{"id":391159,"date":"2023-05-09T06:06:35","date_gmt":"2023-05-08T20:06:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=391159"},"modified":"2023-05-09T06:06:35","modified_gmt":"2023-05-08T20:06:35","slug":"guam-guard-enlists-its-1st-ged-program-graduate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/guam-guard-enlists-its-1st-ged-program-graduate\/","title":{"rendered":"Guam Guard enlists its 1st GED+ Program graduate"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Cinto Peredo of Dededo, Guam, left, is sworn into the Guam National Guard by Brig. Gen. Mike Cruz, adjutant general, at the Barrigada Readiness Complex May 2, 2023. (U.S. NATIONAL GUARD\/MARK SCOTT)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

BARRIGADA, Guam\u2014Cinto Peredo of Dededo, Guam, enlisted into the Guam Army National Guard as the first candidate to complete the Graduate Equivalency Degree program at the Guam Community College.<\/p>\n

The GED+ Program is a joint venture between the Guam Army National Guard and the Guam Community College that enables students to attain a GED, pass the military entrance exam, and enlist in the Guard.<\/p>\n

Peredo, who is a father of three, currently works as a mechanic and tire technician. \u201cI heard about the Guard and wanted to better my lifestyle and create more opportunities for my family,\u201d said Peredo. But without a GED, he was unable to enlist.<\/p>\n

He signed up for the first 31-day GED+ Program in November 2022 and took courses in Math, Science, English, and Social Studies. He received additional tutoring in math from David Conlu of the Guard\u2019s Recruiting and Retention Battalion. With the additional support, Peredo passed his GED+ exam in April 2023.<\/p>\n

Brig Gen. Mike Cruz, adjutant general, gave remarks prior to enlisting Peredo. \u201cWhen you said you\u2019re trying to get better, Cinto, it\u2019s important for two reasons. One, it\u2019s the Army\u2019s slogan to \u2018Be All You Can Be.\u2019 Second, living here in the second island chain, you are becoming a defender of your homeland. I\u2019d like to welcome you to the team, and I\u2019m inspired by what you\u2019ve overcome to be here. Thanks also to your family, because it takes your support for him to do what he did,\u201d said Cruz.<\/p>\n

Dr. Mary Okada, president and CEO of Guam Community College was also in attendance. \u201cThis program is a model of how we can come together to lift people up,\u201d said Okada. \u201cThe GED+ program is such a significant milestone not only for your service, but as a way to encourage others and tell them if I can do this, you can do this. This is the first of more to come, and thank you to everyone involved from the GCC and the Guard in helping lift these individuals up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peredo will become a 91B, Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic, in the Guam Army National Guard. (Guam National Guard Public Affairs)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BARRIGADA, Guam\u2014Cinto Peredo of Dededo, Guam, enlisted into the Guam Army National Guard as the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":391161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1205],"class_list":["post-391159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-guam-guard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}