Soldier rejoins service after losing pool game

by Sgt. 1st Class Alex Licea
3rd BCT, 82nd Abn. Div., MND-B PAO

	photo by Sgt. 1st Class Alex Licea, 3rd BCT, 82nd Abn. Div., MND-B PAO Sgt. Teo Garcia, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad, plays a game of pool at the Morale, Welfare and Recreation center July 20 on Joint Security Station Loyalty in eastern Baghdad. Garcia rejoined the Army in 2007 after losing a bet.

BAGHDAD — When most Soldiers tell others why they joined the Army, many stories are similar. Many join right out of high school, some do it for the benefits and others do it to improve or change their lives. But when Sgt. Teo Garcia, currently deployed to Baghdad with the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, tells his Army story the answer is simple, “I lost at a game of pool and here I am.”

As a boy growing up in his native Panama, Garcia knew he wanted to be a Soldier when he first saw an American servicemember during the U.S. invasion of his country in 1989 during Operation Just Cause.
“Seeing those men on the ground and talking to the people really influenced me,” said Garcia. “I saw how they changed our lives and it made me realize that I wanted to do the same for others.”

Soon after the U.S. invasion had concluded in January 1990, Garcia and his mother moved to the United States and bounced around until they settled in Miami. 

In August 1992, Garcia would see the paratroopers of the 82nd Abn. Div. once again to bring humanitarian assistance and restore order. This time, on the neighborhood streets of south Florida following the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew. He said seeing those Soldiers make a difference to his community made him want to join even more.

So in 1993 Garcia enlisted in the Army as a mechanized infantryman. After training, he was assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division based in Fort Hood, Texas. Soon after arriving, his unit deployed to Kuwait in support of Operation Intrinsic Action in 1995.

For the next eight months, Garcia lived in the sprawling deserts of the tiny nation. Garcia said he loved the camaraderie and became the unit’s barber. He said cutting hair relaxed him during the stressful deployment.

“Times were hard, but I made a lot of good friends and had some good experiences, especially when I was cutting hair,” he said.

After six years of being a Bradley driver and gunner, he felt it would be best to separate from the service.

Garcia bounced around from job to job for the next year before deciding to go back to his passion of cutting hair. So he enrolled in a barber school and became a certified barber. In 2004, he and a friend took his profession to the next level and opened a barbershop named Scissors and Clippers in Miami. 

His shop, along with selling timeshares made Garcia’s life seem like it was on a successful path. But tragedy struck the Garcia Family in 2005 when his brother was killed in action in Afghanistan.

“I was devastated, but proud and honored that he fought for the freedom of others. He was killed fighting for freedom,” said Garcia.

Times would get harder. In 2007, Garcia was laid off from the timeshare company he worked for. Garcia got in his car and made the 1,200 mile road trip from Miami to his mother’s house in Wildwood, N.J., where he would stay for the next month. It was at a local bar in Wildwood that Garcia ran into an old buddy from his Army days, Jeffery King, a recently retired Army first sergeant.

After reminiscing about the old days, King asked him if he had ever thought about rejoining the Army. Garcia’s initial reacting was instant.

“Hell no!” he said. “That is not for me, those days are behind me.”

Trying to convince Garcia about a second run at military service, King then challenged Garcia to a game of pool and made a wager.

“Jeffery told me to play him in a best out of three games in pool and if I won he would give me $3,000. But if he won, I would have to rejoin the Army and serve for three years.”

“Well you know the rest and that joker hustled me,” he said laughing. “I thought I could take him, but it is the best bet I ever took because he made me realize that I was missing something in my life. I missed being a Soldier and I found myself.”

Garcia drove back home to Miami and rejoined the Army two days later as an infantryman.
Today Garcia serves in those same ranks as the men before him who brought freedom back to his native country and clean water and food to him in his adopted home of Miami. Garcia is now doing his part to ensure lasting peace in Iraq while deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

“I have truly come full circle,” he said. “This is where I belong.”