Army National Guard Pvt. Gregory Benjamin has recently graduated from school as a metal worker at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. Prior to that, he went through basic training at Fort Jackson, S.C.

During the nine weeks of basic training, the soldier studied the Army mission, history, tradition and core values, physical fitness, and received instruction and practice in combat skills, military weapons, chemical welfare and bayonet training, drill and ceremony, rifle marksmanship, armed and unarmed combat, land navigation, field tactics, military courtesy, military justice system, basic field aid, and field training exercises.

Benjamin is the son of Jodi Smith and Tim Smith of Mexico. He is a 2006 graduate of Mountain Valley High School.