By Andrew Edwards
Elmore/Autauga News Staff Writer
Top Photo: Col. Benton speaking.
Three senior students from Edgewood Academy, Joseph Benton, Caleb Justiss and Drew Hansen, were all sworn into their respective branches of military on Tuesday afternoon in the Wildcat’s gym.
Benton and Justiss enlisted into the Alabama Army National Guard as Private First-Class citizen-soldiers, while Hansen enlisted into the U.S. Navy.
“These three students have made a decision that will positively impact the rest of their lives,” said Col. Brad Benton of the Alabama National Guard, and oldest brother of Joseph.
On October 22, 2020, both Justiss and Benton had a swearing in ceremony at the National Guard’s Montgomery location. However, with social distancing guidelines in place, neither were able to have friends or family attend. Now, both students had the opportunity to have not only family, but the entire school watch them sworn into a reserve force that means so much to them.
“It was awesome seeing everyone come out here today. It was disappointing when I couldn’t have anyone with me back in October, but this definitely makes up for it,” Joseph Benton said.
Over the past seven months, both Justiss and Benton have travelled to the guard’s Opelika station for physical fitness training, discipline training, and to learn about army values – all lessons that will benefit the two in the long-run.
“This has helped to prepare them for the next chapter in their military career, and in fact, they’ve done so well in learning all this and telling others about the national guard, that they’ve already been promoted twice during that time – making them Private First-Class,” Col. Benton explained.
Now, the two boys are preparing to be shipped to Fort Jackson, South Carolina later this month to take part in basic training. Afterwards, they will go to Fort Lee, Virginia for their specialized training, or AIT (Advanced Individual Training). Those two training sessions will take, 10 and 13 weeks to complete, respectively.
“We both played football, so it’s sort of like talking to a coach when you talk to your drill sergeant, but you have to address them in a different way. Instead of ‘yes, sir’, you have to say ‘sergeant’, so learning all of that definitely took a lot of getting used to,” Justiss said.
Both Justiss and Benton will specialize as wheel vehicle mechanics, where they will learn fix trucks and other vehicles that the U.S. Army uses on a daily basis.
Hansen, who was also honored at the ceremony, will specialize as an Aviation Structural Mechanic for the U.S. Navy. Their primary job is to maintain aircrafts, such as their activating sub-systems and landing gear.
“The pilots who fly these aircrafts will trust Drew with their lives as they take off into the skies to complete their various missions,” said Lt. Lucas Benton of the U.S. Navy.
Drew will also complete an eight-week basic training before being shipped to Pensacola, Florida for his specialized training.
“I can absolutely say from the bottom of my heart that I’m proud of people who have served, are serving, or plan to serve in the U.S. military. That applies to all three of these gentlemen who are here today,” Lt. Benton said.
At ceremonies end, Hansen was presented with a check for $180,000 representing the GI bill, which would virtually pay for any college or educational institution of his choosing. “It’s like a dream come true,” Hansen said.
