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thedrifter
07-05-09, 12:44 PM
Extreme Boot Camp, Sport Chalet Team Up to Support Marine in Iraq

Sport Chalet Chairman and CEO Craig Levra and Extreme Boot Camp owner Linda Taix stand amid some of the goodies collected for Rick Mencos, an instructor in one of Taix’s classes who is currently serving with the U.S. Marines in Iraq. Students in Mencos’ class were asked to come up with items for care packages, and they contributed a treasure trove.

Early each morning, often when it was still dark, Rick Mencos would rise at his Montrose home and make his way over to La Caņada Flintridge, where he’d put bleary eyed fitness students through their paces in his role as an Extreme Boot Camp instructor.

Now he’s the one who is subject to the watchful eye and commands of a superior, but with a perilous twist: Mencos endures his rigors under the threat of flying bullets, rocket-propelled grenades and improvised explosive devices.

A lance corporal in the U.S. Marine Reserves, Mencos, 23, was called to duty earlier this year. After four months of realdeal boot camp — at Camp Pendleton — he was deployed to Iraq.

On his first day there, he was riding in a transport truck when the truck in front of him was blasted by a roadside bomb.

“He called his father,” Extreme Boot Camp owner Linda Taix said. “Rick wanted us to know about it and pray for him. And, if we could send anything, it would be great.”

She swung into action, and was soon astonished by the outpouring from the 65 boot-campers who had been in Mencos’ class here. “It is so much,” she said, “that I figure what I’m going to do is send a care package once a week to Rick. I figure it will be Christmas every week for the next several weeks.”

And it’s a timely gesture, as the nation prepares to celebrate Independence Day.

One of those students who eagerly rallied to help was Craig Levra, who is chairman and CEO of Sport Chalet when he’s not sweating through his early morning boot camp.

“We reached out, talked to our buyers,” Levra said, “and were able to secure some product.”

Did he ever. Clothes, T-shirts, shorts, protein bars, power bars, energy bars, according to Taix. “He had one of his guys, Tim Anderson, email us for Rick’s wish list,” she said. “He came over with bags of goodies for Rick. It was so wonderful, you just wanted to cry. He knew Rick, so he knew his sizes.”

Levra reflected on his time as a fitness student under Mencos and said, “We do this, it’s serious for one hour, and everybody takes a shower and goes to work. He does this 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To support him, it’s a very small thing to ask for. It’s a way to say thank you for your service to our country.”

As a boot-camp instructor here, Mencos was known as “Rocket Rick” for his foot speed, but was also a dedicated body builder. So he reportedly was dismayed with what he found in the Marine mess hall: a lot of starchy grub, but not much protein.

The Extreme Boot Camp students responded accordingly. They brought in beef jerky, cans of tuna, nuts and protein bars, as well as CDs, DVDs, batteries, socks, underwear, homemade cookies, picante sauce, sunscreen and muscle magazines.

“If he runs out of stuff,” said Levra, “we’ll get him more. Believe me. I tried to find out what his favorite flavor of power bar is, but nobody knew. Once we find out, we’ll send more.”

Mencos is scheduled to return home in December, which is comforting to his wife, Cecilia, and son Curtis, 5.

In the meantime, while sending off those care packages on a regular basis, his friends from the Extreme Boot Camp will be assured that they know of no one who is better suited for combat duty in one of the world’s hot spots.

“He’s very quiet but very serious,” Levra said. “If he was training you, the work got done. There wasn’t any messing around. A good guy, but it was all business. “Perfect for the Marines.”

Ellie