For as long as she can remember, Aubrielle Garcia’s father has been in the military.
However, she’s grateful for what balancing military life and high school activities has shown her when it comes to living a busy life.
“I think it’s really teaching me time management,” Garcia said. “I have to figure it out and have my priorities set.”
As a “military brat,” it’s no wonder Garcia was drawn to marching band, an activity with deep roots in military history. On the battlefield or football field, music serves to teach communication, precision movements and boost morale.
The Pebble Hills High School junior starts her day at 6 a.m. and keeps going until 8 p.m. She is a saxophone player in the school’s marching band and plays sports after school.
The accomplished musician has a great deal of activities and responsibilities to juggle. She has learned to manage by watching her mother.
Being in a family of five, Garcia’s mom works to balance the different schedules of her children as they participated in different sports like volleyball, softball and band — all with varying schedules.
“It was hard for her to take us places,” Garcia said.
Garcia has not always been in El Paso — she has moved more times than she can count because of her dad’s military service. One of the many states she lived in was California.
In the 2024-2025 academic year, the Spartan Marching Band performed on New Year’s Day at the 136th Rose Bowl parade in Pasadena, Calif.
“Being in the Rose Bowl took me to California and that’s where all my family is,” Garcia said. “They all got to see me and help me fundraise.”
Building connections
Pebble Hills Band Director Maximo Sierra has set up a culture in the band program to achieve high levels of success while also keeping the students happy.
Sierra works to ensure the band program is a positive environment with weekly leadership meetings, where he employs three rules — be a good person, work hard at everything, and communicate.
“We have a saying that ‘no one sits alone,’ and that starts at summer band,” Sierra said. “So if they see somebody sitting alone, they’ll go sit next to them.”
Sierra’s constant communication and dedication to his students is evident in their accomplishments. The band has been recognized at state-level competitions two years in a row.
“(I’m) incredibly proud because we spent a lot of hours and time and effort in the program and the activity,” Sierra said. “And so for us to do all these little things and trying to do them correctly. And the kids buying into it and they’re excited about the band program. It makes me really happy.”
In tune with Fort Bliss Army Post
Pebble Hills, with some 3,000 students, is near Fort Bliss and attracts multiple band members from military families per section. Each section of instruments (like flutes and trumpets) is likely to have five or more military children out of the maybe 30 students in the section.
“With the military, the struggle that I see is losing the kid,” Sierra said. “We have a lot of kids who move. That’s military life.”
Modern day marching band has come a long way from its original roots of the military marching style with straight lines, loud commands and sharp turns. However, the teaching is still regimented and formed in a way that will get students to listen, pay attention and learn.
Sierra has seen how this regimented style of teaching has gained respect from the military parents because they get to see these skills being picked up and brought home by their children.
“We had a parent who was … helping and then got deployed to Kuwait, and then from over there they took a picture with his platoon,” Sierra said. “We have that hanging in our band room because that parent helps so much.”
When a parent gets deployed
Jaylene Brambila, a sophomore saxophone player, has played in the band since she was in sixth grade. Her father has been in the Army since before she was born, and he is currently on a nine-month deployment.
“I wish my dad was here,” Brambila said.
While moving around, Brambila had the opportunity to return to El Paso after having lived here previously, giving her the chance to reunite with childhood friends.
“We’re planning on staying here until I’m out of high school, and then after my brother’s out of school,” Brambila said.
Brambila wanted an activity to keep her busy during school, and choosing band would prove to give her friendly faces and ‘life lessons,’ she said.
“It’s given me (an understanding) that things take a lot of time and dedication, too,” Brambila said. “Band is really long and it’s made me learn that I have to manage my time to still show up to rehearsals on time while still having time to do all my personal stuff.”
‘Doing band stuff’
Lianelys Santiago Rivera, a junior drum major and clarinet player at Pebble Hills, has learned that being a member of a marching band is a way to settle in at a new school.
“Moving around a lot was hard because I would gain friends, lose friends, and I had no way to connect with them,” Santiago said. “With band, you connect with people easier. You’ll always have someone going up to you and being like ‘hey, do you want to hang out someday?'”
Santiago’s father has been in the Army for most of her life. The family often followed her father, and she has kept an optimistic attitude about his travel, growth and work throughout it all.
“You see how they take on things,” she said. “They get to move around … experiencing different jobs. I think of it as space for him to grow.”
Santiago has been in the position to welcome her father home from these different jobs at the end of the day and said she often looks forward to hearing the stories he shares. However, the distance is often felt when he is away.
“If I have to ask him something … I have to text him and wait for him to respond,” she said.
When it was time for Santiago to choose her middle school classes, she ended up in band as a coincidence. Her counselor signed her up for it without her knowing, but she said she wouldn’t want to change that now.
“A coincidence I didn’t change is now a big part of my life,” Santiago said.
This coincidence has been keeping her busy with football games, competitions and concerts. Her schedule doesn’t often align with her father’s, which can make it hard for them to spend time together, she said.
“Most of the time, one of us is always busy,” Santiago said. “He’s either with work or I’m with the band doing stuff.”
Starting ‘fresh all over again’
Myiah, a freshman clarinet player, and Jo’Shaun Comminey, a sophomore trumpet player, will be leaving their El Paso home soon, but they are unsure of when that is going to happen. This move is meant to be the last one for the family as their father has just retired from the Army.
“I’ve got to start fresh all over again, in the middle of the school year, too,” Myiah Comminey said.
Both siblings are committed to continuing their band journey once they move. The family has been looking into the band programs offered in their different towns of interest. However, Pebble Hills has a successful band program and Myiah Comminey feels bittersweet about her departure from them.
“Some of the bands are really good, but nothing will beat the Spartan Marching Band,” Comminey said.
Similar to Garcia, Comminey has watched how her mother handled two previous transitions from state to state. Being in a family of three, there are plenty of mouths to feed and needs to be met.
“That was definitely a stressful experience for my mom,” Comminey said. “I’m grateful to her for (everything), even though we got on her last nerve.”
Jo’Shaun Comminey originally chose band because he had a deep-rooted love for music stemming from listening to it and then playing the piano. Since then, band has become the dream for his future, he said.
“This is something I want to do,” Jo’Shaun Comminey said.
Continuing a life in band is a big step that takes a lot of time and commitment, but there are a few driving forces that keep these siblings in the activity.
“I like the friendliness of it,” Comminey said. “A bunch of people I’ve met, I feel like I’m going to know these people for a while.”
Band has given him a lot of friends to last forever, as well as role models to look up to. Walking into a new school as a freshman can be daunting, he said.
“The way I connected with people, just in my first year being here,” Comminey said. “(The seniors) made the first year being here in high school the best.”
Although Comminey will have to leave his friends to enter the next chapter of his life, he is finding things to look forward to when it comes to this move.
“(Being) closer to family,” Comminey said. “And if I don’t do marching band, I will still continue band.”
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso bands welcome military teens: a blend of music, communication, precision movement
Reporting by Abrielle Kate Maddison, El Paso Times / El Paso Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
