Marine Corps Pfc. Abel N. Navarro recently completed basic training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego.
Navarro, a 1999 graduate of San Benito High School, successfully completed 12 weeks of training designed to challenge new Marine recruits both physically and mentally.
He and fellow recruits began their training at 5 a.m. by running three miles and performing calesthenics. In addition to the physical conditioning program, Navarro spent numerous hours in classroom and field assignments.
Former Hollister resident Andrew Bettencourt recently retired after a distinguished 20-year career in the U. S. Coast Guard and has accepted a position as an Instructional Systems Specialist with the U. S. Secret Service, working at the James J. Rowley National Training Center in Laurel, Maryland and at the White House.
Bettencourt, a 1981 graduate of San Benito High School, earned a bachelor’s degree in workforce education and development from Southern Illinois University and a master’s in instructional technologies from San Francisco State University.
He is married to another former Hollister resident, Sandy (Camino) Bettencourt, a 1982 SBHS graduate. They have two daughters, Kelsey, 7, and Abigail, 3.
