Photo By Staff Sgt. Paul Glover | Sgt. Corey Blankenship, a human resources non-commissioned officer with 1st Battalion,...... read more read more
By: Sgt. Paul Evans
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq — At least six days a week, buried deep within the corridors of their offices on Joint Base Balad, you will find one of the 149th Infantry Regiment’s strongest assets morning and night.
That asset is more of a who rather than a what, motivating others to constantly improve themselves physically and get in shape with his typical one-hour, twice daily workouts.
Sgt. Corey Blankenship, a human resources non-commissioned officer with 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry Regiment, 77th Sustainment Brigade, 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command, a native of Corbin, Ky., can very clearly say it’s not always easy being your unit’s resident strong man.
For Blankenship, a lot of dedication goes into doing a good job at the office and the gym, leading by example in both settings.
His boss, Sgt. 1st Class Terry Roark from East Bernstadt, Ky., said, “I like to consider Sgt. Blankenship as the backbone of the section. He brings the knowledge and leadership to the section when I can’t and keeps them active in their duties. He’d be tough to replace.”
The ingredients necessary outside the gym to stay in shape consist of a low-carbohydrate, low fat, high protein diet.
Altogether, Blankenship has some pretty good statistics to show for all of his diet and exercise: he can bench press 455 pounds, bicep curl a 225 pound bar and squat about 500 pounds, just to highlight a few of his impressive feats. In addition to spending two hours a day in the gym, Blankenship tries to throw in about 30 minutes of cardio work twice a week, either running or going bike riding.
Asked how hard it is to maintain his high level of fitness, Blankenship said, “Consistency is about the only way. You’ve got to make it part of life where you stick to it…but you get lazy sometimes. I’ve always got someone to work out with me for motivation.”
In Iraq, Blankenship has fellow Corbin, Ky., native, Spc. Joshua Wilson, who is a human resources specialist in the 149th Regiment, and back home Blankenship said he usually works out at his home gym with his brother.
Blankenship said he joined the Army in November 2006 because he was just bored with civilian jobs. Blankenship said, “At the time, I had a lot of friends in the Guard pulling me towards joining, and the idea of getting college benefits was cool.”
Since joining, Blankenship has held three separate military occupational specialties, to include infantry, diesel generator mechanic and human resources. He also attended schools for air assault and rappel master. This is his first deployment, however.
In civilian life, Blankenship works full-time as Human Resources non-commissioned officer at Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 149th Infantry Regimentm in Barbourville, Ky., attends Columbia Southern University working on his bachelor’s degree in human resources management and goes home to Corbin every night to his daughter and wife of 10 years.
As for what he enjoys most about the Army, Blankenship said, “Aside from friends and camaraderie, there’s always something new… whether it’s getting to travel, go overseas or attend interesting schools, the opportunity is always there to do something big.”
For Blankenship, it seems, you can either go big or go home…and in the months to come, home is not an option.
| Date Taken: | 09.04.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 09.04.2011 03:49 |
| Story ID: | 76416 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE BALAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 443 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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