not a dead end.”
That was the first step toward rebuilding. His Detachment Sergeant urged SSG Banks to find a passion, not a distraction. “A hobby buys you two weeks,” the sergeant said. “You need something that lasts.”
SSG Banks took those words to heart. He turned to fitness. “If my name’s on something, I want to be the best at it,” he says. “My name is on this uniform, so I wanted to be the best Soldier, the best NCO, the best leader.”
He met with dietitians, followed the Army’s Performance Triad, and built a structured plan. The scale dropped from 250 to 185 pounds, and he discovered that physical training gave him something powerful and intoxicating.
One night, scrolling through YouTube, he came across footage of a woman finishing an Ironman triathlon. “When she was coming across the finish line, she was hurt, she was exhausted. And they said her name, and they said, ‘You are an Ironman.’ And I said that that's what I want,” SSG Banks said.
Since then, he’s completed several races as steppingstones toward his vision of achieving an Ironman triathlon, which consists of a 2.4-mile swim, a 112-mile bicycle ride and a marathon 26.22-mile run for a total of 140.6 miles. It is widely considered one of the most difficult one-day sporting events in the world.
The hardest part of his training, SSG Banks says, isn’t physical. It’s mental.
“There are mornings I wake up at 3:30 to ride my bike, and I think, ‘What’s this for?’”
His counselor advised him to keep a journal. When doubts hit, he reads past entries like ones about his daughter asking about his workouts.
“It feels good that my 15-year-old cares about this,” he said. “I get to call her after a 50-mile ride and tell her my time. I don’t know why she cares but she does.”
That connection drives him. “I’m doing it for myself,” he said, “but sharing it with her gives it meaning.”
In March 2026, SSG Banks will stand at the starting line of a Half Ironman in Little Elm, Texas, consisting of 1.2 miles of swimming, 56 miles of cycling, and a half marathon. If all goes well, he plans to complete a full Ironman by the end of 2026. When he crosses that finish line exhausted, someone will say his name on loudspeakers and announce he is an Ironman. It won't erase the pain he experienced in Korea. But it will be proof that he did something he chose to do, something difficult, something that matters.
Staff Sergeant Richard Banks is a practical nursing specialist in the Army. He is currently the Education & Training Noncommissioned Officer in Charge at Irwin Army Community Hospital, Fort Riley, Texas. View the full-length interview at https://www.dvidshub.net/video/986678/becoming-ironman.
| Date Taken: | 10.20.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 12.10.2025 10:17 |
| Story ID: | 553444 |
| Location: | FORT RILEY, KANSAS, US |
| Web Views: | 43 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Becoming Ironman, by Jorge Gomez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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