MARINE CORPS AIR STATION MIRAMAR, Calif. – It seemed like any other night as Cpl. Aaron Gardner walked through the streets of downtown San Diego in late 2009. Little did he know the events that transpired that night would change his life.

“I used to fight amateur and professional Mixed Martial Arts before I was attacked downtown by some gang members,” he said. “The palate in the roof of my mouth and both eye sockets were crushed, my teeth knocked out and my septum completely destroyed with a baseball bat.”

An attack of that magnitude might leave other people scarred mentally as well as physically – not Gardner. He refused to be victimized, and turned his energy and challenge-seeking ways into a gift for others.

Once he recovered from the accident, Gardner’s gunnery sergeant, now 1st Sgt. Christian Bull, company first sergeant with Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, introduced him to a CrossFit program called “Fight Gone Bad.”

“When Gunnery Sgt. Bull put me through Fight Gone Bad, I thought that was the hardest thing I had ever done in my life, and I thought I had found something [that would challenge me],” said Gardner.

His passion for CrossFit grew over time, until he eventually became a licensed instructor at Boombox Fitness.

However, Gardner didn’t stop there, now he helps instruct Marines on the Body Conditioning Program aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., not because he seeks glory, but because he cares.

Marines who are not required to attend the program, like Pfc. Dustin Newell, an ordnance technician with Station Ordnance, show up on a daily basis.

“I’ve been working with Cpl. Gardner for a little more than a month and a half,” said Newell, a Checotah, Okla., native.

“He pretty much drags me to work out every day. Every day I don’t want to come but he says, ‘No, come and we’ll make it fun.’ I end up coming every single day and it’s a great time. I love coming here and working out with him as my coach.”

From being the victim of a violent crime to the leader he is today, Gardner has let nothing stand in the way of serving his country and his friends at work and at the gym.

“I like to see that people want to make themselves better, I value that in people,” said Gardner. “Like my starting with Newell, I convinced him to come for just one day and now he’s a regular. I like to make people hungry for improvement the way I am, that’s what motivates me and keeps me coaching.”

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