Soldier fights to become best Army boxer
U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command Story by Jason Cutshaw REDSTONE ARSENAL, Alabama – One Soldier keeps fighting to inspire his unit as he aspires to be a champion. Spc. Gadiel Mendez Andino, a satellite communication systems operator and maintainer with Company B, 53rd Signal Battalion, stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland, began boxing in May 2015 and looks to be one of the top Army boxers by the end of the year. “I would like to thank God for keeping my loved ones and myself healthy and safe,” Mendez said. “I began competing because I remember as a child in Puerto Rico when one of the country’s famous boxers would fight just about everyone would stop to watch him and in that hour or so whoever you were and whatever problems you had would be forgotten because you'd be so immersed in the event. “After every win there would be celebrations up and down every street and now that I’m older, I want to be that reason for people’s happines...