Army Ranger Graduate Matthew Anderson McClary

Matthew Anderson McClary, a 2002 Ponderosa High School graduate and a West Point Military Academy distinguished graduate has recently graduated from the most rigorous training course the United States Army offers, Army Ranger School, and has been promoted to first lieutenant.

More than 400 soldiers began but only 161 graduated graduated from the course at Fort Benning, Ga. The school is an extremely intense combat leadership course oriented toward small-unit tactics.

The United States Army Ranger School is open to most male members of the United States Army; Ranger Regiments are Special Operations warfighting units organized under the United States Army Special Operations Command. Ranger School is a requirement for all officers and NCOs of the 75th Ranger Regiment.

According to Melanie Reagan, McClary's mother, 1st Lt. McClary is leading an infantry troop in Afghanistan and is scheduled to be in the country for the next six to eight months.