Ben was born at Fort Belvoir at the old DeWitt Hospital. His father, Bill Guinan, was a JAG Officer in the Vietnam era, retiring from his Commission when Ben was still young. Later during Ben’s childhood, his father went to work at the Pentagon as a Government employee, spending 37 years as the General Counsel to the Army Audit General in the Army Audit Agency. Ben’s mother, Deborah Shaver, worked at ICF Kaiser, working her way up to senior executive vice president of Defense Contracting for the company. Ben attended local schools: North Springfield Elementary, Poe Middle School, Rocky Run Middle, and Chantilly High School. His favorite subject was physics, however, Ben was drawn to music and performing arts He participated in many of the school’s bands and choirs. He was part of the symphonic winds band, playing the bass clarinet. In the jazz band, played tenor sax. He started off with murdering the cello in second grade. Ben was part of his high school and college marching bands, playing the tuba at JMU. As a singer in high school, he was a tenor section leader of the madrigal choir, the chamber choir, and was the tenor section leader and male dance captain of the show choir. He also participated in Fairfax County satellite high school musical theatre program, starring in roles like Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls.

At 17, Ben graduated from high school and headed to James Madison University. He took on a double major in geography (focusing on Geographic Information Analysis) and sociology (focused on occupations and bureaucracy). This geospatial referencing program was new to the public, but his professor was an expert, having developed a newly-declassified program for the CIA. While Ben attended college, he worked in a food service industry both on and off campus. He graduated from JMU in 1996.

After finishing his undergraduate degree, Ben continued his employment in the restaurant industry, working as a manager at a Chili’s in Harrisonburg. He took a hands-on role for everything from food preparation to expediting orders to line management. During this time, he applied to graduate school, but was unable to secure a spot in the programs he wished to pursue.

As Ben considered a master’s degree, he talked to a few friends who encouraged him to consider the military. He realized it would be a good choice for him, found an Army recruiter, and enlisted in June of 1997. With high ASVAB scores, Ben initially was selected for high-security positions, but due to some issues with his recruiter and in-processing events, he was eventually assigned to the 35H Electrical Engineering/Calibration specialty.

Once his paperwork was sorted out, Ben headed to Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri for basic training. He performed well during the weapons evaluations and was able to train on the advanced ranges. After basic training, Ben went to Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi for AIT. Although he completed AIT in eight months, because his training was at the Air Force base, he was AFI (awaiting further instruction) for over a year, as the airmen received their placements first.

Almost two years after arriving in Mississippi, Ben was finally sent to a two-year rotation in South Korea. He went right to work at Yongsan, as he was the only calibrator at his duty station for the first five months. After returning from a month of leave, Ben was stationed at a detachment off of Camp Sears in Uijeongbu.

In 2000, Ben broke his back during a training accident. He spent several months in a hospital, unable to walk. With significant physical therapy and rehabilitative treatments, he was able walk again and eventually transferred to limited duty. He credits his comrades and colleagues for assisting him during his healing and transition. Despite receiving comprehensive care, Ben knew this significant injury would not allow him to continue with his previously rigorous physical training. Once he was well enough to transfer, Ben received orders to Fort Stewart, Georgia. He finished his enlistment in 2002, serving a total of five years on active duty and an additional five years on inactive reserve.