Photo By Sgt. Ryan Scribner | U.S. Army Sgt. Jonathan Rios, a vehicle driver with the 369th Sustainment Brigade,...... read more read more
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait -- No more bowl cuts from mom.
For Sgt. Jonathan Rios, this decision to cut his own hair at 13-years-old set him down a path that he has not stopped traveling.
Rios is a barber whose talents and skills aid him in his ability to put ‘people first,’ prioritizing their development and welfare while increasing trust, inspiring and leading them.
As a vehicle driver with the 369th Sustainment Brigade, New York Army National Guard, Rios did not set out on his particular mark of adolescence without forethought. At 11-years-old he worked at a hair salon in the Bronx, New York, sweeping up hair and cleaning up shop. But more than that, he was watching the hairstylists cut hair.
“I said, ‘You know what? I want to do that,’” Rios said. “I wanted to cut my own hair, my brother’s hair.”
Practicing on himself and his five brothers, Rios said there were a lot of terrible haircuts in the beginning. An early attempt at a shape-up or line-up, which involves cutting along the natural hairline to straighten it, ended in a brother with a botched hairline and an angry father who banned haircuts at home.
“He didn’t say don’t cut hair anymore, he said, ‘Don’t cut in the house anymore,'” Rios said, recalling his father’s words. “So, I went to school and started doing it—I was cutting hair in the bathroom.”
Sgt. Jorge Garcia-Escarraman, a motor transport operator with the 369th SB, knows all about Rios’ inventive hair cutting locations.
“Where he cuts hair sometimes is in some of the most awkward locations,” Garcia-Escarraman said. “It speaks to his ability to adapt to doing what he loves to do anywhere, anytime, any location, and the love he has for Soldiers as well.”
During his haircut, Sgt. Jamik McDowell, a human resources sergeant with the 369th SB, joked that a barber who cuts hair well warrants loyalty similar to that given to a spouse in marriage. However, McDowell was serious when he said that he has been going to the same barber since ninth grade, and now as a 32-year-old, he doesn’t have trust in just anyone’s hand holding clippers; but he trusts Rios’ hand.
Rios said he never thought he was going to be cutting hair in the military. He thought the Army was going to be the place where he got a break from cutting hair. But when word got around in his unit that he was a barber, Soldiers were intrigued and they asked Rios to give them haircuts.
Rios gave barbering for fellow Soldiers a shot. He quickly learned that it allowed him to help his friends and Soldiers keep feeling good about themselves.
“Keeping morale up is important; especially, in a deployed environment when we’re away from home or our loved ones,” Rios said. “We want to feel some sense of normality and if a haircut makes you feel like you’re back at home, hey, that might be all it takes to keep your morale up.”
Effective squads are built on the resiliency and strength of their NCO leadership and of their Soldiers. Cohesive teams are created by engaged, connected NCOs.
Garcia-Escarraman has seen the care and concern Rios has for Soldiers, and not just when they are sitting down for a haircut.
In the barracks, Rios encouraged Soldiers to help out with cleaning and do their part, Garcia-Escarraman said. And during convoys, Rios ensured that vehicles had proper equipment, completed preventive maintenance checks and services, or PMCS, ground guides were always involved, and proper convoy maneuvers were performed—all required safety measures.
“Safety is important to Rios because he cares about the Soldiers and he doesn’t want anyone to get hurt,” Garcia-Escarraman said. “He’s big on Soldier care and safety, which kind of ties into the barbering.”
Rios prioritizes Soldier safety and readiness through material things like PMCS, but he is equally invested in the mental and spiritual readiness of Soldiers, said Garcia-Escarraman.
“He likes to make sure that you’re okay. When I talk with him on the phone back at home, he says hi to my family.”
The keen awareness of safety and the kind gestures are attentions to different levels of detail that can be seen in the artistic way Rios approaches a haircut.
“I’ve been told that I have weird hair texture,” Garcia-Escarraman said. “Rios would break it down to me in depth why my hair is a little difficult to cut and what he was going to do to make my hair not as difficult to cut.”
Strong Sergeants, like Rios, prioritize all forms of readiness, to include the physical and mental wellness of their people.
Rios grew up in an artistic family—he along with his brothers graduated from an art and design high school—and through realism, a particular interest of his, he said that in the process of learning how to draw a person’s face, he learned about facial features and what cheekbones do and the ways that people move.
“There are certain lines on the head and face associated with dimensions of the hair and I have an eye for seeing that,” Rios said.
Rios’ eyes for barbering have helped him produce masterful haircuts. He has proven his abilities in contests like J Majors Connecticut Barber Battle & Expo. He has showcased his knowledge of barbering on Ice and Coco. And he used to cut with Team Exotics, a barbering team run by Puff Daddy’s barber.
All of these experiences happened first and foremost because a 13-year-old didn’t want his mom to cut his hair anymore. But they also happened because Rios did not give up when the path he traveled on became difficult.
“I’ll be giving people haircuts late at night after giving my first cut at like 9:00 a.m. and yeah I’m tired, but you know what, I’m going to keep working because I’m doing something I love to do,” Rios said.
This depth of commitment is something that Garcia-Escarraman said is very evident in Rios.
“Whether it be training or a mission, he definitely steps up and invests all of himself as a leader.”
Strong Sergeants lead their teams to accomplish the mission because they do not accept failure.
Rios set out on his barbering journey as an individual, but he did not do it alone.
A good friend of Rios introduced him to a barber called Joey Cuts. And Rios said that barber decided to offer him an apprenticeship.
“I learned the fundamentals of what it is to actually be a barber,” Rios said. “Stay on your feet for hours and hours and learn how to do-shape-ups and other haircuts.”
The demands of barbering like working long hours and not stopping until the job is done have parallels to the demands of the military for Rios. Likewise, his experience as a barber guides him as a sergeant.
“Being a barber has allowed me to connect more with Soldiers,” Rios said.
Being a barber is like being the Yellow Pages or Google in terms of the fact that barbers meet a lot of different people from different walks or life. Barbers cut the hair of engineers. They cut the hair of plumbers. They cut the hair of athletes. There is an opportunity to exchange different ideas with a lot of different people.
Rios said that at work, whether in the civilian world or in the military, there often isn’t time or it’s not the appropriate environment to open up about things on one’s mind.
“But in a barbershop setting, maybe a person might want to open up to me about something or talk to me about something,” Rios said.
Garcia-Escarraman said that Rios finds ways to get the job done and connect with Soldiers by thinking outside the box.
“I think being a barber has made me approachable,” Rios said. “People know I’m a barber and they say, ‘I can talk to him,’ and so it makes me appreciate it and really enjoy doing it.”
| Date Taken: | 11.09.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 11.16.2022 10:24 |
| Story ID: | 433342 |
| Location: | CAMP ARIFJAN, KW |
| Web Views: | 368 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, A Bronx Barber In The Barracks, by SGT Ryan Scribner, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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